Taste a Rainbow

In this week's parasha, it's all about the flood. The rainbow is almost an afterthought. Yet I believe that, from G-d's point of view, the flood was an unfortunate necessity, whereas the rainbow is the main point. After all, the flood was a correction of a past situation. Once everyone was dead, it was over and done with. Sort of like a good parent: if punishment is needed, hand it out. Once it's over, it's over. And we are to move on to the next item on the agenda. The rainbow, on the other hand, is forever. It is a sign to remind both us and G-d that if we don't watch our tempers, bad, regrettable things will happen.

As such, the rainbow is a puzzle. If the idea was to remind us of the flood, why is it so beautiful? The flood was not very attractive, to say the least. Of course, we all know, why. Because the rainbow is to remind us of the promise to not bring a flood of such proportions any more. And promises of loving kindness, of forgiveness and of acceptance are very beautiful. 

I like to think of G-d looking at the rainbow and remembering that, despite our insanely annoying ways, despite our stubborn insistence on (almost) always doing the wrong thing, despite our childish disregard of common sense, G-d still sees us as beautiful rainbows. He still sees our potential, our multicolored abilities and our worthiness. 

In Psalms chapter 8, verses 4-6, the psalmist says that, when he looks at G-d's mighty and awe-inspiring creations, he is amazed that humans count for anything at all; never mind hold a place in creation that is as close to G-d as possible. 

Isn't that what the rainbow is there to remind us of? G-d's promise to love us even when we are naughty and flawed. And He is using one of his more beautiful creations to do it. Something that is so wonderful and amazing that when we see it, we feel totally awed. Even when you know exactly how a rainbow happens, even if you spend years studying light frequencies and the mechanisms of refraction and reflection, you will still look up at a rainbow with breathless wonder. And you will still say "Oh, look, a rainbow" and feel a little uplifting of your heart.

So this week, forget about the flood, and Noah, and the logistics of fitting all those animals into one ark, and the endless fighting that the stress of so many days of rain must have brought about (is it any wonder he got drunk at the first opportunity?) and the dove and the olive branch (much good these two have been doing in the middle east lately) and focus on the rainbow. Forget the disaster and focus on the hope and the beauty and the knowledge that someone loves us even when we misbehave.

So. No recipes. Just ideas and you can play around with them:

Rainbow salad 
(since it's too hot for soup, flood notwithstanding)

Simply arrange in an arc on a large platter, in the following order:
Grape tomatoes; baby carrots (or carrot sticks); sliced yellow bell pepper; sliced avocado; thinly sliced red onion (which is actually purple). If you want to get super fancy, place baby blue potatoes, cooked whole, in between the avocado and onion (or you can use blue corn tortilla chips and your kids will love you for it, even if your hips won't.) Mix some vinaigrette and pour all over or serve as crudites with a dipping sauce of your choice.


 

I thought long and hard about a main course and finally had to surrender to the inevitable:  
Rainbow trout. 

Grill it with a little butter and fresh herbs of your choice. And if you have a better idea, please let me know. 




Rainbow orzo 

You can use another grain (rice, brown rice, quinoa, Israeli couscous, regular couscous, whatever). Cook it according to package instructions and add: cubes of red bell pepper, peas and carrots, corn kernels, red onion (cubed) and spices of your choice. Before mixing all these into the grain, saute the onion in a little butter or olive oil until soft, add pepper and keep cooking until starting to soften (2-3 minutes), add the rest of the veggies. spices to your taste and a little water (1-2 Tbs at most.) Cook, covered for 5 minutes or so, just until everything is a little tender. Then mix with the grain.




Rainbow cake

Use a ready mix (or your own mix) and make enough for 3 low round white cakes. After you mix the basic ingredients, add different food coloring to each cake and bake as usual. You can choose whatever colors you like: red, yellow and blue seem to work best for some reason, but feel free to use what you like (or have on hand). Once the cakes are cool, stack them (you can use colored frosting between layers) and then frost to your heart's content and cover the cake with colorful small candy (m&m, maybe?) in stripes of rainbow colors (or use rainbow sprinkles.)

Or -

Rainbow diet cake

Like with the salad, arrange the following in order: Raspberries (or strawberries); mandarin oranges (or a regular orange, sectioned and sliced); pineapple chunks; kiwi slices; blueberries (you can use dried or frozen if you must); purple grapes. Serve with or without a sweet dipping sauce. 
If you call it cake, you may not feel so deprived when looking at everyone enjoying the rainbow cake while you have to suffer through all the fruit.




