לֹא-תַעֲשֶׂה כֵן, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: כִּי כָל-תּוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר שָׂנֵא, עָשׂוּ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶם--כִּי גַם אֶת-בְּנֵיהֶם וְאֶת-בְּנֹתֵיהֶם, יִשְׂרְפוּ בָאֵשׁ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶם.
It may be hard to imagine, but several thousand years ago people sacrificed their children on altars to gods. Here the Torah teaches us that is not right, not proper. We might think, how could anyone do such a thing, burn their children alive as a sacrifice, but there are archaeological findings that show this really did happen.
I read this while sitting in shul, listening to Parshat Re’eh, the Torah portion for the past week. And I spoke with a friend, an older friend who has had many experiences in life. She said that pasuk can be open to many interpretations, but she thinks of her friends whose children did not stay in the Jewish world, who married out. She feels they sacrificed their children. I think of this occurring today in a more concrete way, as unfortunately some children are taught at a very young age (5) to hate, to hold a gun, to kill, to blow themselves up and be a martyr and to kill as many Jews as possible in the process. See summer camp in Gaza.
I’m going to try to write something about the parsha each week, though that has proven to be a difficult task. Some weeks are so busy one can’t even think straight. Other weeks, I get a chance to look at the parsha, but I can’t find one particular theme that motivates me enough to write a post. I’ll keep working at this. It should get easier, one would think, the more years one tries to write about the parsha.
Oh, and Gila did a wonderful job on this week’s Haveil Havalim.
On Loss
Received a treasured thank you note in response to the card I sent.
Here’s a quote from the card (Habakuk 2:4):
“The righteous shall live through his faith”
צַדִּיק, בֶּאֱמוּנָתוֹ יִחְיֶה
On Community
I am thankful that I belong to a wonderful community here in Highland Park, both the Jewish community and my little borough as a whole. I am glad Batya, Jack, SoccerDad (good philosophy joke here) and Jameel believe there is a Jewish community online, because I value it very much, as I express myself better on my keyboard than I do verbally. And I love all the wonderful bloggers I have met, of many backgrounds and from a multitude of countries.
On one post RivkA with a capital A of Coffee and Chemo wrote:
If you comment, you are a part of the community.
On Loss and Community
Community is especially important at a time of loss. This morning, a blogger Twittered that she had lost a favorite aunt. I expressed my sadness to her in a responding Tweet. (If you want to follow me on Twitter, I'm leoraw). Online community can be special; it can be a way of saying, hey, I'm having a hard time here. Does anyone else get this? And hopefully, someone does.
Art fans: please visit A Simple Jew today for a little treat. I’m planning to post the painting here on my blog tomorrow.
This was sort of like an art challenge, similar to the photo challenges one finds on blogs. It started with his asking me to write something, but I wanted to paint something.
Here’s a quote he sent to me as a suggestion:
The Degel Machaneh Ephraim taught that a person must have two abilities if he wants to be able to serve Hashem in absolute truth and sincerity. First, a person must have the ability to visualize that he is alone in the world with only his Creator. Second, he must be able to join himself to all of Hashem’s creations, no matter how big or small, and to all the neshamos of His people.
I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this, but after a few emails, we came up with the idea of a man in a forest near a stream contemplating. Another watercolor will be posted next week.
Spencer Rockman, a friend and a wonderful local soccer coach who also runs clinics in Israel, was recently on PBS (public television). He starts:
I am a soccer coach. I am also an observant Jew. It was God’s plan for me to be a soccer coach.
In the video, he shows how he leads diverse groups of children here in New Jersey, teaching them not just soccer but values. Two of my friend’s sons are shown (quickly, the scenes change often in the video). He makes us proud!
Watch the whole video.
Featured is also his wife, who talks about the foster children they have had in their home.
Here’s a photo I took of him at a recent shul picnic:
As the last Kosher Cooking Carnival came out at the beginning of the Three Weeks, I think it appropriate that I dedicate this one to Tu B’Av and women dressed in white who would go into the fields to dance. In days of old, women were said to dress up in white clothes and dance in the fields:
The Mishnah Taanit (4:8) relates that Tu be-Av was a day for making shiduchim (matches), albeit without the intermediary services of the shadchen (matchmaker):
Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel used to say that there there were no days more joyous than Tu be-Av and Yom Kippur.
[On these days] the maidens of Jerusalem would go out bedecked in borrowed white clothing (in order not to embarrass those who did not own any) . . . And the maidens of Jerusalem went out and danced in the vineyards. And what did they say? “Young man, check us out and decide whom you like.” [*]
Let’s pretend your sister or third cousin once removed has just finished dancing in the field; now it’s time to eat.
If you want some nice conversation, you could talk about “umami” and Torah as the “spice of life”. But I would suggest you wait until after the meal if you want to discuss Rafi’s post on Shechita.
If you would like to discuss hechsherim and the kashrut of restaurants, Rafi posts on kashrut in Jerusalem restaurants and then updates. Larry Lennhoff says this is how kashrut certification should be done.
Lion of Zion asks: is it “assur” (forbidden) to eat at home in Brooklyn during the Nine Days?
What would make a nice summer meal?
A lovely bean salad by Tamar Fox.
