Today I was treated to a wonderful drash by a bar mitzvah boy, the son of two people are dear to us. It was an especially sweet moment of simcha in a period of sadness as we mourn with Israel for 6 more hostages lost. The bar mitzvah boy noted that this parsha includes the well-known line
צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף
Justice, justice, you shall pursue
and discussed the implications, interpretations, & commentaries that touch on why there is the repetition of the word "justice." He shared that one commentator looks at this repetition to say that the first is about pursuing justice between people and the second is about a person and God. He noted the parallel between this idea and the way we categorize mitzvot - Bein Adam LaMakom (between man and G-d) and Bein Adam LeChavero (between man and his fellow man). I think it's a very interesting way to think about justice. How can we pursue justice between people ("man and his fellow) and how do we pursue justice between man and God? This second one is a lot harder and I look forward to hearing the thoughts of friends and family (and you, readers.) This doubling and duality made me think it would be cool to do a food that highlights two separate things and I thought of a Two Tone Soup. (recipe below)
Also in this week's parsha there's instructions about going to war including what to do with the people and the land. There's a prohibition against cutting down trees that bear fruit. Commentators note that once you've conquered the city you will also want to enjoy the fruits of
the trees for sustenance. They also note that these trees have no way to defend themselves and can't surrender before a siege so it isn't fair to destory them. While this is a nice idea, since the people are allowed to destory non-fruit bearing trees, I feel that it's more likely to be about the wanton destruction of sustenance, because if you destory the fruit bearing trees and then conquer the city, even if you were to re-plant it would be a long time before they bear fruit. So, better to just leave these be. Since we're in a great season for tree-borne fruits, I recommend a dessert using peaches or plums as the main highlight. This Peach-Blackberry Crumble uses two delicious summer fruits as the stars. (make wtih pareve or dairy or sub plant based butter and skip the ice cream in the picture)
Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!
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