tazria-
metzora
parashot Tazria and Metzora, leviticus chapters 12—15
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… and thoughts
Tazria-metzora
conceives-leper, or diseased
This week is Buy One, Get One Free in the world of Torah. We read a double portion: Parasha Tazria and Parasha Metzora. Although the calendar is the reason for the double reading, they’re closely related, so it makes sense to discuss them together.
What to write about these Parashot… it’s challenging, because on the surface it’s kind of yuck.
The Parasha begins with “When a woman conceives … “ And then we jump right in to childbirth, after which she has become impure—ritually impure, that is—and we’re given the details of what she must do to become pure once again.
The next thing you know, we’re talking about other types of impurity, such as scaly white skin, puss, boils, mold, and mildew.
Is everyone ready for dinner now?
The Rabbis say that the cause of tsara’at, the gross skin eruptions that cause one to become impure, are the result of the sin of lashon hara, literally evil tongue, often translated as gossip. That seems like a pretty severe punishment for a little thing like words.
Words! What’s the big deal? No, gossip is not very nice, but really, they’re just words. There’s a mantra I remember from childhood—“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me.”
It’s something I was taught to chant to someone who was teasing or saying mean things to me. But is it true? A punch in the nose can heal a lot faster than a blow to the ego. As I remember, cruel words were exceedingly painful.
The first amendment
A certain man who was on trial for his spoken words said, in his defense, that he was exercising his right to free speech.
Before we can determine whether or not his defense has merit, we need to determine the meaning of “free speech.” If free speech, a basic right given to all citizens of this country, means that one is free to say anything one wishes to say, then the defendant is correct and he is innocent.
Those who toss his defense out the window say that the constitution gives us the right to speak our opinion, specifically to criticize the government, but not to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater. Slander is illegal. Telling outright lies is not free speech, it’s evil speech.
Speech is never free. Speech comes with a cost, and that cost can be very high. Just as most of us would give careful thought before buying a very expensive item, we should give careful thought to the words we choose to speak. Words have great power—perhaps the greatest power. The pen being mightier than the sword is one supportive example, but here’s a better one.
Words create universes.
All was chaos. All was an empty void. And God said, “Let there be light!”
Without those very first words and the ones that followed over the next six days, there’d be no world, no country, and no man to protest that his right to say anything is being denied him.
Words destroy universes
Verbal abuse. Cruel words spoken to anyone, but especially to a child, and especially when they’re repeated often, can destroy a person’s sense of self-worth. Emotional crippling can prevent a person from ever attaining their potential. How many great things that were supposed to happen never did, because of someone’s lack of faith in their ability to do great things?
There’s good speech and there’s evil speech. Our sages maintained that lashon hara, particularly evil speech about other people, is as terrible a sin as idolatry, murder, and incest combined. Because, just as lashon tov, good speech, can create a universe, lashon hara can potentially destroy one.
Sadly, the number of lives lost because of lashon hara is uncountable. So many people have taken their own lives because of painful words that were used to attack them. Others survive, but with life-long scars. I can’t help but wonder how many of the mass shootings that have plagued our society in recent decades had their root in bullying.
Lashon hara can harm an entire nation or even destroy a civilization. Take, for example, the negative report that the ten spies brought to the Israelites regarding their assessment of the land that they were about to enter. Their words caused an entire people to falter, and resulted in what should have been a short journey becoming a forty year trek with almost none of the original travelers ever reaching their destination.
Just as words reflect our thinking, words shape our thinking. What image do you have in your mind when you hear the word “girl?” Is it the same as the image you get when you hear the word “woman?”
Why do we gossip, anyway? To get another’s attention by telling a good story? Or to sway another’s opinion to match ours, fortifying our own thoughts? With a little self-examination we just might decide it would be better to remain silent.
HaShem, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise.
The Amidah, the prayer that observant Jews daven three times daily, begins with asking God to open our lips so that our mouths may offer praise. Without the gift of lashon tov, the words that follow have no meaning. The closing words of the Amidah are a plea for assistance in refraining from deceitful speech. We need to ask for that help, because it’s so easy to unthinkingly say negative things about others. And not only can we sink into speaking words that are not true, we can sink into speaking words that are true, but do harm rather than good. Those might be the most insidious of all.
I say that because usually when we say something unkind, we know we’ve done that. But how often have we said something about someone else to a third someone, thinking we’re only saying it because we “care about that person?” We think that the truth we’re sharing is constructive. Usually, it’s not constructive. Those words, if they’re spoken at all, would be better shared with the person in question, and in a way that is gentle and loving so that they feel supported rather than attacked. It can take some pretty fancy wordsmithing to do that in a truly constructive way.
When our speech is threatening to slip into that gray area, it’s usually best to say nothing.
Speech is the ultimate gift given to us by God—to us and no other creature. Perhaps the most important thing we can do with that gift is to know when not to use it.
With all that said, there is one concept that’s unique to Metzora, and it’s an important one. Go check it out, and then come back for your menu and recipes!
So, what shall we eat?
When the topic is words, the first thing that comes to my mind is alphabet macaroni. Alphabet soup is serious comfort food, serious fun, direct from my childhood. Back then, it came in a can. Didn’t all soup come in a can??? (Unless Grandma made it).
