Holiday traditions are not just comforting rituals. Sometimes, they serve as lifelines in uncertain times. For writer Claudia Aulum, baking at Christmas is much more than it seems.
Advent is another observance outside of my Jewish tradition that I learned to treasure. My son went to a Rudolph Steiner school when he was a little boy. On the first Sunday in Advent, there would be a maze constructed out of evergreen branches with white candles interspersed. Each child in the school would walk through and light a candle. Next to the candle, there would be an apple and under each apple a slip of paper with some piece of wisdom written on it. I found this very beautiful.
"Then two days of baking to produce some 400 cookies. I picture my grandmother, calm and steely in the eye of the storm. While the world around them was in chaos..."
This touched me. This is power. The image of the world melting away, while she's focused on a singular task, is raw with the passion of service.
The process of making beet syrup sounds as hard. Bless her soul for this kind of tireless effort. Thank you for sharing.
A beauty! Reminds me of my mother, who managed alone through WW2 to make her famous fruitcake in September so it was ready to be shipped overseas to my father and his crew. Thankyou Anne Lord
A beauty! Reminds me of my mother, who managed alone through WW2 to make her famous fruitcake in September so it was ready to be shipped overseas to my father and his crew. Thankyou Anne Lord
Beautifully told and moving. Thank you 🙏
I loved reading this- beautifully written and comforting, too.
Advent is another observance outside of my Jewish tradition that I learned to treasure. My son went to a Rudolph Steiner school when he was a little boy. On the first Sunday in Advent, there would be a maze constructed out of evergreen branches with white candles interspersed. Each child in the school would walk through and light a candle. Next to the candle, there would be an apple and under each apple a slip of paper with some piece of wisdom written on it. I found this very beautiful.
"Then two days of baking to produce some 400 cookies. I picture my grandmother, calm and steely in the eye of the storm. While the world around them was in chaos..."
This touched me. This is power. The image of the world melting away, while she's focused on a singular task, is raw with the passion of service.
The process of making beet syrup sounds as hard. Bless her soul for this kind of tireless effort. Thank you for sharing.
A beauty! Reminds me of my mother, who managed alone through WW2 to make her famous fruitcake in September so it was ready to be shipped overseas to my father and his crew. Thankyou Anne Lord
A beauty! Reminds me of my mother, who managed alone through WW2 to make her famous fruitcake in September so it was ready to be shipped overseas to my father and his crew. Thankyou Anne Lord
So happy you are in my life, Claudia. This was a beautiful essay.