Kissing cousins

There are two groups of people in this week's parasha who, because of their unconventional choices, are facing unconventional, and possibly undesirable, consequences. (Of course, there are a great many other things happening in the parasha since this is yet another of those double parashot, made up of two consecutive ones combined. One of these days I must research this issue and find out why certain parashot are combined.)

The two groups are totally different from each other. One is a huge group, made up of two and a half tribes. The other is a tiny group of only five women. Both groups have approached Moshe and asked to be treated differently than what was decided upon for everyone else.

We discussed the daughters of Tzelaphchad last week. They asked to be considered their father's heirs since he had no sons to inherit his estate. Moshe asked G-d and G-d had granted their request and even made it into a new and improved law. This week we meet the tribes of Gad, Reuven and half of the tribe of Menashe. They have a lot of cattle and they took a look at the land the Israelites were passing through (Eretz Gilead) and decided it was the perfect place for their cattle. They asked to be given that land as their portion, effectively eschewing their portion of the promised land. Moshe gets quite angry until they explain that they will first help the rest of the people to conquer the promised land, even going in front of everyone where the war is the most dangerous, and only then will they go back and settle their own part. They simply want to lay claim to this part right now and leave their families and cattle here. Moshe doesn't even ask G-d about this. He says yes. So the two and a half tribes have to "pay the price": being the spearhead of the war to conquer Kna'an, in order to be given a portion of their choice (everyone else will get their portion by lottery later.) Of course, this portion is not part of the land but hey, they got what they wanted.

What did the daughters of Tzelaphchad have to pay for "getting what they wanted"? Well, in the second part of our double parasha, the men from Tzelaphchad's tribe come to Moshe and say that if the girls inherit and later marry outside the tribe, their father's portion will be lost to his tribe as it will then belong to the girls' husbands. So the girls are to marry only men from their own tribe, thus keeping the land in the family. 

Marrying cousins is not so bad. My husband's parents are first cousins and for all we know, he and his brothers may have turned out like this anyway. I could never marry my cousin, though. For one thing, I was older than most of them, my mom being the first born of her family. And on my father's side I had mostly girl cousins and we didn't "do" gay marriage back in the dark ages. Besides, I wanted to experience new meshuggas; I was getting tired of my family's ones. And let me tell you, hubby and his family have provided me with many fascinating varieties of craziness that I never even suspected existed. Like beating each other up with scallions on Pesach. 

Worse, they consider fruit a legitimate dessert. Can you imagine? 

So I combine the best of both worlds and use an Eastern European recipe for the Iranian idea of 'fruit as dessert'. It's like having your cake and eating it too, which seems to be what the two and a half tribes were aiming for. Getting the portion of their choice while still being counted as part of the Israelites. 

Grapes and plums meringue cake

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 sticks of margarine

1/2 cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 Tbs lemon zest

Pinch salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup orange juice (no pulp)
Plums and grapes, halved (Approximately 3 cups of plum halves and 2 cups of grape halves)
1/2 cup of sugar, divided
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar

Mix first 8 ingredients to make dough. Wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.

Divide dough into two parts. Using your fingers, press each half into the bottom of a greased 9x13 baking pan.

Cover the dough completely with halved plums (preferably the ones called "fresh prunes" or "Italian plums") and halved green grapes. Sprinkle generously with sugar (about 1/4 cup per pan).

Bake in a preheated oven at 375F for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile beat 2 egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 1/2 cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

Take cakes out of the oven and spread beaten egg whites over the fruit (this is better done with a rubber spatula.) Return pan to oven for another 5-10 minutes until tops are slightly golden.

As the cakes cools, little dew drops will form along the meringue. That's fine. Also, it will not look like regular meringue. More like thin frosting. That's fine, too.

Cool cakes completely and store in fridge. Serve cold. 

Makes two cakes. And trust me, you wanna make two cakes as they are very refreshing, very light and disappear very fast. Perfect for Shabbat afternoon in the summertime. 

And if you have a marriageable cousin -  have I got a girl for him.