When things look bad, it's easy to remember only the flood. But remember, too, that it takes both rain and sunshine to make a rainbow. And it's the rainbow that counts at the end.

Beginnings and endings

When we first met him, he was about to die. Had he died then, he would have been lost in history, unknown, unimportant and with not a single deed to his name.

And here he is about to die again. For real this time. But what a difference 120 years make. There is no chance anyone will ever forget Moshe. He has behind him years of greatness and loads of achievements. He has been the most important person in Jewish history (can't think of anyone before or after that is/was as essential to the Jewish nation as Moshe.)

Plenty has been written about the last two parashot of the Torah, but it's almost time for lighting candles for Rosh Hashana so I won't bug you with more preaching and learned discussions. Just this: Like Moshe, let us all try to live our lives in such a way that when we stand at the top of our mountain, we will know that our lives had been worth something to more than just ourselves; that it was a great thing we did not drown in the Nile and that we have achieved greatness (even if just in a small way), made a difference in at least one person's life and did at least one thing to be remembered by.

Think back to where you were last year on this day. Are you in a better place? Do you have a plan for being in an even better one next year on erev Rosh Hashana? What needs to be done in order to get there? 

No recipe (seriously, is there anyone out there who is not sick of cooking right now?). Just an idea. Something you can do with the kids just before dinner to keep them busy:









 Pick an apple that can stand well by itself (or slice a small layer from the bottom). Slice open the top, empty it carefully (maybe with a melon ball spoon or an apple core thingie), brush the inside with lemon juice to prevent browning, fill with honey. If you have a lot of kids and they are really antsy, you can make enough for everyone at the table (since you have nothing to do right now and had spent the last three days at the spa...)




May we all have a year full of health, happiness and, most of all, peace.

Walk like an Egyptian?

Not. This week's parasha states clearly: "Do not do as the Egyptians do". This stands in complete contrast to "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." (Although, to be fair, maybe we can just do as the Romans do but not as the Egyptians. Hmmm.)

Was there nothing to learn from the Egyptians? Or the Greeks? Or the Romans? Or the very cultural Germans.....

Jews have learned a great deal from all the nations they came in contact with. It's human nature. And it's a good thing, on the whole. If people do not share knowledge, everyone would still be living in caves. And the Egyptians had plenty that was worth knowing. They had vast knowledge of math, astronomy, agriculture. Not to mention architecture. So what exactly are we to not do as they do? Well, says the parasha, keep G-d's commandments. OK, that makes sense. Surely the other nations do not do that. So this is about not worshiping false idols. Fine. But then I keep reading (I know, I'm very annoying like that) and the very next verse says "Observe my rules and my laws which a person would do and shall live through them". So there is a greater reason here. Don't just not do as the Egyptians (and the people of Kna'an) do. Keep the laws of G-d that are blueprint for human living. 

Where are the people of Kna'an? The grand kingdom that used to be Egypt? Where is the Mighty Roman Empire? They did not observe the laws and rules that are apparently essential for living. Who did? We did. Where are the Jews? Everywhere. 

And every time Jews forgot to "Not do as the Egyptians do" - they usually joined the ranks of the 'Egyptians' and shared their destiny.

However, one thing that Jews did adopt was the local cuisine. Which is why the term "Jewish food" is a misnomer. There is no "Jewish food". There is only food that Jews adapted to fit their dietary laws everywhere they lived. So don't think that your matzoh ball soup is "Jewish". Or your latkes. Or chopped liver. They are simply kosher adaptations of Eastern European goyisheh food. Nothing wrong with that. People have to eat and if you hanker after pork pate, you may be tempted. So your creative wife (it's always the women who save the day, isn't it?) came up with a perfectly acceptable substitute and all is well.

And the trend continues. What will a Jewish wedding be today without sushi? 

So here is another adaptation. One that you may be well aware of and may even be using on a semi regular basis. But if you don't - here is a little idea that will make dinner much messier but great fun.

Tacos are a lot of fun both to make and to eat. The problem with tacos is that they contain both meat and cheese. So, if you have not yet figure this out - I suggest you divide and conquer (Wait, this is what many ruling Empires did. Oops, guess we might have to bend the rule of "do not do as the Egyptians do" a little here)

Buy the shells. They are parve. Plan for two different dinners.

Dinner one is with meat. Serve the shells with 1. A bowl of browned ground beef, seasoned with a variety of spices (or buy a "Taco spice mix" packet) such as paprika, garlic, coriander, cumin, pepper, salt. 2. A bowl of chopped avocado. 3. A bowl of chopped olives. 4. A bowl of thinly sliced lettuce. 5. A bowl of salsa. 6. A bowl of chopped onions. 7. A bowl of chopped tomatoes. 
You can change the content of the bowls but meat, lettuce and salsa are a must.


