Who moved my bread?

This week's parasha opens with the importance of fertility. What good is anything we have if we have no children to leave our legacy to? For seven long and miserable years I had tried desperately to have children. Today is my oldest daughter's 16th birthday. When she was born, my sister called and said "Your efforts have paid off. You have made your dream come true". 

Who makes our dreams come true? where do our achievements come from? In D'varim chapter 8 verses 17 and 18, Moshe worries that we will forget where our power and riches come from. He worries that, once we'll achieve our goals, we will say to ourselves "It is our efforts that brought us all this. We made our dream come true." Now, Moshe, after all these years, knows what he's talking about. After all, who knows the Israelites better than he does? Here is how he describes us (D'varim 9:6) "...for you are a stiff necked people." And history has proven him perfectly correct. Jews are famous for being really annoying. But his greatest worry is that our stiff necked-ness will lead us astray. The parasha constantly talks about being careful to not go against G-d, to not forget His commandments, to remember, to keep the mitzvot, to not go after other gods or after our own evil inclinations. Apparently it is a very human trait to forget to whom we owe our success.   

So Moshe sneaks it in through the most popular bait: food. In chapter 8 he talks about bread. Man does not live on bread alone. Very true. You need cake, too, as Marie Antoinette later explained. So what else does man need? Wheat and barley, olive and pomegranate, honey, fig and grape. The yummy seven species of the promised land. And then, knowing how stiff necked we are and how very prone to believe we have achieved everything by our own efforts, he puts in a reminder. In verse 10 it says "and you shall eat, and you shall be sated and you shall bless Hashem your G-d for the the good land that He has given you." Ah-Ha!!

Who took us out of Egypt? Who fed us manna in the desert? And took care of all our other needs for forty years? Who is going to give us an excellent land? Who will help us overcome all our enemies? Who will provide for us? Who will make sure we have children to leave all our accumulated wealth to?

It's true we also have to work hard at our goals and should feel pride and satisfaction in our achievements. I certainly worked hard and suffered much for the privilege of having a child (and that was before she became a teenager) and I feel proud of the outcome of my efforts. But not for a second did I forget who was the true force behind everything that I have and everything that I am.And I thank G-d every day, every hour, every minute for this grumpy, sulking, know-it-all He has allowed me to help Him raise.

And in honor of her birthday, I will share her favorite bread. And since man (or woman) does not live on bread alone, we will add all kinds of stuff to the bread and you can feel free to enhance the bread with butter (a milk product), honey, or even (as we did) fig jam.

And don't forget to thank the One who made it all possible. If not for G-d, there would be no wheat (and I am not discounting the farmer's efforts.) Without G-d, who has given us our brains, how would we ever think to domesticate cows, milk them and churn butter? Or harvest honey? Or make jam out of figs?

And you shall eat. And you shall be sated. And you shall thank Hashem.

Cranberry walnut ciabata

2 cups lukewarm water

2 1/4 (1 package) active dry yeast)

1 tsp salt

4 cups flour (loosely packed)

2-3 Tbs dry cranberries

2-3 Tbs coarsely chopped walnuts

In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix together water and yeast.

Add flour and salt and mix until a somewhat sticky dough forms. Do not knead by hand.

Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest at room temperature for 8-12 hours (I leave it overnight so I can bake it in the morning before it gets too hot.)

Pre heat oven to 400F.

Sprinkle cranberries and walnuts evenly on surface of dough. Using your fingers, push the cranberries and walnuts into the dough. No need to mix them in. Just push them into the dough.

Sprinkle a little corn meal and flour on a large, heavy, flat baking sheet* and, tilting the dough bowl, let the dough slide to the baking sheet (if it's a really humid day, you may have to help the dough along.) You can reshape it a little into a somewhat rectangular shape but don't work too hard at it.

Bake at 400F for 25 minutes (it might not turn brown but take it out anyway.)

Remove from oven and let rest at least 10 minutes before you slice it.

This is a very heavy, dense bread that freezes quite well (if you freeze it already sliced, it is easier to defrost just the amount you need) and it is very filling.

* I had better success using baking paper but these are the original instructions. Use what you prefer.