We’ve had a pretty busy week, with Purim and all, so this is a repeat, but an awesome one if I may say so myself! Please enjoy it thoroughly!
If you were to think of the world capital of Kosher restaurants, chances are that you would think of New York, Los Angeles, or Jerusalem. But you would be wrong. The city in the world with the most kosher restaurants per capita is… Panama City! The entire Jewish population of Panama City is around 17,000 and they have 19 kosher restaurants, which means more than 1 kosher restaurant for every 1,000 Jews. At that rate, Jerusalem would need 570 kosher restaurants (and four seat falafel stands don’t count!) Los Angeles would need 671, and NYC would need to have 1,900! So it’s safe to say that no city in the world has the same amount of Kosher restaurants per Jewish capita as Panama City.
A large part of this is due to the influence of Rabbi Sion Levy, OBM, the Chief Rabbi of Panama for 57 years. During his lengthy tenure, this giant of a human being encouraged many thousands of people to embrace the Torah that their parents or grandparents had forgotten, and each at their own pace. But the first thing he always worked on was Kashrut. He knew that eating the holy diet prescribed by G-d would give people the purity of soul to be able to absorb all the other Torah concepts he wanted to imbue them with, the same way eating a physically healthy diet gives someone the strength and ability to properly work out the rest of their body.
He also promoted Kashrut as a way to unify the community, because if everyone adopted Kashrut in the home, the whole community would feel comfortable eating in each other’s houses. Due to Rabbi Levy’s tireless efforts, almost the entire Sephardic Jewish community of Panama keeps a kosher kitchen, and many, even those that not Shabbos observant, keep Kosher out of the home as well; hence all the restaurants. On our Partners Detroit Panama Trip, we had the opportunity to dine in a good number of the restaurants, from the more utilitarian Pita Pan, to the upscale Darna Bread Co., and I’m glad to report that the Panamanian Jews are certainly eating well!
But the best meals that we had in Panama were in not in any of the numerous restaurants; they were the Shabbos meals that we had in the home of Yosi and Renee Sofer. If you remember from a previous Shabbos email, Yosi and Renee were the angels who worked diligently to set up the entire itinerary of our trip; from hotels to speakers, activities to transportation. They also graciously offered to host us for both Shabbos meals, and then preceded to feed us in a manner that would put most state dinners to shame! No less than three times each meal, we were encouraged to get up and approach a dazzling buffet of foods, first for a fish course, then a meat course, and finally for a dessert table that had more delicious choices than I had room to deposit them!
I actually emailed Renee to ask her for the menu, just so that I can share with you the breadth of options that I’m trying to describe, and you will soon see that the Shabbos menu at the Sofers home was more extensive than the entire menu of some of the restaurants we dined at! It was a blend of three distinct cuisines; Sephardic, Panamanian, and Heavenly. Here is the Friday Night menu:
The Challah Course: Homemade Challah, Chummous, Babaganush, Matbuca
The Fish Buffet:
Teriyaki Salmon,
Corvina cooked with coconut milk and almond slices- Corvina is a local white fish similar to sea bass
Date, palm, and pistachio salad
Balsamic salad
Edamame salad
Kibbeneye - a vegetarian version of Kibbeh
Bazergan - a dish made of bulgur, onion, red pepper, tomato paste and tamarind paste
Potato with cumin
Potato salad
Egg salad
The Meat buffet:
Brisket with mushrooms
Pastrami - this patrami was about 2 feet long, covered in a dark sweet sauces, served on a bed of rice
Baked Crunchy Chicken
Chicken with vegetables
Ropa Vieja with rice, guandu and cocunut- Ropa Vieja is meat pulled into long stringy strands, which absorb a ton of flavor due to their high surface area ratio! Guandu is a pea like legume
Kabab Garaz - a very small meat ball cooked with sweet cherries
Kibbesenie- a heavily spiced dish made of bulgur, minced onion, and finely ground lean beef
Kreatopita - a scrumptious combination of phyllo dough and meat
Stuffed carrots - carrots hollowed out and filled with spiced meat
Stuffed eggplant - Can you guess what this was filled with? Meat of course!
