Bamidbar finds our ancestors still Bamidbar Sinai, in the wilderness/desert of Sinai. Throughout the 5 books of the Torah, we really do spend a lot of time Bamidbar Sinai. I noted that the Hebrew of "midbar" both gets translated as wilderness and desert. I know that Hebrew often has words cover more meanings than English, as it is a sparser language overall, but it also led me to think
about the differences between a wilderness and desert and why God chose to give the Torah in the midbar and why have the Israelites live there for so long. There are many other commentaries/midrash about why the midbar, so this is a great potential Shabbat dinner topic of discussion. For me, the key for Midbar Sinai is that it is an isolated, uninhabited, and not particularly human-friendly environment. I see this as the right breeding ground for the relationship between God and Israelites to form a strong bond. The Israelites need to rely on God for food (manna) and water (Miriam's well.) They are not distracted by other tribe's culture, traditions, religious practices, or armies. So, in honor of the midbar, I wanted a food that looks kind of like a desert. There are a bunch of options, but this year I am going to go with Blondies. I have a recipe from The Joy of Cooking, but if you have a recipe you love, share it please!
While reading the parsha a particular name caught my attention - Nachson Ben Aminadav. I first heard this name when Congregation Beth El in Voorhees decided to take their confirmation class teens to Israel. It was during a time of tension in Israel and many trips had not been going. Beth El named the trip "Nachsonim" and told the midrash about Nachson Ben Aminadav being the first one to enter the waters of the red sea, and how it was his faith in God, demonstrated before the
people, that led to the seas parting. I hadn't realized that Nachson was also the named prince of the tribe of Judah. I dug a little deeper and also found that he is named as the brother of Elisheva, Aaron's wife. I think it's cool to see a character thread throughout the Torah and Midrash. It's also a good reminder that each person named in the Torah (and, for that matter, that we meet in our lives) has a bigger story than the one we hear. In honor of Nachson, I wanted to make something water colored. I found this cool blue (purplish) rice recipe and we're going to give that a try. (another fun idea is blue corn tortillas and making Nachos (punny!).
Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!
Comentários