Passover and the Crazy Jew

Yesterday there was an event that was one of those moments that I will always remember. I guess that part of the reason is that I grew up in Oklahoma where there frankly are not that many Jewish people. Since I have moved to the great waste land of the North Shore area of Boston Metro I have had the privilege of not only meeting many Jewish people but becoming close friends with some as well.

Now I have to make this clear, my neighbor is crazy, not in the scary Barny Frank way but crazy in the willing to try anything way. I personally have found that those are the kind of people I like to hang out with because it is always funner then hanging out with "normal" people.

Judy and I have been invited to her house to celebrate Passover this evening and I look forward to it. One of the things she had to do was Tovel her new kitchen wares, knives, pots, pans, etc. She asked me if I could help her out and being a guy who is willing to try anything I said sure. I headed over to her house to Tovel (not sure of exactly what that meant but I was pretty sure it was at least legal). She had me help load up her car with boxes of kitchen items and off we went.

We drove around to all of the beaches in the area and considering the ocean is on three sides of our small town there are tons of beaches. We found the perfect place to Tovel but could not find parking. I realized that toveling was important to her so I asked a lady if we could park in her drive way so we could do some Jewish thing. The lady said "no problem" so we parked and I became the pack mule toting everything down to the ocean.

I then memorized a prayer that was texted to my neighbor in case she could not remember it when we started this ritual called Tovel. My neighbor headed off into the water, I suddenly realized why she wore rubber boots and rubber gloves. I rolled up my pants and waded into the 41 degree water with her while I was carrying several of the kitchen items.

She said her prayer and I started handing her one item at a time which she then dunked into the water, letting go of it and then catching it before it hit the bottom. She would hand me the Tovelled item and I would shake out the seaweed and then shlep back up to the box lay out the wet item and pick up another for her to Tovel (not sure but I think shlep maybe a Jewish word).

This probably went on for 20 minutes but it honestly felt like hours because of the frigid water. I was starting to wonder if my neighbor had any clue how cold my legs and feet were till I realized that not only had the water hit me almost waist high but the tops of her boots where well under the water. When the practice was over we walked back up to the car and at the moment I realized I was WAY luckier then her. While I might have been barefooted and my shorts were wet from the water her poor feet where stuck in those rubber boots that carried the cold water well after my feet were dry.

I have to say that I loved being asked to participate in the Tovelling and look forward to doing it again but I honestly hope that next time it will be in summer.