Moonwalking

In this week's parasha, Moshe says to the people of Israel "This thing that G-d asks of you is not up in the sky that you have to say 'who will go up to the sky and bring it to us'; nor is it at the bottom of the sea that you might say 'who will go to the bottom of the sea and bring it to us'."

In the millennia that  passed since Moshe said these words, man did go up in the sky and to the bottom of the sea. Did they bring back that which is so difficult for us to do?

A few weeks ago Neil Armstrong died. When he made his famous landing, someone asked the Lubavitcher Rebbe if the new horizons opened by this event negate any Jewish teachings. The answer was that to assume that we are the only settled planet in the universe is to limit G-d's greatness and that even though a man touched the moon, most men still cannot touch it (as stated during the blessing of the new moon.) So, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Moshe apparently anticipated this problem and he explained that what G-d asks of us is not far, nor is it difficult. It is right here in our hearts and in our mouths. Anyone can reach their own heart and their own mouth, can't they?

We used to have a saying in the IDF: "I can't" is first cousin to "I don't want to". Humans were given free choice. G-d gave it to us along with the ability to follow the Torah. The rest is up to us. Just as we can build submarines and explore the bottom of the sea; or spaceships to take us to the moon (or to Mars), so too, we can choose to believe in G-d, to love Him and to do that which He asked us to do.

Recently I have been feeling as if everything is too difficult. This summer was very harsh. Hot, dry, cruel. Everything hubby planted in the garden either did not grow, died or was eaten by the chipmunks. And then he started bringing eggplants in. Now, I have already discussed eggplants when he bought a small mountain of them at Restaurant Depot and I had to come up with many dishes to overcome it; but this is different. These eggplants are too small for eggplant Parmesan, too irregularly shaped to slice and fry and too delicate to chop and saute. And I can't eat anything fried when it's this hot outside. Now what?

Calorie free (I think) eggplant salad

Fire up your grill and cook the following:

3 large tomatoes

2 small hot peppers (I don't know what they're called. They're light green and chunky)

8 small eggplants (small are better since they are more tender but if not, use 3 large)

Grill everything until the peel chars. Put in a bowl and cover until cool enough to touch (I was too lazy so I didn't do anything until the next day.) Then peel tomatoes and peppers and scoop flesh out of the eggplants.

Chop everything roughly (or smoothly, get whatever consistency appeals to you) and add:

1 small, light green hot pepper (like banana pepper), minced

2 large garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped

Salt and pepper

Mix well. Serve chilled. Makes about one and a half cups.

We're getting very close to Yom Kippur, when our fate will be decided. "Who shall live and who shall die."

"And you shall choose life" Says D'varim 30:19. Wise choice. Not up in the sky, not at the bottom of the sea. Right here. In our hearts and in our mouths. Doable.