This week's parsha has a pivotal moment for the Israelites in the desert - the episode of the spies. As they approach the land that is their ultimate destination, the promised land, God tells Moshe to have each tribe send a chieftain to scout out the land. When the scouts come back, they share
the news that the land is, indeed, blowing with milk and honey, and filled with fruit, so big that a cluster of it had to be carried by two men on a carrying frame. Unfortunately, for the scouts and the Israelite people, they also then say that the inhabitants are giants and that the Israelites can't hope to defeat them. This leads to a crisis of faith from the Israelites, and ultimately to the punishment that this generation of adults will die out in the desert and never reach the land of Israel.
I wonder if the enormous grapes actually made the story of the giant inhabitants more plausible. Wouldn't giant people need giant food? Maybe that was the scounts intention, to bring evidence that backed up their story...I wonder what kind of grapes these could be…Regular grapes that just
grew big? Miraculous grapes? Whatever they actually were, the description made me think of grapefruits. Of course, grapefruits are not really grapes, but because they also grow clusters, they have been given in the name of grapefruit in English. In the heat of summer, a nice, sweet, refreshing, salad with grapefruits sounds like delicious part of Shabbat dinner.
This parsha also has instructions for something that continues to be an active part of Jewish life every day - the commandment to put "fringes" on the corner of our garments. "...look at [the fringes] and recall all the commandments of יהוה and observe them, so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge." I find it really significant to note the Torah basis for current Jewish practice. We still have the tzitzit and,
especially for those who wear it daily, it can be a great way to remind us to keep to a good path. It seemed pretty clear that the closest thing to tzitzit is thin spaghetti, so that was my plan. Then, when I went to type it in and entered "tz" google began
to autofill "Tzatziki sauce." (I guess that's a more frequent google search.) That gave me an idea to combine tzitizit and tzatziki and build off that word play. So I found this Greek pasta salad recipe and I would suggest subbing spaghetti for the penne noodles.
Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!
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