Good thing there is no concept of hell in Judaism

Good thing there is no concept of hell in Judaism.

Why? Because if there was, I would be going there.
This past Saturday I committed three sins:

1) I bought a Christmas tree! However, this has nothing to do with Christmas. Growing up in Russia, we always had an evergreen tree (yolka), which we decorated for New Years. I still remember some of our beautiful ornaments, which alas we had to leave behind. This is a much smaller version of the tree we used to have because I live in a tiny apartment. But I still enjoy coming home and plugging in the lights.

2) I went to a Christmas concert. That's probably not really a sin though, right? I was hoping to hear Silent Night, one of my favorite Christmas songs, but no such luck. Instead, the choir sang 75% Latin (not as in Spanish, but as in Latin language) songs. The other 25% to my big surprise and delight were Israeli songs (in Hebrew!). I absolutely loved those songs: they reminded me of when Anna and I went to Israel with some other students from our University during Christmas break: great people, amazing food, and wonderful culture.

3) I ate shrimp! Shrimp is not kosher...but then I never keep kosher. After the Christmas concert, Jenn, Mas (who was in the choir) and I went out for Chinese. That's when Mas ordered a dish I've never heard of before: shrimp with walnuts in a white sauce. I actually really liked it! Surprise, surprise, it had mayonnaise in it (one of my staple ingredients). Here is a recipe that sounds about right.

So you see, I haven't been a super Jewish girl. I also hope you've realized this whole post is not very serious :)

Happy whatever it is you celebrate this season!

P.S. Notice the menorah (Cindy's gift to me) next to my "Christmas" tree :)