A cancer-preventing fruit salad with thyme.
I made a soup from my Farmers Market produce. And I grew an edible flower.
Gazpacho time:
Juggling Frogs suggested Leah Koenig’s gazpacho posted on the Jew and the Carrot.
Gail teaches us how to make her gazpacho.
If you don’t want to spend a lot, but you like delicious food:
One way to really keep it simple is to go out for some bagels.
On the other hand if you really want to live it up and make this meal extra-special, check out the wine selections at http://www.kosherwinereview.com/. Personally, I like Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. Anything by the Galil Mountain Winery is going to be delicious; we tasted their wine our recent trip to Israel.
Raizy presents us with recipes from the Land of the Magyars.
We could have an elegant meal with Ilana-Davita’s chicken teriyaki or Baroness Tapuzina’s chicken paprika. Ilana-Davita’s roasted peppers would make a lovely side dish.
Like pasta? Try frumskeptic’s Fettucine Alfredo.
Batya teaches us how to roast vegetables in the oven.
Check out Mother in Israel’s new griddle and chickpea patties recipe.
Kosher Whine has a delicious recipe for Swiss Chard. Bet that might work with kale, too.
Here’s a really easy fish recipe.
Our options for dessert:
And I made it this past Shabbat, without the dairy frosting, so it was pareve. And delicious!
For a dairy meal, you could make the Kosher Blog’s Strawberry shortcake with cream on top.
Or try this easy Shabbat cake.
Not enough recipes? Here’s a blog called Cooking with Yiddishe Mama.
B’Taavon. (= Bon Appetit in Hebrew)
Finally, if you want to organize your recipes, Frumhouse has some nice suggestions. Here’s the cover of her Pesach recipes binder:
Thank you to
Batya for founding and managing the Kosher Cooking Carnivals. Thank you to
Ilana-Davita for reading the top of this post and giving feedback (or should that be foodback?). Thanks to
Lion of Zion for his
great Tu Be'Ab Primer. Thanks to Whistler for being a great painter. Thanks to
Juggling Frogs for submitting suggestions.
If you missed participating in this edition, September is coming soon!
Submit an article on anything related to kosher food.
Batya is looking for more hosts; please contact her to volunteer: shilohmuse at yahoo dot com
Tzlafchad. That is one long name. A real mouthful. But what’s more interesting are his daughters, and what we can learn from their ancient petition to Moshe.
Here’s what they asked Moshe (Numbers 27:3-4):
Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not among the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he had no son? Give unto us a possession among the brethren of our father.
So Moshe brings their case to God, and God says to Moshe that they should be allowed to possess their father’s land.
A while back I reviewed an essay in a book called Torah of the Mothers. One of the essays in this book, written by Sarah Idit (Susan) Schneider, discusses “The Daughters of Tzlafchad: Toward a New Methodology of Attitude Around Women’s Issues”. I can’t share the entire essay with you; for that, you will need to read the book yourself. However, I can relate to you some of the highlights of the essay, especially the ones I found compelling.
Why is it that women look to the example of the daughters of Tzlafchad? Sarah Schneider suggests they got their timing correct (they asked Moshe at the right time), and they asked in a respectful manner. She quotes Bava Batra 119b as a source for these attributes of their petition, and she further states that they trusted in God.
But it is not just the daughters of Tzlafchad that got something right here. Moshe, too, showed his exemplary behavior as their leader, in that he had empathy for their dilemma. He respected their love of the land, and so he prayed for a favorable verdict. Sarah Schneider writes:
The Torah is teaching a powerful lesson to the Rabbis of today. If they are to imitate Moshe (which they must strive to do) then they must find a place of deep and authentic compassion for the women who approach them with halakhic petitions. Their empathy should be so compelling that it moves them to prayer.
To me, as I review Sarah’s essay, I find the key here is the connection, the relationship. The Daughters of Tzlafchad had a certain basic trust in Moshe, and he had an understanding, an empathy for their needs. It is important to show respect for a leader; at the same time, for someone to be a true leader, the person needs to be a true listener.
Over 2000 years ago, Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces breached the walls of Jerusalem after many years of siege. So today observant Jews around the world fast, a fast called the 17th of Tammuz. It is hard for me to be sad on this day; my family greatly enjoyed visiting Jerusalem recently, and I had the opportunity to photograph ruins such as this one. But I can be contemplative. Yes, contemplative, that is a good word for today.
Jameel has more bad stuff that happened today. And hope for redemption.
When I photographed this guy in early July at Ein Gedi, I didn’t know what he was. Cute, that’s for sure. Turns out he’s (or she?) a hyrax, an animal that frequents these parts.
Does this look at all like a bunny rabbit? Because in Modern Hebrew, a shafan is a rabbit. But in ancient Hebrew, the word shafan probably applies to a hyrax. See Psalms 104:18 —
The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the conies.
הָרִים הַגְּבֹהִים, לַיְּעֵלִים; סְלָעִים, מַחְסֶה לַשְׁפַנִּים
Conies are the translation of shefanim and supposedly refer to these furry fellows.
For more on nature at the Dead Sea, see:
If you like animal photos, see Dina on Parshat Balak.
And to read more inspiring posts by other inspiring bloggers, visit Jack’s Haveil Havalim #173.
