Holi, the Hindu festival of color and love

Holi, the Festival of Colors, is one of the most widely celebrated Hindu festivals. The festival is a time of joy and excitement, widely known for the use of vibrant colored powders. As with many other Hindu festivals, Holi has some ties to representing the triumph of good over evil.

The origins of Holi is believed to be related to the story of King Hiranyakashipu. The demon king wished for all subjects of his kingdom to pray and worship him rather than God.

His son Prahlad, however, was a devout devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashipu hated his son for disobeying him and because Lord Vishnu had killed the king’s brother.

Hiranyakashipu persuaded his sister, Holika, who was immune to fire, to enter a raging fire with Prahlad in her lap. However, Holika was unaware that her immunity only worked if she was alone, so she perished.

Prahlad exited the fire untouched, due to his extreme devotion to God. This represents the victory of good over evil once again, and during Holi, bonfires are usually lit to celebrate. Similar ancient stories tell about the use of colors during the festival. Many believe the use of colors comes from Lord Krishna’s pranks on milkmaids, drenching them in colored water, and/ or from Krishna fearing that Radha would not like him for his unique skin color.

The Sanskrit word “Krishna” means “dark” or “black”, although Krishna has universally been depicted as blue. It is believed that Radha allowed Krishna to dye her hair and skin, making them a couple. Therefore, Holi is not only about good over evil but also love.

The festival of Holi is usually celebrated in March, at the start
of spring, and on the day of the full moon. Rituals include Holika Dahan, which is the burning of a Holika effigy in a large bonfire on the eve of Holi to celebrate the death of evil and victory of Prahlad and good, as in devotion to God.

People of all nationalities and religions participate in the celebration of Holi with colored powders and waters. Often people gather in the streets or in large groups and throw water and powder on everyone.

The celebration is supposed to be a time of enjoyment. People also often eat sweets and spend time with their family and dance. Holi is also a time of love, so people are encouraged to mend relationships, pay off debts, and forgive and forget.

Even though the pandemic continues to hinder celebrations and social gatherings, by the time of Holi, we may be able to gather in small groups. If that is the case, Hindus and people around the world will be able to rejoice and celebrate together. If we are still limited in social interaction, the spirit of Holi will still be felt worldwide, and we should spread happiness and love in a time of despair and loneliness.

Fish for amberjacks around artificial reefs

Amberjacks don’t get much respect from South Florida anglers, but they should.

They’ll bite throughout the spring when other species won’t. Getting amberjacks to the boat is challenging because they fight like mixed martial arts heavyweights.

AJs, as they’re known, gather around local artificial reefs to spawn from March through early June. That makes them easy to target, but it also makes them difficult to land because they’ll head straight for the wreck when they’re hooked. If they make it, that’s pretty much the end of the fight, because it’s next to impossible to pull them out, and usually the fishing line ends up breaking on the wreck.

Local amberjacks range from 20 to 50 pounds, but they can be bigger, like 60 or 70 pounds. To give their anglers a fighting chance, most charter captains use 50 pound outfits spooled with monofilament or braided line. Leaders range from 80 to 130 pound monofilament and are tied to a big circle hook.

Those captains use a variety of live baits, with goggle eyes, small blue runners, and small bonitos-their favorites. AJs also willbite ballyhoo, mullet,  speedos, pinfish, and grunts.

The basic rig has a three-way swivel tied to the main line with a 10-foot or longer leader tied to the swivel along with a sinker on a short piece of monofilament. Sinker weights can range from 8 to 16 ounces depending on the strength of the current.

Hooks used with bait for amberjacks cannot be made of stainless steel in state waters off South Florida and anglers must have a de-hooking device aboard their boats to aid in the release of fish. As soon as you hook an amberjack, you need to reel as fast as possible to get the fish away from a wreck, although a big AJ can pull enough drag to get back to its hangout. A good boat driver can help by pulling away from the wreck after the fish is hooked.

Even then, the fight is far from over, because the fish will circle and dig all the way to the surface, then take out line just when you thought it was about to give up.

Another way to catch amberjacks is by jigging for them. Butterfly or flutter jigs can be dropped around a wreck and then worked almost to the surface by lifting the fishing rod up and down as you reel.

If the jig, which darts and flutters as it sinks, doesn’t get bit, let it fall back down and jig it up again. Bites can come on the fall or after the lure hits bottom and is jigged up.

