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moderndayruth

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Tag Archives: Holiday

You can’t get Russia with your mind

02 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by moderndayruth in Essay

≈ 1 Comment

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Black Friday, Fyodor Tyutchev, Holiday, Russia, Russian, Russian culture, Russian language, Soviet Union

Some century and a half ago Fyodor Tyutchev, one of the greatest poets of Russian Romanticism wrote a quatrain that with time became proverbial:

You cannot grasp Russia with your mind 
Or judge her by any common measure, 
Russia is one of a special kind –
You can only believe in her.
(translation via Russkiy mir)

Celebration of the New Year is one of those occasions when i become aware of this truth even more than usually – you can’t get Russia with your mind (or with with any other of your brain functions for that matter.)

Right, we know it all – that New Year madness has roots in various Pagan festivals, that during communism it was forbidden to celebrate Christmas and the symbolic of the two Holidays were switched and traded off… Still, none of it explains the contagious fanaticism with which majority of Russians ‘sees off the old year’ and greets the new. (In Russian language it’s literally ‘seeing off’ the old year and ‘meeting’ the new one, mind you.)

There are countless traditions to be observed before the Holiday and within its course – from paying off all your debts, via tiding your home generally to asking forgiveness from the people you hurt  and what not.

Couple of weeks leading to December 31st we are having an extended  “Black Friday” over here – the amount of shopping that’s done is intimidating and overwhelming, yet it can’t be avoided; see, it’s a must because you simply have to give gifts to as much people as possible and you have to  buy tons of stuff for yourself as well… Among else, you have to stock up on food because it’s an 8 day long public holiday and the stores are closed at least until January the 3d. (In case you’ve skipped that, like i did, you’ll be living exclusively on chocolate and cookies which are gifted generously in the spirit of the season – you can’t get any other food in this time, unless you’ve provided for yourself in advance.)

Thus one of the NY traditions is to watch ad nauseum the movie Irony of Fate or Enjoy Your Bath, a romantic comedy from 1976 on which importance for Russian people even some serious books were written – see  Olga Fedina’s book, What Every Russian Knows (And You Don’t)

“Foreigners who spend years mastering classical Russian grammar and getting used to the rapid-fire slangy exchanges of contemporary spoken Russian need one more thing: a personal cultural guide. We dream of someone who will take us by the hand and explain why a 30-year-old film is still watched by the whole family every New Year’s Eve, whisper the allusions to films in the jokes our co-workers are making, and help us understand how a traditional fairy tale shaped our friends’ characters and sense of morality” says the author and i couldn’t agree more with her.

In those three hours that movie lasts you get a glimpse into Russia’s drinking culture – and if you are from the West or from Balkans like i am, i bet you that you won’t get it (i know i don’t – out of first ninety minutes of the first sequel, some 25 min are devoted to provision and consumption of alcohol); you’ll get an insight into the notorious pressure to which Russian women are subjugated to marry and have family (almost 30 years later hardly anything changed there); besides, you’ll see what a Russian banya stands for and maybe you’ll understand why Russian people attend it with a religious devotion (i confess i don’t get that either.) Mind you, these are just first 30 minutes of the movie which can’t be re-told, but can be watched on youtube with English subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVpmZnRIMKs

Another NY custom, which goes observed with religious-like fanaticism, is the traditional Russian zastolye – at least six courses and several hours long  meal accompanied by unlimited quantities of alcohol and countless toasts to health and honor of the participants. Some of the ‘ritual foods’ are pickled herring, caviar, Olivier salad, mandarines and all of it seems to be deeply rooted in pre-Christian observances and connection to the departed ancestors; anyway it is, by now zastolye is an essential part of Russian way of living which, being a foreigner, you’ll never ever understand.

I pulled a card from my Véritable Tarot de Marseille and it was 3 of Wands/ Bâtons:

Le Véritable Tarot de Marseille

Le Véritable Tarot de Marseille

It’s a plain in imagery card – three wands are interlocking, leaves curling out from the intersection – yet it’s meaning, tied to the Empress and the Suit of Fire, is rich and promising; the card usually denotes the awaiting of goodness and abundance which somehow we happen to know is just about to arrive…

On that note, i am wishing you a Happy New Year, may it be as joyous, abundant and fulfilling, as Russian zastolye is 😉

Related articles
  • 7 Ways to Have a Happy Russian New Year (Photo Essay) (themoscowtimes.com)
  • Revealing Russia II: Emancipation and the discovery of who Russians are (voiceofrussia.com)
  • Can European socialism be good to Russia? (english.pravda.ru)
  • Prejudices about Russia (stasyinmunich.wordpress.com)
  • Eight myths about Russia (indrus.in)
  • Festivities continue till the Old New Year arrives (indrus.in)

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The Incredible Tale Of The Hannukah Bush

13 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by moderndayruth in Essay, Photography

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Christmas, Hannukah Bush, History of the Jews in Russia, Holiday, Jews, Judaism, Kabbalah, Moscow, Russia

Historically, Jews had it tough in Russia – and I won’t even go into the whole forging of the infamous  Protocols thing. Conspiracy theories aside – was it Czar ruling the country – or Stalin, Jews had it bad, pogroms (violent mobs) during Romanov dynasty were followed by purges after the WWII (that’s – immediately after the Holocaust.)

