- Dr. Barry Lynn
Weather: Changes in Weather Reflect Changes in Family Traditions
Illustration (Image credit: Wix)
The weather of the past week, including the New Year has been the best I can remember. Skies were sunny with temperatures in the mid to upper 20s (mid 70s to mid 80s F).
The nice weather will continue as the week progresses. Low pressure over the eastern Mediterranean should combine with high pressure over Africa to maintain a consistent westerly/northwesterly breeze, which will insure that our temperatures remain on the more mild side.
At the end of the week, a storm will approach from the west. Right now, there are indications that enough moisture at lower and middle levels will arrive on Shabbat (Yom Kippur) to bring the possibility of widespread showers from the north to the central areas. Some moisture at 500 mb suggests some indications of thundershowers as well.
Jerusalem forecast (click for other forecasts):
Image credit: The Jerusalem Herald
This past Friday, we went directly from the New Year Holiday to Shabbat. For those who follow Ashkenazi customs, this means that we skipped the Avinu Malkeinu (Our Father, Our King) prayer (asking for forgiveness, health, employment, etc), as well as the preliminary Shabbat prayers.
This also meant that we left out the prayer, Eshet Chayil (A Woman of Valor), at the dinner table, which among other things thanks and lauds the wife for all that she does. My wife, you can imagine, protested - especially after all she had done to prepare for the holiday. I could only point out that when an Ashkenazi man marries a Sephardic women (often associated with Jews from eastern Mediterranean countries), the custom is that she takes on the traditions of the man. So, my hands were tied, so to speak.
What they don't tell you is that regardless of what the halacha (Jewish law) says about the changing of traditions, the wife is really in charge. The advantage of this, of course, is that the Sephardim have less strict rules about what to eat on Passover, and they have other leniencies. However, for this small period of time and at that place (the head (or tail) of the table), my word prevailed.
Now that I am feeling better, thank G-d, we can go back to normal in most things: I am in charge when my wife agrees; otherwise, I agree with her.
Have a good week, and Gmar Chatima Tova!
Dr. Lynn is a lecturer at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Earth Sciences Department. He is also CEO of Weather It Is, LTD, a company that specializes in reducing weather risk.