Conventional or spinning outfits spooled with 50 to 65 pound braided line tied to five feet of 80 pound monofilament or fluorocarbon leader can be used to jig.

The only downsides to jigging: Even if you don’t hook an amberjack, it can be tiring after doing it several times. It can also be expensive if the AJs you hook get into the wreck and break the line. The jigs typically cost from $10 to $25, so a good day jigging wrecks for AJs can easily cost you $100 in lures.

Among the pluses: You don’t have to mess with live bait and the jigs also catch cobia and grouper, as well as almaco jacks, kingfish, and blackfin tunas.

Figuring out where to drop your jigs or baits is easy. Just visit any of the area’s artificial reefs in 150-300 feet (you can find their coordinates at myfwc.com/conservation/saltwater/artificial-reefs).

Among the best wrecks for amberjacks are many of the 25 artificial reefs sunk off Pompano Beach by the Pompano Beach Fishing Rodeo, including the Corey and Chris in 244 feet, the Lowrance in 200 feet, and the Miller Lite in 155 feet.

The Rodeo reefs were so good for amberjacks that commercial anglers used to hammer them every spring. Rodeo officials repeatedly asked state and federal agencies to make the tournament’s reef area off-limits to commercial fishing. When that didn’t happen, the Rodeo refused to sink any more ships.

Deeper wrecks are often better than shallow wrecks because they don’t receive as much fishing pressure as the shallow ones. If you don’t get a bite on a wreck after a while, move to another one and keep moving until you  find the fish.

It’s best to fish the edges of a wreck rather than dropping a bait or jig in the wreck. Depending on the current, you might have to position your boat well off the wreck so by the time your bait hits bottom, it’ll be adjacent to the wreck.

In the Atlantic, the amberjack daily bag limit is one per person, the size limit is 28 inches from the tip of the mouth to the fork of the tail and the season is open year-round. The Gulf of Mexico bag limit is also one per person, the size limit is 34 inches fork length and the season is open May 1-31 and Aug. 1-Oct. 31.

A fried amberjack sandwich is popular fare in restaurants in Florida’s Panhandle, and smoked amberjack is quite tasty, but most local anglers release the fish because their flesh tends to have worms. The worms are not harmful, but they can make you think twice about eating an amberjack as you pull them out of a fillet.

Local funeral directors shoulder COVID pandemic

With the COVID-19 pandemic putting stress on healthcare workers and first responders (not to mention the rest of us) what is it doing to local funeral homes and the people who staff them?

Deaths due to COVID in the first five months of the pandemic raised total deaths between 25 percent to 27 percent in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Between March 15 and August 15, Broward County recorded 1,638 deaths due to COVID-19. In Palm Beach County, numbers were similar, with 1,671 deaths. A five-month average for Palm Beach County, pre-COVID, is 6,182; for Broward, 6,361, according to state statistics.

Those aren’t complete figures, explains the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s office, because tracking COVID deaths after August 15 was taken away from coroners offices.

Thomas Wojciechowski, location manager at Babione Funeral Home in Boca Raton, which services all faiths, including Catholics, Protestants and some non-Orthodox Jewish families, says during these trying times, they have found ways to accommodate their clients.

“It’s a unique and challenging time,” says Wojciechowski, emphasizing that they follow all CDC guidelines, including social distancing, sanitizing, allowing only 10 attendees in the chapel at one time, and utilizing Zoom for inclusive ceremonies.

Luckily, Wojciechowski says, they didn’t experience much of an increase in deaths over the previous non-COVID year, partially because Palm Beach County wasn’t as hard hit as other counties, such as Miami-Dade.

Babione offers a “remember when” Zoom panel where people can comment in real-time, share photos, and connect with other grieving friends and family.

“People are lonely and alone,” Wojciechowski says. “We make every effort to include everyone who wants to participate.” Currently, they are planning larger-scale remembrances six months down the line, waiting for more conducive times. “Families find comfort in knowing they can come together in the near future.”

Babione and Wojciechowski were lucky that they experienced no shortages of supplies and Wojciechowski is heartened that his staff and community have come together.

“People are going the extra mile,” he says. “It restores your hope in people.”

