Saturday was the official opening of Oktoberfest. This is a festival that Jeff and I look forward to celebrating each year. This year, Oktoberfest began 9/17/11 and ends 10/03/11. Taking into consideration family travel arrangements, we will be extending Oktoberfest one additional week; officially ending this yearly tradition on Saturday 10/08/11.
Saturday the 8th, also marks the last day of Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday that celebrates the atonement for sins. It actually marks the day God forgave the Israelites for worshiping a golden cafe while Moses was up on the mountain getting the 10 commandments. Isn’t that an image? God/Moses vs. People and a cow. There are times I find it difficult to see humans as the intelligent species. Yom Kippur is to be a day of fasting. Fasting vs. brats, pretzels and beer? There can be challenges when one tries to merge traditions from a German, Jewish and Scottish heritage. This year Oktoberfest will be celebrated and Yom Kippur will be remembered.
The invitations have been sent, menu planned, recipes collected. Each year we try to incorporate a new aspect, this year the addition is Lederhosen…oi, we’ll see how that goes. So the count down begins, 19 days to prepare.
Check out the History of Oktoberfest: http://www.ofest.com/history.html