parasha devarim

It’s enough already!

Israel stands at the brink. After 40 years, they’re about to leave the wilderness and cross the Jordan into the land that’s been promised to them—the land of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, Rachel, and Leah. In the first four books of the Torah, God is talking to us, their descendants, through Moshe. Now the Torah takes a huge twist—it’s Moshe himself who’s addressing us. In a way, this fifth book is a summary of the previous four, although there are places where new information is added and laws previously given are expounded upon.

Before Moshe begins to reiterate all the places they’ve been to and all that has occurred since they left Egypt, the parasha starts by telling us exactly where they are standing at that moment, geographically. I kind of skimmed over the words. These place names don’t mean much to me and I take no inspiration from them. Paran, Tofel, Lavan, Hazeroth, Di zahav, yada yada yada. But every time I find something in Torah dull, it turns out that it’s because I’ve failed to see the diamond hidden in the words.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out an oddity in that list of places. Di zahav. Where is it? No one knows. It’s not mentioned anywhere else in Tanach. But the meaning of “Di Zahav” is “enough gold.”

On the matter of the name of this “place,” our sages say this (Brachot 32a):

Moses spoke audaciously [hiti’ach devarim] towards Heaven . . . The school of R. Yannai learned this from the words Di-zahav. What do these words mean? They said in the school of R. Yannai: Thus spoke Moses before the Holy One, blessed be He: “Sovereign of the Universe, the silver and gold [zahav] which You showered on Israel until they said, ‘Enough’ [dai], was what caused them to make the calf . . . R. Hiyya bar Abba said: It is like the case of a man who had a son. He bathed him and anointed him and gave him plenty to eat and drink and hung a purse around his neck and set him down at the door of a house of ill-repute. How could he help sinning?

                                                                                                                                  Via Chabad.com

Moshe has the audacity to blame God for the sin of the golden calf. God told the Israelites, before they departed Egypt, to ask their neighbors for objects of silver and gold. They walked into the wilderness with pockets full of precious metals. What could they have possibly needed gold for on their journey?

Once again, Moshe is taking our part and standing up in our defense. Truly, the mark of a great leader is one who’s totally devoted to caring for and protecting those in their charge, even at great personal risk and sacrifice. Moshe challenges God.

I suppose it’s written into my genetic code—I am a self-confessed God Wrestler. It’s who I am; it’s who we are. Other religions would consider arguing with God to be a terrible sin, but not us. Our ancestor Jacob was given the name Israel—God Wrestler—after wrestling all night with an angel of God, refusing to let the angel go without first giving him a blessing. Our relationship with God is that personal. And, God sees our relationship as personal as well. Most often, when God addresses us, it’s not as The One who created Heaven and Earth. That’s a lofty position to take—one that we can intellectualize but not really relate to. Most often, God addresses us as The One who took us out of Egypt. God come down to our level and cared for us personally. This is a God we can relate to.

We can argue with God because we are created in the image of God.

So, what shall we eat?

The whole book of Devarim is Moshe’s swan song. Our greatest leader, our greatest teacher is about to leave this world and send us off across the river under the leadership of Joshua. Now everything, EVERYTHING about our lives, changes radically.

I’m thinking of doing something radical in the kitchen.

Food for Shabbat evokes an image that’s based on from whence you hail. Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Ethiopian, Indian, Yemenite…each group of Jews has their own “Shabbos food.” But I’m going out on the proverbial limb to say that what constitutes Jewish food is whatever it is that Jews are eating. And what makes it Shabbat food is that it’s special—that special care has been taken in the planning, the preparation, and the serving of the meal. But, I’m still going to begin this Asian-influenced meal with challah. I still need something traditional to hold on to, so that I don’t float away altogether …

We’re going to be doing some wrapping and rolling. It’s fun to do by yourself. It’s even more fun, and faster, with extra hands.

For the first course, we’re going to have Laotian summer rolls. Laotian summer rolls are, at their core, a refreshing and flavorful salad wrapped in rice paper, and served with a peanut dipping sauce. These are probably best made by older kids and adults, because the rice paper can get a bit fragile and fiddly for younger fingers.

Then we’re going to move on to a Thai-inspired wonton soup, and even my 6-year-old grandson can, and wants to, wrap the wontons.

These summer rolls are often prepared with shrimp or pork, but we’re not going that route. As usual, our meal can be vegetarian or omnivorian, and so I’m going to give you two choices for a Shabbat first course. You can fill them with the traditional vegetable ingredients only.

Or … are you ready for this … to all the traditional vegetable ingredients, I’m going to add some diced gefilte fish. The soft bites of fish with the vegetables work remarkably well. For this version I’ll add some horseradish mixed into the peanut sauce.

The wontons can be filled with chicken or beef, but I’m making a wonderful vegetarian filling with shiitake mushrooms and chestnuts that will be loved by everyone at the table. The broth can be made with chicken stock or vegetable broth.

Fried rice, which is snack food in Asia and a side dish in America, might seem odd for a Shabbat entrée. But, when it’s this richly flavored and filled with this many goodies, and when it’s presented artfully, it’s a most satisfying main course. With rice, protein, and plenty of vegetables, you really don’t need anything else on the plate.

Dessert is going to be super simple.  A fruit sorbet with fresh fruit will be lovely after this meal. I’m going with a big scoop of mango sorbet surrounded by diced fresh mango and halved lychees (fresh or canned work). But, you can do raspberry sorbet and mixed berries, or lemon sorbet with any and as many fruits as you like … you get the idea.

Menu for Parasha Devarim

Golden Shabbat Challah

Laotian Summer Rolls—with Gefilte Fish or Vegetarian

Peanut-Horseradish dipping sauce

Thai-Inspired Wonton Soup

With Shiitake Mushroom and Chestnut Wontons

Fabulous Fried Rice

Mango Sorbet

With diced mango and lychees

SHABBAT SHALOM!