It’s the Holiday season though and i really don’t want to dwell on such subjects, in case you wonder how did this amazing story of the Jews in Russia end –  you can read the unbelievable grand final in The New York Time’s article from June 17, 2010.

Fast forward some forty two years since Yosef Mendelevich and his friends failed in their attempt to hijack their way out of tyranny – Judaism is blooming in Russia, there are synagogues and affiliates of all major Jewish streams, while local Kabbalah center is among the most attended in the world. Actually, without having precise data – i’d say that Moscow’s KC is the biggest and most populous one outside Israel and US; i used to study in London’s KC which was leading European center at the time – and despite all the wonders i witnessed there, myself i was beyond moved when i went to the local one; students are so numerous and their devotion to the wisdom of Kabbalah so strong, that for days after an event or class i would feel like in seventh heaven.

Recently, biggest Jewish museum in Europe was opened in Maryina Rosca – in a 50$ million facility (1) and Shimon Peres (himself of Russian Jewish origin), who arrived for the opening, was received not only with the protocol due to a foreign head of state, but also – as the talk of the city goes -with special attention, as he is said to be one of the leaders admired by President Putin.

More or less one month after the historical visit, in awful cold, i am desperately  searching Moscow’s malls for … a Hannukah bush decorations!

Yes, I’ve been doing all the kabbalistic connections, i even ate the traditional (greasy &fattening ) foods on the first night… yet, something was missing for my festive mood to be complete and Feng Shui decorations – as much as they improve the chi – are not quite the same thing.

Mine – and that of other Jews who grew up during communism – has nothing to do with  Christmas, as it’s usually presumed; we grew up without any kind of religious observance, so it’s not about attachment to the nativity scenes and Santa Claus, it’s way deeper than that. You see, during communism – the New Year was the only free of ideology holiday, the only one where there weren’t boring to death speeches and commemorations, there weren’t obligatory attendances of memorials and participation in recitals, typical of all other holidays of the time; the New Year was a personal holiday, spent with friends and family, usually by watching some movie classics and feasting on traditional foods like Olivier salad.

Those were usually one of the fondest childhood memories – and after our respective countries fell apart together with the old system – that was the only Holiday that remained, while an entire calendar was cancelled and erased.

In Yugoslavia, the National Day was November 29th, The Day of the Republic, and it used to be a major holiday; since the old country was finished in tears and blood, the holiday is, of course, non existent… The thing is that humans are the creatures of habit and if you lived some 20+ years with an idea, whether that idea was good or bad, i assure you that you too would get used to it.

And it’s not about the old country either – it’s about the fact that everything we knew, the life as we knew it with it system of values, its money, foods, clothing brands… all of it, disappeared in the blink of an eye…

I get irked when Russian Jews get bashed for celebrating the NY – as if that is some kind of self-hating act; it’s not, it’s merely the reaffirmation, on a personal level, that except belonging to nations, eras and other categories which by default tend to annul our individuality, we do have some kind of personal, genetic memory which makes us – if not much more than, then at least different from a mere grain of sand, carried back and forth by the various winds of changes.

Back in 1983, US educator E.D. Hirsch coined the term Cultural Literacy – familiarity with and understanding of a dominant culture; simultaneously, yet independently a researcher in Russia, Y.N. Karaulov defined what constituted the so-called ‘secondary linguistic personality’, ie. the diaspora-like mentality which students of foreign languages develop; in third millennium we are speaking of CQ – cultural intelligence which comes down to ‘attitudes of respect for other nations’ talents and traditions, of fascination with the variety of other worlds, readiness to revise one’s own prejudices, and of adjustment to local tasks and circumstances.’ (P. Kuin was speaking of succeeding in multinational companies, but it’s a basic formula relevant for any cross-cultural experience.)

History of humanity is basically history of adaptation – and, speaking of other than genetic change – there is a pattern to it which never seizes to amaze me; when facing tectonic changes in paradigms, humans ( known for their hatred of change), tend to simply rename things.

Origins of Christmas can be tracked back to Pagan Saturnalia; to ease the new religious paradigm on Romans, early Christians worked on transforming vicious Saturnalia traditions such as human sacrifice into innocent snacking on the Ginger man and December 25th, Saturnalia’s concluding day, was named as Jesus’ birthday.

The real date is more likely to be June 17th though – astrologists claim that the star which three kings are said to have followed,  was most likely a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, so close together that they shone as a single ‘beacon of light’ which appeared suddenly; more so, the conjunction was pinpointed as having appeared in the constellation of Leo, to the exact date of June 17 in the year 2BC.

The commies had snatched the symbolism from Christians – and had turned it into the NY – I’ve  mentioned in the previous entry – Santa Claus had become Uncle Frost and had received a granddaughter, Snegurochka…

Not that any of it matters – or that it changes in anyway the spirit of the Holiday, it does not, but the truth is that since it’s dawn – overall humanity gets quite excited around this time of the year and for some reason it usually has to do with a tree, overeating and overspending.

Anyway it is, like it or not, politically correct or not – it’s Holiday Season, folks!

Whether you are celebrating Hannukah or Christmas, Kwanzaa, Yule, Festivus or the New Year, i wish you best of the moods and most joyous times!

Happy Hannukah!  Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Channuka bush 2 Channuka bush 3 Chanukkah bush 1

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