Pastrami and Corn Beef Pie
White Rice
The Noble Panamanian Fruit - more about this one later
The Dessert Buffet
Chocolocula - “Crazy for Chocolate” - a very moist chocolate cake that must be delivered directly from heaven
Pionono - Pastry dough fermented in syrup, rolled around a creme
Decadencia of chocolate - you figure this one out!
Guava strudel
Mango mousse
Pareve Cookie Dough Cheesecake
Strawberry shortcake
Now, if that was not enough to fill us for the week, the Shabbos lunch meal was no less extravagant. Four different variations of cholent were served; a traditional cholent for us Ashkenazic Jews, as well as three forms of Hamin, the Sephardic equivalent of cholent. Trout pate made an appearance as well as host of unique salads. But my favorite dish was the Bomba Plantain - the Plantain Bomb. This was a dome of heavily marinated long plantain slices covering a delicious spiced ground beef. The dessert also brought some new additions like the “Mil Hojas” - “1,000 Layers” something similar to a Napoleon, “Bomba Moi Moi” - a pareve Oreos ice cream, elephant ears known as Orejitas, Chocolate Mousse, and Crakel -very fine thin cookies.
Why am I telling you about all these foods? Is it because I’m a glutton? Not exactly.
The reason I’m telling you about all the exotic and different foods we ate has to do with something we talked about on the Thursday of the Panama Trip which happened to be Tu B’shvat. This discussion took place on a tiny island in San Blas, which is an archipelago of over 300 tiny islands, some no larger than a football field. These islands are exactly what you would imagine they look like; a large circle of soft white sand, a bunch of palm trees swaying in the sea breeze, surrounded by crystal clear turquoise waters. Some of the islands are inhabited by the the Kuna Natives, who for a dollar will happily scamper up a palm tree with extraordinary speed and dexterity, cut off a cocunut, bring it down, hack off the top with a machete and give it to you with a straw so that you can slowly drink the sweet-n-salty coconut milk.
Some of the islands are entirely uninhabited, not even big enough to support a few families. On one of these tiny islands, we set up a special Tu B’shvat feast. The feast consisted of about 20 different fruits, many that I had never tasted before, and many that to this day I’m still not sure what they were! After the feast, we had an hour long class talking about the various meanings of the holiday of Tu B’shvat.
One of the meanings of this special day, The Rosh Hashanah of Trees, is to stop and recognize how much G-d loves us. G-d could have given us all the nutrients we ever needed in one fruit that would be all that we ever ate. As a matter of fact, such a fruit exists; it is called the Noble Panamanian Fruit, and we were served this fruit on Shabbos by the Sofers. Also known as the Pixbae, the Palm Peach, or the Piba, these amazing fruits have all the nutrients you need to survive, and indeed some native tribes live on islands with only the Pixbae palm tree, and live almost exclusively on it!
Think about it like this; the cow is a very strong animal, and it can live on grass alone. The lion is the king of the beast, and all it ever eats is meat. Surely G-d could have made us in such a way that all we would ever need to eat was grass or hay, and we could be perfectly hale and hearty. But He didn’t. He gave us a more varied and diverse diet than any other living being. He gave us kiwis, bananas, nectarines, apples, grapes, carrots, dill, tamarind, yams, yuccas, peppers, and grapefruits. He gave us lamb, chicken, beef, sea bass, salmon, tuna, and gefilte. He gave us such an enormous variety of foods and flavors for one reason alone: Because He loves us.
G-d loves us, and He wants us to enjoy our lives. To that end, he gave us a world of flavors to enjoy, a planet filled with eye-poppingly beautiful vistas to see - the islands of San Blas, the Alps, the rain forests of Bocas Del Toro, and the snow covered pine forests of Northern Michigan. He not only gave us vistas and flavors, but He also gave us thousands of amazing scents to smell. Roses, lavendar, apples, freshly baked cookies, and the most glorious scent of all, the smell of the Cholent as you walk downstairs on a Shabbos morning. Why did He give us all these sights, smells, and scenes? Because He loves us.
