Memory

Moshe is ready. He has said everything there is to say. He is about to pass the leadership to his heir. He is done.

But G-d has something to say, too. G-d, who, of course, knows the future, tells Moshe that when he will die, the people will forget what he taught them, forsake G-d and turn to false idols. This will happen. G-d knows. All that can be done is to try and instill in the people some group memory that will ensure they will turn back to G-d when in the depth of despair and depravity. So G-d instructs Moshe to teach the people a poem that will help them make sense of things and maybe even help them find the way back. And He knows that they will use that memory when they are in the worst trouble. Maybe it will help them understand their suffering. Or accept it. Or overcome it. Or all three. 

Survivors of the holocaust tell of how religion sometimes helped them withstand the horrors of the camps. People would gather around anyone who remembered and could recite anything: a prayer, a few Torah verses, a blessing. They would listen to that person and warm themselves with his or her words. Being lucky enough not to have lived through the holocaust, we cannot truly understand how or why these words comforted them, but we can certainly relate this experience to this week's parasha. Words, recited verbally (as in poems), can serve as powerful tools of memory, invoking feelings long forgotten and offering comfort in the darkest of times. This may not have been G-d stated intention when He told Moshe to teach the poem to the people. His purpose was to remind them that He has predicted this suffering and it came upon them because of their sins. But humans have freedom of choice and people can choose to use the memory of Torah and Tefila as rays of hope for a better future.

My friend Aidella hosted a special evening a few months ago. We met the author of a book of recipes that were collected from holocaust survivors. It seems these people used to discuss recipes in great details while starving in the camps. I call that a victory of the human spirit. 

Here is my favorite one. You can find many more here: http://survivorcookbook.org/

 Lady's Whims Cake

6 Tbs vegetable oil

1/2 cup plus 3 Tbs sugar

1 Tbs vanilla

2 eggs, separated

1 1/2 cups flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup (or more) apricot or strawberry preserves

1. Mix together flour, baking soda and baking powder.

2. Cream oil and  1/2 cup sugar. Add vanilla, egg yolks and dry ingredients mix.

3. Knead well and spread in a greased pan (9x13).

4. Spread with jam and sprinkle walnuts.

5. Beat egg whites until stiff and add 3 Tbs sugar. Spread over the cake.

6. Bake in a pre-heated oven, at 350F for 25-30 minutes until the egg whites are golden.

It's Shabbat Shuva this week. The Shabbat of return. We hope to find the way back from the false idols we have been worshiping all year. We hope to invoke our racial memory and recall that, long ago and oh, so far away, we were living close enough to G-d that He would speak directly to our leaders. We want to remember, to repent and to return.

G'mar Khatima Tova.