Most of the CJL took the snow day very lightly, watching lots of television, and just hanging out.  That night we decided that we’d brave the cold and try our luck at knee-high-snow-tackle-football.  There is a Cornell parking lot right next to the CJL which had yet to be plowed, giving us a field of flat, pristine snow.

Note: It was VERY cold outside!

Serious TV watching (Elysia and Greg)

Etan prepares for the cold weather

  
Adam gets ready to “hike” the ball 

To us on the East Coast, especially those of us from the New York area, Cornell is certainly known to be colder and get more snow than New York City.  Certainly that was true this semester as Cornell had a school closing due to the snow for the first time in over 10 years.  That mean … SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!

Classes were canceled after noon, but the dining facilities remained open.  The CJL was scheduled to have a “Wii” tournament during dinner that night, but it didn’t really happen as the snow was just coming down too hard.

What do CJL residents do with a day off from studying and school?  Party and hang out on the second floor.  Here is a brief overview of what went down.

Etan plays with a yo-yo from the engineering career fair (hence the suit), that ended early due to the snow, while the others look at Greg um, yeah.

The CJL has a sign … and there’s snow 

There is a car under there, but the snow seems to have covered it (more on this tomorrow). 

Would a CJL hangout be complete without a kumbaya kumzitz (courtesy of Dan)

Last night I wrote about one of the CJL teams to take part in Iron Chef Cornell.  I should mention that the event was put together my Meredith (post), who has been planning this even for over a year.  Tonight I’ll mention the other CJL team, which while it didn’t contain any CJL residents, was made up of CJL members.  Since last night’s team was all guys … kind of weird for a cookoff … this other team, in true fashion, had three girls that actually knew how to cook.

The secret ingredient in their battle was, what other kosher food than matzoh.  They produced a wonderfully delicious matzoh brei.  While most of the team wanted to be recognized for their accomplishments, one particular member of the team wished to remain nameless … with a bag over her head.

For those unfamiliar with girls … they giggle .. a lot

 
Are there ever enough spices? Not in “Persia” 

Anonymous eh? 

Do you sense resentment from the guy’s team?

The mystery judge (Rina) 

Last night I wrote about one of the CJL teams to take part in Iron Chef Cornell.  I should mention that the event was put together my Meredith (post), who has been planning this even for over a year.  Tonight I’ll mention the other CJL team, which while it didn’t contain any CJL residents, was made up of CJL members.  Since last night’s team was all guys … kind of weird for a cookoff … this other team, in true fashion, had three girls that actually knew how to cook.

The secret ingredient in their battle was, what other kosher food than matzoh.  They produced a wonderfully delicious matzoh brei.  While most of the team wanted to be recognized for their accomplishments, one particular member of the team wished to remain nameless … with a bag over her head.

For those unfamiliar with girls … they giggle .. a lot

 
Are there ever enough spices? Not in “Persia” 

Anonymous eh? 

Do you sense resentment from the guy’s team?

The mystery judge (Rina) 

What happens when you take three CJL guys, and pit them against three girls of far eastern descent in a sudden death match to cook the funniest food possible?  What you get is hilarity, and that is exactly what transpired at this event.  Basically, you had two teams, each trying to cook a meal in 20 minutes that used some sort of secret ingredient.  In this case, the secret ingredient, inspired by an infamous CJL president from last year (remaining nameless), was a can of non-alcoholic beer.  While the other team produced a dish of sliced apples with a fancy dip, our CJL team concocted some sort of apple based pudding like thing.  This creepy monster was made of raw egg, mashed up bread and finely cut apple slices (sorry, no tofu).

 
Greg simmers vegetables … which are used exactly how in apple pudding?

Waiting for the toaster to finish 

Judge Brandon (a KDH/104 West! chef) tries some of the apple pudding …

 
The feverish preparation continues up to the final seconds 

This evening, the Second Floor Hallway of the CJL was turned into a baseball diamond, complete with a home plate, strike zone, fielding positions and spectators. There was much excitement, a charging of the mound, countless contestations, batter pegging and even some spectacular fielding. While it is awkward playing Second Floor Hallway Ball with a plush ball and a banister railing acting as the bat, it made for a night of relaxation in preparation for the serious amount of snow falling outside in Ithaca right now.
Adam and Chad discuss the game dynamics

Tamar takes aim, but falls short of a hit

Adam takes aim, but fails to find his mark (with closed eyes)

In the aftermath of a heated CJL board meeting we all went into the house to just hang out, catch our breaths, and relax before another wonderful day.  In addition, over the past few days we’ve been having Internet trouble … not the kind of thing you want on a collage campus (or in a student dormitory) where Internet is the life blood of the modern collage student.  Jared, one of the CJL House Managers has been fiddling with our network set up for the past week and it still seems flaky.

Anyhow, one of the best ways to cool down is to hang dark socks, that have been ruined due to bleach exposure, on door knobs.  Why does this let out aggression?  Hmmm…

Jared futzes with the network.  He had earlier taken out his frustration by hanging the dark sock on the door knob.

 
Dark socks pervade the second floor hallway.

When the students were on “winter session” the Orthodox Rabbinical Couple here had their first child.  They named their new born son Be’eri, which is quite awkward for Americans to both look at and pronounce.  Names aside, the Jewish tradition teaches that a the first born must be redeemed from God.  This ceremony is a relatively rare ceremony as there are many instances that it is not performed.  Anyhow, it went off without a hitch, and in fact the coins that were used were quite old, from the 1870s, heirlooms in the Rabbi’s family.  And to top it all of, as with all other Jewish occasions, food was front and center … the meal followed.

The Rabbi holds Be’eri

The Rebbitzin carries Be’eri

The Rabbi’s father with Be’eri

 Today was my former roommate’s 21st birthday.  As is customary in the CJL, we all went out to the local supermarket (Wegmans) to get ice cream cakes for a midnight birthday ice cream party.  Aside from those festivities which accompany nearly every CJL birthday, a 21st birthday requires something a bit more special.  To that end a number of us went out with him to The Chapter House, which is a local bar.  It’s relatively upscale, and it was generally a good atmousphere.  Joining us were a few members of the 104 West! kitchen staff, which awarded Stuart the “Dining Hall Jew of the Month Award”.  After a shot or two, a few drinks and a number of games of pool, we called it a night.  To round out the evening, the rabbi joined us.

Note (Courtesey of Nosson): When seeing naked frat boys run around the block as part of a hazing ceremony, not only remember to take pictures, but thank HaShem that you were born Jewish (she’lo asa’ni goy).

 
Stu cuts the cake

The celebration … CJL style!
Back Row (LTR): Adina, Asher, Michael, Ronn, Dan, Etan, Adam
Front Row: Lily, Greg, Tamar, Stu, Faye, Elysia

 
Lily instructs Stu in the art of pool

Birthday at the Bar
(LTR): Stu, Michael, Etan, (Rabbi) Chilik, Nosson

One thing that we at the CJL do that is comparable to all of the various other house like living environments (read: frat houses) is a composite.  A composite is a list of people who were members of that house that year, and their photographs.  It signifies your involvement and the fact that you care about the orgranization.  With the CJL, there is an added significance of being on the composite, and that is caring about observant life at Cornell as the CJL is the cornerstone of that.  Not that much excitement was generated by the event, but there were a number of intense moments as each member tried to choose his or her photo.  The most memorable photo of the evening was when we photographed a fake tree at Mike Wine’s request.

Lauren selects her photo

Jessica and Adamhold up last year’s composite as they mull over the layout

 
Adina and Danny Sabba help Elysia make up her mind