Dinner two is dairy. Serve the shells with 1. A bowl of sour cream or Greek yogurt. 2. A bowl of chopped avocado. 3. A bowl of chopped olives. 4. A bowl of thinly sliced lettuce. 5. A bowl of salsa. 6. A bowl of chopped onions. 7. A bowl of chopped tomatoes. 8. A bowl of shredded cheese (cheddar is good but use your favorite) 9. A bowl of some kind of beans: re fried (you can get vegetarian kosher ones), baked beans (ditto) or leftover lentil stew (vegetarian, of course). 
Again, you can change the contents but you must have salsa, lettuce, cheese and beans.


As you may have noticed, this is very easy to make, a little confusing to serve and a pain to clean up after. But it's really a lot of fun and you can actually clean out the fridge this way. Don't let my lists intimidate you - add, subtract and change any of the ingredients. Use what you like or what you have on hand. Have fun with your food. You can eat like the "Egyptians". Just don't do as they do. 



PS - this is also a great meal for Shabbat lunch in the summer.

Just a suggestion

It's very important to know exactly how to give advice. Take Yitro. He gave Moshe an excellent advice: "Look, son, you're running yourself ragged here. These Israelites will drive you to an early grave. Trust me, I know. Heck, everyone knows. Jews are world class kvetchers. Here's what you need to do. Delegate; Delegate; Delegate."

That is, as I said, excellent advice. However, Yitro must have been close friends with both my mother and my mother in law. Like these two excellent advice-givers, he, too, starts off with the Jewish mother's famous words "What you're doing is not good." After such an opening, how do you expect the advised to pay any attention?

My mother never offers advice. She simply tells me what I'm doing wrong and how typical it is of me to be wrong. Then she sighs and utters the second famous Jewish mother's words "I told you what I think. You do what you want." 

My MIL doesn't tell me I am wrong (after all, she really has no expectations of me at all.) Instead she uses the words "Not right" and "Shouldn't." As in "You shouldn't let your kids do their homework on Shabbat" (Since I just finished telling her that Shabbat is the only day the poor girls don't kill themselves over their work.) Or "It's not right of you to feed your family pizza on Friday" (Remember that one?)

So I know what I'm talking about regarding the proper opening lines for giving advice. OK, so how did Yitro get so lucky that Moshe not only listened, not only did not resent him but actually followed the advice? Because one thing we keep hearing about Moshe is that he is very humble. Not just before G-d (see his words at the burning bush) but before people, too. 

You'd think the man will get a megalomania complex. Leader of people, emancipator of slaves, teacher of a sacred text, the only human to talk face to face with G-d. What more can one ask for?

But no. He is really, really humble. He listens to everyone; he considers everyone; he never once uses his position for extra favors. So it's no surprise that he pays close attention to his father in law when the old guy gives him a tip.

I'm not as smart as Yitro (nor as old, I think) but at least I will not start my advice with "What you are doing is not good."

What you are doing is throwing away unwanted pieces of vegetables when you cook. Mushroom stems, cauliflower leaves, broccoli stems, the dark green parts of leeks, bits and pieces of zucchini, carrots, squash, whatever. Also veggies that are not quite at their prime usually get tossed (unless you make soup.) Then you read a recipe that calls for vegetable broth and you go to the store and pay good money for some product that is mostly water with salt.

So here's a tip:


Home made vegetable broth

Every time you process veggies for anything, take an extra 2 minutes to process them in a way that will allow you to save the parts you usually throw out. Usually it means some extra washing and more careful chopping. 
Put all scraps in a gallon size zip-top bag and store in the freezer. Keep adding to it whenever you have more scraps.
Once the bag is stuffed to bursting, empty it into a large pot, add an onion (if you don't have any scraps of the onion-y type), whatever old veggies you have on hand (limp celery, dried out baby carrots, any and all root veggies that are past their prime, whatever*.) Cover with water. Add salt only if you want to. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover, cook for 2-3 hours. 
Strain. Throw out veggies. Now you have broth (with or without salt, your choice.) You can freeze it, can it, whatever. We put it in jars and process (like canning.)The important part is to store it in portions so you don't have to use the whole thing at once.
When you have to cook something that calls for broth (or even rice or quinoa) you can use it and feel virtuous and smart.

*As you get used to this process - you will think of other veggie scraps you can save for the broth. Please let me know which veggies you came up with.