The Jerusalemite Talmud tells us that when we get to heaven, we will be held accountable for all the good things our eyes beheld but in which we did not partake. G-d did not put us here to live a pleasureless life, He put us here with the express desire to shower us with goodness and kindness. And while the best goodness and kindness is in the World to Come, He still filled our world with pleasures and delights for us to use to enjoy our lives!
Obviously, G-d did not intend for us to simply become gluttons, or world travelers who only spend our time obsessed with the sights, smells, and scenes. But He did intend that we should use those gifts as we can, and use them to cultivate a deep appreciation to Him for giving them to us. That appreciation and gratitude should then fill us with a desire to build a relationship with He who is showering us with goodness, as well as the the desire to do good to others in kind.
Tu Bshvat, the day we celebrate trees, is not so much a day to celebrate trees and fruits, but to celebrate the One who put those trees there, the one who constantly showers us with goodness, something perfectly encapsulated every time you take a bite into a juicy nectarine.
Experiencing the sights, scenes, and smells as an ends to themselves, is missing out on their entire purpose. Using them to connect yourself to the One who gave them to you, that is the key. They are like a diamond engagement ring. If all you see it for is a beautiful piece of jewelry, you are missing the point; if you see it as an expression of love, commitment, and dedication, and strengthen your relationship through it, then it truly shines and sparkles.
Reading food magazines, you will often see foods described as divine. Foods are not divine. The Shabbos meals at the Sofers, filled with delicious Oneg Shabbat, was a divine experience, not because of the food alone, but because of the singing, the dvar torahs, the connection we felt with G-d and our Judaism which were all greatly enhanced by the exquisite feasts.
We could all be living on nothing but the Pixbae, but instead G-d gave us Shabbos at the Sofers. We could all be living on grass alone, but instead G-d gave us whatever is in your refridgerator right this instant. We are living a blessed life, blessed by G-d Himself. Now it is our turn to reciprocate, and be a blessing.
Parsha Dvar Torah
This week's Pasha, Ki Tisa, tells of one of the darkest moments in the Jewish people's history, the serving of the Golden Calf. Many questions abound, with the most pressing: how could they fall to such a low point a mere 40 days after seeing G-d reveal Himself? Let us focus on another question, and through that we can bring some clarity to this dismal event in Jewish history.
When Moshe saw the people serving the Golden Calf, he took the tablets he was holding and dashed them to the ground. Why? Granted, the Jews weren't ready or deserving of them, but why take tablets with G-d's writing on them and destroy them? Wouldn't that be analogous to a rabbi whose congregation is going astray, taking the Sefer Torah out of the ark and burning it?
The third of Maimonides Principles of Faith states, "I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, is not physical and is not affected by physical phenomena, and that there is no comparison whatsoever to Him." This is one of the hardest principles for human beings to relate to, because everything we see, feel, and relate to is physical. The idea of G-d being totally divorced from physicality is something we struggle to comprehend.
This challenge is what drove the Jews to worship the Golden Calf. They weren't trying to serve another G-d, a different G-d, but rather were trying to find a way to capture some of G-d's essence in a physical being. That is why after creating the golden calf, they proclaimed, "This is your G-d, Israel!" They weren’t refering to a new god, rather they saw this as the G-d of Israel, the one who took them out of Egypt, but in a tangible physical package. They wanted a concrete, corporeal edifice that would rule the physical world. But, of course, this defeats the reality of G-d, and the purpose of man. This was an attempt to bring G-d down into the physical lower world, rather than trying to climb from the physical world to the loftier spiritual world.
When Moshe came down the mountain, he immediately ascertained the people's mistake. To prove it to them in the strongest terms, he took the tablets and dashed them to the ground. This was his way of showing the people that real holiness, all of which emanates from G-d, is not physical, and can't be bound by the physical. Even the tablets with G-d's own writing can be destroyed because they have no inherent spirituality. The only spirituality they have is when it is infused with G-dliness, but in and of themselves, they have nothing.
