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Friday Bread Crumbs

As those of you on the Bread email list have known all week, our baker Janice is taking Thanksgiving weekend off from bread baking. That, combined with the national resurgence of The Virus, means that the wine shop is also closed to visitors this weekend.
Until the national surge in Covid cases abates, we are backing off from allowing visitors inside for wine shopping. Instead we are going back to email/phone ordering only. Click on the Order Wine link in the header above for currently available wines with tasting notes and prices. We are making progress on setting up enough of an online store to allow our members to order and pay online for pickup on Fridays or by arrangement. For the time being, when you have made your selections you can call us with your order or email us using the Contact Us link above to send us your order. We will contact you to confirm your order and to make arrangements for pickup/delivery.
 
Wine of the Week: Sea Sun Pinot Noir 

Genesis, 28:10-32:3
This Week’s Torah Portion | Nov 22 – Nov 28, 2020 – 6 Kislev – 12 Kislev, 5781
In A Nutshell
The portion, VaYetze (And Jacob Went Out), begins with Jacob leaving Beer Sheba and heading for Haran. He stops for the night and in his dream he sees a ladder “set up on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it” (Genesis, 28:12). The Creator appears before him and promises him that the earth on which he is lying will be his, that he will have many sons, and that He will watch over him. The next morning, Jacob sets up a monument in that place and calls it, Beit El (House of God).
Jacob comes to a well near Haran, where he meets Rachel and her father, Laban the Aramean, who offers him to work for him for seven years in return for permission to marry Rachel. At the end of the seven years Laban deceives Jacob and gives him Leah instead. He compels Jacob to work for him seven more years, after which he gives him Rachel and Jacob marries her.
Leah has four sons from Jacob, while Rachel is barren. Rachel gives to Jacob her maidens, who give birth to four more of his sons. Leah delivers two more sons, until finally Rachel conceives and gives birth to Joseph.
Jacob asks Laban to pay for his work. Laban gives him some of the flock, although they had a different agreement. Jacob shows the flock the troughs, and they conceive and deliver. Some of the lambs are born striped, some are speckled, and some are spotted.

“We are seeing a dangerous combination of factors with this forecast. High winds, extremely low humidity, record dry fuels on the ground and severe drought,” said PG&E’s Lynsey Paulo.

The 2020 fire season has already proven devastating for the region, and meteorologists fear the windy, dry conditions will stoke the blazes already underway.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Red Flag warning for much of Northern California starting Sunday and into Tuesday for what the agency calls the “strongest event of the year so far.” More than 30 million people are under the warning through the start of next week, according to CNN meteorologist Tyler Mauldin. A Red Flag warning means damaging winds and extremely low humidity pose a severe risk for wildfires that can spread very quickly.

Earlier this month, PG&E shut off service to some customers to prevent equipment from igniting fires in harsh conditions.

This outage is in anticipation of strong Diablo winds Sunday, forecast to top 70 mph, and expected extreme temperatures, according to PG&E’s Chief Meteorologist Scott Strenfel. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and North Ops predictive services “are indicating that this is a critical event, the strongest of the season,” Strenfel said.

The shut off affects customers across eight counties and will begin in stages starting at 10 a.m. Sunday. Power is expected to be switched back on Monday into Tuesday once the extreme weather passes.

Dear Moneyist,

My husband and I recently bought a home and some furniture on “easy monthly installments.” My husband is the breadwinner, but I contribute as I work part time. My in-laws live overseas and have a large property; they are building a home for us to live in. For the last two and a half years, my husband has contributed more to his parents’ property development than what he pays for our home in the U.S.

I asked him why he did that. He said that I would not have permitted him to give that kind of money to his parents. I said, “Probably not, but I would have probably agreed to a smaller amount.” I told him that I too have desires to make investments, plan for our future and wear nice jewelry. He said it’s his duty to contribute.

Should my husband’s contribution be compulsory? And should I agree to these contributions? He doesn’t give me any money. On top of that, I had to find out about this through snooping. My parents also say you should give money to your parents. I believe this should be a mutual decision. Should I put an end to these payments or tell my husband to reduce them? Why are wives always ignored in such situations?

Aggrieved Wife

Dear Wife,

These contributions are both marital funds and money your husband has earned. For that reason, it’s reasonable to expect he would discuss it with you ahead of time, and it’s reasonable for him to expect you to agree to some compromise. It appears that this property is also an investment in both of your futures, and should provide a second home for you now and/or in your retirement.