Manischewitz used to make aleph-bet pasta, but sadly it’s been long discontinued. That would have been fun. But we’ll have to stick to the Latin letters of English.
One could go with any broth-y soup for this—I’d stay away from thick puréed soups because your letters will sink, invisibly, to the bottom of your bowl—but I decided to go with classic French Onion soup. Many people expect this soup to be beef broth based, but the original recipe is a vegetarian one. This soup, often served as a special treat and dripping with yummy melted cheese, had very humble beginnings. A peasant could combine a pot of water with some onions, a few sprigs of herbs, and a rind of old cheese, and turn it into something delicious. Here, we’re going vegan and leaving out the cheese. I’m also going to strain out the onions and serve a clear, flavorful broth so that there’s nothing to detract from the macaroni. Who knows? Watch your bowl carefully and see if the letters arrange themselves into a message from beyond….
And in leu of a fish course:
“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”
I don’t think Sir Walter Scott was a Torah scholar, but he paints a perfect picture of what can happen when words are used for the wrong purpose. So, let’s weave a tangled web.
What developed in my mind is a quick sauté of colorful spiralized vegetables, punctuated with black beans in a Thai-inspired coconut milk curry. I visualize this as being lightly sauced, unlike many Thai curries that have lots of sauce for spooning onto rice. But, there’s an issue that emerges when we want to make an authentic Thai curry and keep it kosher—the fish sauce. It’s an integral part of that dish and it’s neither vegetarian or kosher. I’ve tried leaving the nam pla, the fish sauce, out of Thai coconut milk based curries, and it’s definitely not the same. I was so happy to find this fish sauce substitute, which is both vegan and kosher. It’s as close to the real thing as you can get, and it does the job.
This is undoubtedly fusion cooking, as in Asian cuisine, beans are usually reserved for desserts, but here they bulk up the curry, adding texture and protein. If you’re cooking a vegetarian meal, you can turn this appetizer into the main course by adding some crispy tofu squares to the curry.
Zoodles, noodles made from zucchini, are touted as a low carb, low calorie, gluten-free substitute for pasta. That doesn’t speak to me. I love pasta. Real pasta. Pasta is pasta, and this is not. They’re vegetables, transfigured into long, thin strings. When they’re conceptualized as what they are, rather than as a substitute for something else, I’m a fan. This dish goes way beyond zoodles and combines several colors of spirals that look gorgeous together. If you’re a fan of colorful food, you’re going to love this.
Have you given spiralized vegetables a try yet? Once I started spiralizing vegetables, I couldn’t stop. If it could possibly be spiralized, I tried it. And the spiralizing gadget is so much fun to use. This one is worth the investment (it’s not all that expensive), because there’s so much you can do with it, but if you’re not ready to invest , try this hand-held one. It’s the first one I had and it was very satisfactory.
Because I love contrasting textures, I’m going to top it off with crispy fried spiralized sweet potato strings.
And I’ve got the perfect meat course.
There was a time when I would have, without hesitation, suggested sweet and sour tongue. It was a very common special occasion meat choice when I was young, perfect for Shabbat as an appetizer or entrée. This delicacy was a little pricey but it was readily available in any meat market or supermarket. Grandma Ethel made it with a sweet and sour raisin sauce, and it was one of my favorite treats. But, I hesitated to include it because it’s fallen out of popularity. Many people are kind of freaked out just thinking about it. I guess it’s because, unlike many other cuts of meat, it looks like what it is. I’m nevertheless going to give you the recipe, because it does represent classic Ashkenazi cooking, and because I’m making it for dinner this week. Give it a shot—you may be amazed by how delicious these tender slices are. Tongue is also fantastic as a deli meat, piled onto Jewish rye bread on its own, or with corned beef and pastrami and/or even a schmear of chopped liver (don’t forget the Russian dressing!).
And now, dessert. Here are some tongues that I think everyone will like—Langues de Chat, or Cat’s tongues, are a thin, crispy butter cookie that are easy to make and so addictive. You can make them pareve by substituting Country Crock bars (not the tubs) for the butter. Served with a scoop of ice cream or sorbet, they’re a perfect finish to the meal.
These are cat’s tongues with a twist—We’re going to sandwich them with a pandan flavored filling.
If you’re not familiar with it, pandan, also called screw pine, is a tropical plant with long, blade-like leaves. Those leaves have the most amazing aroma and flavor. Pandan is most often used in desserts and is especially happy when paired with coconut. It turns out that it’s a very nutritious food, and that’s an additional reason to love it.
What does pandan taste like, you ask? People have described it as being similar in fragrance and flavor to vanilla, rose, coconut, almonds, and even basmati rice, but I don’t think it resembles any of those things. The only way to know it is to try it. I tried it once and have craved it ever since. It’s wonderful in this silky Pandan Cotton Soft Cheesecake, and in this Pandan Custard as well. If you have an Asian grocery near you, you may be able to find the leaves, fresh or frozen. If not, I’ve used this pandan product with excellent results. It’s become a staple in my kitchen.
Have fun playing with some new toys and new flavors!