Little things

"Don't sweat the small stuff" says a popular opinion. This week's parasha seems to disagree. The whole parasha is about what might be considered "small stuff". Most religions deal with "Big stuff": G-d (or gods) and man's relationship with Him, what man owes G-d, what G-d does for man, how to please G-d, how to not incur His wrath and so on. There are, to be sure, rules about how to treat your fellow man, but on the whole they are general rules: Be kind to each other, be fair, make sure others also follow the rules (hence every bad thing that any religion ever led people into.) But mostly religion is supposed to be (says popular opinion) about G-d.

Judaism certainly deals with the relationship between G-d and humans. Most of Leviticus is about it. But then come parashot like this week's and make us re-think our "popular opinion."

Moshe, (who, remember, is trying to cram a whole life-time's worth of advice into one speech) is listing a bunch of rules that don't seem to have much in common. They cover subjects as diverse as misbehaving kids, adultery, loan-sharking, agricultural practices and nesting birds, to name a few.

Upon close reading, though, it is very clear that they all have one thing in common. They all instruct the Israelites to be considerate of each other in ways that most ancient cultures (and many cultures today) never even thought of. It goes beyond "give charity" to "protect the poor person's dignity". Beyond "protect the weak" to "seek justice for the weak who have not been properly protected". This is a much higher level of social justice. It is a plan for developing a social conscience.  And it is all about seemingly little things, small stuff, details (where, popular opinion says, G-d is.)

We sometimes take our society's morals for granted. We tend to forget that most human societies (past and present) are quite worthless when it comes to how they treat their weakest members. Ki Tetze comes to remind us that our Torah was worried about our behavior as a group, as well as our behavior as individuals, towards those who will offer little or no reward if we treat them well. Human nature being what it is, G-d figured out He'd better make it a law to take care of the weak. Not everyone has a social conscience.

Last week I went shopping with my daughter. She refused to go to the first store I suggested, claiming it doesn't treat its workers right. We ended up at a different store, with less variety and higher prices but we felt really good about ourselves.

It's the little things that count. By all means, do sweat the small stuff.

Like, what to do with leftover challah. It's not brain surgery and it won't solve global warming. It's small stuff (I mean, how much challah do you really have leftover?) but it teaches your kids to not throw out food (when so many people go hungry) and maybe they will then be saved from being "wayward and rebellious" (D'varim 21:20) and it will make you feel good all over (hey, healthy comfort food? what can be better?)

Yellow squash bake

(With thanks to the magazine Vegetarian Times, which saves me a lot of grief and headaches)

3 Tbs butter

1 1/4 cups fresh breadcrumbs (that's where your leftover challah comes in, tear it up and toss in the food processor, pulse until you have nice fat crumbs and proceed)

2 Tbs finely chopped parsley

1 small onion, chopped (1 cup)

1/2 Lb yellow crookneck squash, diced (2 cups)

3 cups cherry tomatoes (I actually prefer grape tomatoes, but even a regular tomato, diced, works well)

1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp)

1/2 cup grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese (I used Parmesan with great success, too)

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat butter in skillet over medium heat until melted. Pour 2 Tbs butter over breadcrumbs in a bowl. Stir in parsley.

Return skillet to burner and increase heat to medium-high. Add onion and cook 7-9 minutes, or until beginning to brown. Stir in squash and cook 4 minutes. Add tomatoes and garlic and cook 2 minutes more, or until tomatoes are warmed through. Season with salt, if desired.

Transfer to prepared baking dish. Sprinkle cheese on top. Spread breadcrumbs mixture over cheese.

Bake 30-35 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

Serve hot.

Serves 4