Continuing to learn about different cultures everyday

 Good morning!

Ralph and I are nearing the end of this evolution in Alaska. You have read, and hopefully learned, about our interaction with a multitude of cultures as we work in rural and remote places. Each day is a welcomed cultural learning opportunity for us. At our current assignment, we are blessed to be learning and interacting with plant staff from 15 different cultures and backgrounds. This morning Ralph and I had blintz for breakfast. We heard some of you say: "a what?". So let's take this opportunity to learn about cultural things. 

First off, what is a blintz and where do they come from. Well, blintz are a large component in the Jewish culture. A cheese blintz (Hebrew: חֲבִיתִית; Yiddish: בלינצע) is a rolled filled pancake in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, in essence a wrap based on a crepe or Russian blini. Traditional blintzes are filled with sweetened cheese, sometimes with the addition of raisins, or fruit preserves and then slightly sautéed.  Blintzes represent foods that are now considered typically Jewish, and exemplify the changes in foods that Jews adopted from their Christian neighbors. If the blintzes are served at Passover, matzo meal is used instead of flour.

While we are at it, do any of the non Jewish readers know the major Jewish holidays? Most Jewish holidays are religious holidays observed in Judaism based on the biblical mitzvot and rabbinic mandates. The major Jewish holidays in order from the start of the Hebrew calendar are:

• Rosh Hashanah
• Yom Kippur
• Sukkot
• Shemini Atzeret
• Simchat Torah
• Chanukah (Hanukkah)
• Purim
• Pesach
• Shavuot
• Tish-a B’Av

For the Jewish people around the world, these are 10 of the most important Jewish holidays. Shabbat, which is a day of rest celebrated on the seventh day of the week, is also given the status of a holiday. Rosh Chodesh is a minor observance, occurring on the first day of  each month of the Jewish calendar.

Link to explanation of the Jewish calendar.

Ralph and I get asked all the time: "how do you get so much information about so many things?" The answer to that is simple: we interact with individuals and groups from all over the world, we are naturally curious, we actually talk to people and ask questions, and we definitely are not bashful.

We hope ya'll have a very blessed day.

Till next blog,

T and Ralph