Furthermore, Moshe was afraid that if he were to destroy the calf but leave the tablets intact, the people would transfer their mistaken ideology, and try to put G-dly powers and holiness into the tablets. Thus, it was imperative that Moshe destroy the tablets for the dual purpose of not leaving the Jews a stumbling block and teaching them that nothing physical has inherent spirituality. To this day, that message still resonates, reminding us not to give powers to anything physical, not money, good looks, or physical strength. On Wall Street, money is worshipped, in a gym, muscles are venerated, and in Hollywood good looks are divine, but in the Jewish home, we serve G-d and G-d alone!
Parsha Summary
This week's Parsha, Ki Tisa, begins with G-d commanding the Jews to take a census by having each Jew donate a half-shekel, and then counting all the coins. This teaches us that we are never whole until we join with other Jews. Then we are instructed to make a laver (a receptacle that holds water and has faucets used for washing) for the temple, so that the Kohanim can wash themselves before going in to serve in the Temple. We can relate to this by remembering that service of G-d is sacred, and there should be both a mental and physical sanctification before beginning services. This translates into not rushing into prayers with our minds still on our business or our hands greasy from that pastrami sandwich we just had for lunch!
Next, we are commanded to make a special anointing oil used to consecrate vessels and Kohanim for temple service. We are also told to make a uniqueincense that was burned in the Tabernacle twice daily on its own dedicated golden altar. Both the oil and incense were not allowed to be made for laymen’s purposes.
Now the Torah focuses on the building of the Mishkan, the tabernacle. Ha-shem commands Moshe to take Bezalel and Oholiav as assistants to aid him in building the Mishkan and in making the priestly vestments. After that, the Torah repeats the Mitzvah of keeping Shabbos. The Sages learn from the juxtaposition of these two ideas that one cannot desecrate Shabbos even for the purposes of building the Mishkan. They also learn that the actions we are not allowed to do on Shabbos are related to the types of labor involved in building the Tabernalce, which the Sages delineated as the 39 Categories of Work.
Finally, the Parsha turns to one of the darkest moments in Jewish history. Moshe ascends Mount Sinai to receive the Tablets, and tells the Jews he will be back in forty days. The Jews miscalculate when the forty days ended and, when Moshe did not return, they assume him dead. In a state of panic, confusion, chaos, and fear, the Jews build the golden calf and worship it. Moshe comes down from the mountain, sees the wanton sinning of the people (which had degenerated from idolatry to other sins, such as immorality) and dashes the tablets to the ground.
He then forces the Jews to drink from water containing the ground up golden calf, which causes those who served the calf to die. There is a lengthy dialogue between Ha-shem and Moshe in which Moshe pleads on behalf of the Jewish people that Ha-shem should forgive them, which in the end He does. Moshe moves his tent away from the camp, and proclaims that those who want the word of G-d should come to him.
Soon after, Moses ascends the mountain once again and this time G-d tells him to carve the second set of tablets. G-d also teaches Moshe a special prayer called the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy which will never return empty from before G-d, and tells him to teach it to the people (it is the focal part of our prayers on fast days, and especially the Ne'ila service on Yom Kippur).
G-d renews His covenant with the Jews and, finally, on the first Yom Kippur ever, G-d gives His full forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf, and Moshe descends with the second set of tablets. After having spent 120 days on Sinai (40 getting the first tablets, 40 in dialogue to get level one forgiveness, and 40 to get the second tablets and full forgiveness), Moshe came down with such a bright radiance that people couldn’t look at him. He had to make himself a special mask to wear when he was not teaching the Jews. That's all Folks!!!
Quote of the Week: Wear a smile and have friends, wear a scowl and have wrinkles. - George Eliott
Random Fact of the Week: India has fifteen official languages.
Funny Line of the Week: If "con" is the opposite of "pro," then what is the opposite of progress?
Have a Wondrous Shabbos!
R' Leiby Burnham