#judaism
Women Of The Torah: Sarah / שָׂרָה
Some Jewish kids go to Narnia and the White Witch is endlessly frustrated because she wants to make it always winter but never Hanukkah, but she doesn’t follow the Hebrew calendar so she can’t accurately predict when it’s supposed to be.
I was going to scroll past this but then I stopped to think about it and now I just have to ask:
would Elijah show up in this version of the story to give the kids swords and wine?
“But why won’t you give me a weapon?” asked Lucy. “I’m sure I could fight if I needed to.”
“Because you have not yet reached the age of bat mitzvah,” said the prophet. “I would not place such responsibility upon you before our laws count you as ready.”
Purim: They tried to kill us, we survived. Let’s tell the story, wear silly costumes, and get wasted. (Optional: have a carnival or a play!)
Passover: They enslaved us, God freed us. Remember this via a big ceremony/feast and then don’t eat bread for a week. This is a big one; you’re going to have to clean your house and host all your relatives.
Tu B'Shevat: It’s Earth Day, let’s eat some fruit.
Simchas Torah: We read the entire Torah every year, and we got to the end! Let’s have a dance party and then start all over again!
Tisha B'Av: They destroyed our temples. That sucked.
Rosh HaShanah: Happy New Year! It’s time to ask (and grant) forgiveness for the wrongs done in the past year, pledge to do better, and wish for a sweet new year. And go to synagogue for HOURS.
Yom Kippur: Rosh HaShanah’s somber counterpart. God decides on this day your fate for the next year. Repent your sins, hope for forgiveness, and fast. (And go to synagogue for HOURS.)
Yom HaShoah: Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Sukkot: Harvest festival! Sleep in a hut under the stars.
Shemini Atzeret: Man, I don’t even know?
Shavuot: God gave us the Torah! That was pretty nice of him.
Chanukah: They busted up our temple and tried to forcibly convert us. We responded with guerilla warfare. Let’s eat some fried food. Candles!
So basically the entire Jewish holiday calendar is giving the middle finger to death and high-fiving, with or without various combinations of prayer and foods.
Yup. Or as we say, “They tried to kill us, we survived, let’s eat.”
Jewish women drinking tea, Libya, the 1920s. Photo by Or Shalom
This time of year is always very nostalgic for me bc I used to be the Token Gentile at an office and every few months there’d be a Jewish holiday and my friend would be like “Hey, I need you to do Gentile things for us” and I’d be like hell yes dude. Gentile Things often meant I’d sign things in exchange for a few dollars on venmo but Pesach was a special time for me because it meant everyone gave me boxes of pasta, cereal, and other baked goods. The first time my friends were like “Hey for reasons we won’t bother getting into we’re going to give you all of our bread” I was like, it is a powerful responsibility but as an Ally I cannot refuse. Best time of the year, frankly
create or destroy water
conjure animals
infestation
conjure woodland beings
contagion
inflict wounds
ice storm
insect plague
darkness
power word kill
This was jsut a flatbread. I’d probably make it again, but with more cheese. Needs to remind me of something from bertucci’s
Also they use pork fat for this??? Is that kosher?? I thought all pig was offlimits. Have the peeps taught you nothing?
Anyways, that’s the cooking for this week. Let me know what you thought! Do you want to hear any more about any particular dish? Do you want to hear about anything else related to Jewish cooking? Feel free to send me an ask if you’re so inclined!
Much love to y’all and Happy Passover to those who celebrate ^_^
This recipe was created by Yotam Ottolenghi. It’s pretty nice but it required like…so much parsley and cilantro in it. The oxtail was also pretty good, but I think I’d try to fix this next time by incorporating some flour into the broth so it could thicken up more. That being said, it is currently a giant lump it seems in the refrigerator because all of the fat has coagulated on top. Which is partly disgusting and partly impressive.
This salad was pretty nice, but honestly functions better as a chilled side dish. It’s just carrots that get boiled briefly and then get a nice sauce on top of them. The cumin and the cinnamon pair nicely against each other well, rather intriguing! The spiciness of both work to bring each other out and really helped take the cinnamon out of the context of a dessert. Not surprising maybe because the recipe hails from Morocco.
One of the most important parts of Passover to me is the removal of wine from our glasses for each of the ten plagues because we are not supposed to take pleasure in the suffering of others, even those who oppressed us. It’s an important lesson we shouldn’t forget. Schadenfreude is poison for the soul.