Perhaps it's because I've now been at camp for 3 weeks and it's so easy to get enmeshed in the world that is camp, but I found two things in this week's parsha that connected to camp for me. The first is that in this parsha we find the text that becomes the first line and first paragraph of the tefilla we call The Shema.
Each year Camp Ramah New England picks a theme for the summer and this year the theme is Shema. There are many ways we explore this (see Rabbi Elliot Goldberg's decription of how it's integrated into Limud), but the one that feels meaningful to me this week is the importance of really hearing one another. It's the difference between listening to be ready to reply and listening to comprehend. This is true when we are having a discussion around challenging topics like politics; it's true when we hear a friend or camper or colleague complaining or sad and we work to understand the foundation of the emotion, not just the surface level; and it's true in even listening to ourselves. Are we doing negative self-talk or limiting ourselves and, if so, why? I think this could
be a really interesting topic of discussion at Shabbat dinner, so to call attention to it, I suggest EARS of corn (because EARS help you hear!) You can boil them, but my favorite way to cook corn is on the grill.
I would particularly recommend the grill method this week because you're going to have it on anyway. Why? Because of fire. In this week's parsha fire is listed 15 times. Here are a few examples:
וַיְדַבֵּ֧ר יְהֹוָ֛ה אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם מִתּ֣וֹךְ הָאֵ֑שׁ ק֤וֹל דְּבָרִים֙ אַתֶּ֣ם שֹׁמְעִ֔ים וּתְמוּנָ֛ה אֵינְכֶ֥ם רֹאִ֖ים זוּלָתִ֥י קֽוֹל׃
God spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice.
הֲשָׁ֣מַֽע עָם֩ ק֨וֹל אֱלֹהִ֜ים מְדַבֵּ֧ר מִתּוֹךְ־הָאֵ֛שׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַ֥עְתָּ אַתָּ֖ה וַיֶּֽחִי׃
Has any people heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have, and survived?
מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם הִשְׁמִֽיעֲךָ֥ אֶת־קֹל֖וֹ לְיַסְּרֶ֑ךָּ וְעַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ הֶרְאֲךָ֙ אֶת־אִשּׁ֣וֹ הַגְּדוֹלָ֔ה וּדְבָרָ֥יו שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ מִתּ֥וֹךְ הָאֵֽשׁ׃
From the heavens [God] let you hear the divine voice to discipline you; on earth [God] let you see the great divine fire; and from amidst that fire you heard God’s words.
פָּנִ֣ים ׀ בְּפָנִ֗ים דִּבֶּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה עִמָּכֶ֛ם בָּהָ֖ר מִתּ֥וֹךְ הָאֵֽשׁ׃
Face to face יהוה spoke to you on the mountain out of the fire—
וְעַתָּה֙ לָ֣מָּה נָמ֔וּת כִּ֣י תֹֽאכְלֵ֔נוּ הָאֵ֥שׁ הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את אִם־יֹסְפִ֣ים ׀ אֲנַ֗חְנוּ לִ֠שְׁמֹ֠עַ אֶת־ק֨וֹל יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵ֛ינוּ ע֖וֹד וָמָֽתְנוּ׃
Let us not die, then, for this fearsome fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of our God any longer, we shall die.
In these pasukim fire is depicted as powerful, dangerous, but also divine so it inherently has attributes of both wonderous and scary. Each week at camp we have a medura, a camp fire, where
campers have a chance to sing, or play a game, or hang out, or show a talent, and eat smores. I think we treat fire at camp in a similar way; it is both wonderous and requires careful treatment and behaviors. Fire can keep us warm, be life giving, and it can be disasterous. It is a powerful metaphor for God. Two ideas on this theme. The first is a side dish (and is the one that would use the grill) Fire Roasted Eggplant Other veggies on the grill would also work, but I think eggplant is one of the vegetables where cooking it on the grill has the biggest impact on the flavor, giving a really fiery, smoky taste. (Note the recipe calls for Chinkiang vinegar, but you can sub rice vinegar for it.) The second idea is to play up the smores reference from campfires with a dessert like these Smores Brownies.
Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!
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