Thoughts to Nosh On

Ah summer, the traditional time for weddings, shorts, swimming lessons, barbeques, tanning, and relaxation. For many it is a time to get away from it all, at least for a little while. For some, work continues along its same path, only with more air conditioning.

In Judaism the summer season tends to be relatively quiet from Shavu’ot until Elul, which marks the formal preparation for the High Holidays. There are a few significant observances during the summer including a fast on the 17th Tammuz, which commemorates five tragedies believed to have befallen the Jewish people on that date; the observance of Tisha B’Av, the saddest day on the Jewish calendar; and Tu B’Av, kind of a Jewish version of Valentine’s Day.

But other than that, the summer in our traditional calendar (not including Shabbat) is mostly open unlike the fall or the spring, which are jam-packed with festival observances. Part of the reason for this is because much of our calendar is based on agricultural cycles. The Shalosh Regalim, pilgrimage holidays, of Sukkot, Pesach, and Shavu’ot, occur during the fall, spring, and early summer harvests. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, though not specifically tied to the harvest, start the New Year in the fall.

So if you look at it closely, like much of Tucson Jews tend to be a fall and spring kind of people. This makes sense because we are a people who emerged out of the desert. The desert is most conducive to celebrations when the heat is not too intense, and the chill not so strong.