On a personal level, he says some days are more trying than others and he turns to both his daughter and his dog for comfort. Additionally, he says, “I find comfort knowing I’m helping families remember their loved ones and celebrating their lives.”

With a large elderly population of Jewish seniors in Boca Raton, many of whom have ties to hard-hit New York, the Jewish funeral homes worked long and hard in the beginning of March.

Steven Kanowitz, 78, the funeral director at Gutterman’s, which has locations in Boca Raton and Long Island, NY, was in the thick of the pandemic. His staff worked from 7:30 am-12 midnight from March through July. “They got up in the dark and went home in the dark,” he said. “It was the toughest time we ever had.”

“The pandemic is a total heartbreak both for families and for our staff,” says  Kanowitz, who has been in the business for 60 years. “It’s always on my mind.”

He noted that many casket companies were stressed for inventory, and flight delays and cancelations had a big impact on the transport of bodies from Florida to New York.

“I had to stay in constant contact with families to make sure their loved ones arrived safely,” he remembers.

Kanowitz, who describes himself as a happy person in a sad business, said he has empathy for people who’ve lost their loved ones.

“You need to be sensitive and put yourself in other people’s shoes,” he says.

Not a stranger to disasters, Kanowitz worked with many families in New York after Sept. 11 and knew 22 people personally that he had to bury.

“But,” he says, “You can’t compare; the COVID-19 pandemic is the toughest time we’ve seen.”

Keith Kronish of Kronish Funeral Services adjacent to Century Village in Boca Raton had a similar experience.

As a designated essential worker, Kronish never shut down and worked from home. Following CDC guidelines and those of the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA), Kronish says funeral directors were quietly and respectfully taking care of their communities and doing everything they could.

“We worked around the clock, not by the clock,” he says.

He characterizes the difference between the virus’s impact in New York and Florida as the outbreak in New York was more acute, while the outbreak in Florida was more chronic. In New York, cemeteries, which usually accommodate six to eight burials a day had to do as many as 20.

“There’s not enough days in the week to accommodate all these burials,” Kronish says.

In some respects he said the virus has been an equalizer.

People of means who may have wanted to hire a private plane to fly their loved one home found that private planes didn’t accommodate caskets.

He recounts a sad story from one of the worst months of the outbreak. A traditionally observant family whose loved one died from the virus, had only the rabbi, the wife, and one of the three children at the gravesite service.

The other two children stayed in the car and in normal times, as many as 400 to 500 people could have been in attendance.

Despite the traditional Jewish prohibition of open caskets, Kronish said many families were comforted to view their loved ones in the casket for a last viewing.

“They want to know their loved one is at peace,” he
said.

Usually in Jewish tradition, there is a quick turnaround from the time of death to the time of burial, which was delayed by the circumstances, says Kronish.

Also, the traditional 7-day mourning period in Jewish tradition, known as the shivah, was canceled.

“Emotionally, this was very difficult for many families,” said Kronish.

“But, we adapted quickly,” he says. “We got very proficient on Zoom, our phones, and iPads and ordered enhanced camera and sound capabilities so that people in multiple states could participate in the services.”

On the other hand, Mike Sirowitz, director of the Beth-El Mausoleum in Boca Raton (the only mausoleum on the grounds of a synagogue in North America), said he has not seen a major increase in need over the past eight to nine months.

He estimates he’s had eight burials due to the virus.

However, like Wojciechowski at Babione, he says his numbers may not be a fair representation of the number of deaths, as the virus has hit harder in communities of color and lower socio-economic status.

He also notes that there was a parallel decrease in other causes of deaths, such as accidents (including car accidents) or heart attacks from playing sports, as people stayed home.

One change Sirowitz has seen is a 30 percent to 40 percent increase in pre-need sales. Usually, he says people are reluctant to prepare for this eventuality, but COVID-19 has brought the issue to the forefront.

“COVID-19 is a wake-up call for many and has created a sense of urgency,” he says.

With a vaccine on the horizon, things are looking up and spring offers new possibilities of hope.

“I don’t know when we will be through this, but I know we will come through it OK,” Wojciechowski says.

“People are feeling lonely and isolated in these trying times,” he says. “You can’t put a price on how much a hug means to someone when they’re grieving,” he says.

“I wish I could hug and console my clients,” says Wojciechowski. “I miss that and am looking forward to when I can hug them again.”