Life in general distracts me. It’s true no matter what I’m doing or where I am. If I go into the food co-op for bread and peanut butter, I’ll carry out shampoo and trail mix; when I resolve to run twelve times around the track, I lose count after the third loop. Even when I get through a task, I often neglect to follow up or look back to consider its lessons. By the time I’m halfway through, my mind is already whirring off in another direction.

So I was a little concerned when I signed up for a 21-day “spring rejuvenation cleanse” and learned that it would involve focus. In multiple ways. But this also got to the heart of why I wanted to purify in the first place.

To get the most out of this food-based detoxifying experience, the approximately 50 participants are supposed to eat certain foods, avoid others, prepare detoxifying recipes, breathe deeply, take long walks, and journal about the whole thing each day. On top of all that, our guide encourages us to “eat mindfully”. I figured if I could do all of that, I might have a fighting chance of getting my attention deficit into the black.

Just before the cleanse’s official start date of April 5, I realized I already had an advantage when it came to mindful eating. To get started, I headed to my bookshelf.

Of course, it took me a few minutes of looking at other books and trying to remember why I was there, but soon I was leafing through my copy of Food for Thought, Hazon’s curriculum on Jews, food, and contemporary life. I turned to chapter 2, “Gratitude, Mindfulness, and Blessing our Food”, and started to get reacquainted with the berachot for the things I eat every day.

Usually, I only remember to say blessings over food or beverages on special occasions – at a Shabbat dinner, or during a Pesach Seder. I can count on one hand the number of times a year I say the Birkat Hamazon, or bensch, after a meal. During the 21 days of the cleanse, I decided, I would finally corral my attention and make it happen.

Food for Thought lists not two or three, but six blessings over noshes and meals (it’s the same list available from online resources like My Jewish Learning and Chabad). This demands even more attention.

First of all, I can’t start shoveling the morning’s oatmeal (pictured above) into my mouth while I iron my pants. No. I have to pause. Then I have to quiet my mind enough to consider: Is this food primarily made of grains? Or animal products? If it is a fruit or vegetable, does it come from a tree or the ground? The second step is to remember the last phrase after the standard preamble blessing God, ruler of the universe. Is it He who creates varieties of nourishment? (for foods made of grains that are not bread), or He who creates the fruit of the tree? The third step is to say it. Then, of course, you can dig in.

Throughout the first days, I kept severing my string of consciousness. On the first night, I even determined, as I fussed with my salad in the kitchen, that I should say “borei p’ri ha’adamah.” One step down! I thought. This’ll be a cinch. But by the time I brought everything to the table, I forgot and just started eating.

When I did remember that night, I decided to do it anyway. So I stopped. I put down my fork and I looked up from the book I was reading. I held the bowl in my hands, looking down at the mix of green in the lettuces and examining the shades of orange and ivory in the other vegetables. Then I said the blessing aloud.

Next, I turned to my salmon. I said the blessing I had been trying to learn for the past day, the one that applies to fish, dairy, candy, and other miscellaneous foods–a collection of things that reminded me a lot of the sundry thoughts jumbling through my head most of the time. I stumbled a little, but finally remembered the words: “shehakol niyah bidvar”–”at whose word all came to be.”

Then I picked up my fork and started over.

Stop and think; choose a blessing and bless; eat.

It seems a simple line of thought, and one that I can eventually complete. Maybe by the time I’m eating bread again, I’ll even make it to bensching.

Note: The Hebrew translations above are actually from My Jewish Learning, not Food for Thought. I noticed differences in each source I consulted. If you have thoughts on why that might be, feel free to comment!

Edible wild plants have been an essential part of the local diet here in the Galilee going back to the stone age hunters and gatherers.  I have learned from neighbors in the nearby Bedouin villages which plants are good to eat, where to find them, and how to prepare them.  One of the staples, which is considered a seasonal delicacy, is wild chicory – known in Arabic as elet, and in Hebrew as olesh.  It can be found around the edges of fields – a low-growing starburst of scalloped leaves.  And it is considered to be extremely healthy – good for “cleaning the blood”, as my Bedouin friends have explained.

Going out and gathering is not as commonly practiced in the traditional Arab cultures of the Galilee as it once was – yet the taste for elet remains.  Now enterprising farmers have started to cultivate elet and other edible wild plants, and sell them in the local Arab green grocers.

Since it was too muddy to go out picking, I bought my elet in Kfar Manda, and cooked it up the traditional way – washing, chopping it, cooking it in boiling water for a few minute to take out the bitterness, then sautéing it with lots of chopped onion in a profusion of olive oil.  It did not disappoint!

Next week I’ll be leading an edible wild plants cooking day with a Bedouin guide here in the Galilee.  For more information, see my website www.galileecuisine.co.il

Passover is a natural time to take an “environmental inventory” of the chametz in our world and to be mindful of the simple lives our ancestors led in the desert in their pursuit of freedom. Chametz is the Hebrew term for any of the five basic biblical grains which traditionally observant Jews remove from their homes. These include wheat, rye, oats, barley, and spelt—that have been mixed with water and allowed to ferment.

When our ancestors were dwelling in the desert, they had no choice but to live simply. In our day, simplicity has come to mean conservation, not using more than you need, and not being wasteful. Jewish law prohibits wasteful consumption. When we waste resources, we are violating the law of bal tashchit—Do not destroy. (Deuteronomy 20: 19-20).

Matzah itself is a symbol of simplicity and humility, and is a metaphor for getting back to basics and our natural selves. It is in contrast to our leavened or puffed up, over-inflated selves caught up in accumulation and over-consumption.

In A Night of Questions, A Passover Haggadah, Rabbi Michael Strassfeld further explains the paradox of matzah. Not only was it the bread that our ancestors did not have time to let rise as they fled Egypt, but it is also the bread that they ate as slaves. Yet, even in its simplicity, it was filling and satisfying—supporting the old adage that less is more. And since matzah is the bread that took us from slavery to freedom, it is also a symbol of the possibility for change. We can use this as an inspiration for making the kind of changes and choices that lead to a more sustainable lifestyle. We need to take immediate steps to initiate these changes and to slow down the rate in which we are destroying, depleting, and wasting our natural resources.

The current way we generate and use energy, for example, threatens the health and existence of all creation. Because of our excessive and inefficient burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) to produce energy, with only 5% of the world’s population, the US produces 25% of the annual heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions that create air pollution and contribute to climate change and global warming. Climate change is causing a rise in sea levels resulting in flooding; drought resulting in famine; the destruction of natural habitats endangering species; and an increase in the rates of asthma, respiratory illness and infectious diseases.

These environmental plagues are a reminder that climate change is an issue of justice. We are already witnessing that those most vulnerable–low-income communities, indigenous peoples, the elderly, and children–those who can least afford health care or to relocate when faced with economic or cultural displacement are suffering disproportionately. “Justice, justice, you shall pursue, in order that you and your children may live.”  (Deuteronomy 16:20). Pikuach nefesh teaches us that saving a life is paramount to all else. Our ancestors took the steps to save themselves and future generations as they fled from slavery to freedom. We need to break free from the wasteful consumption that enslaves us to ensure our own survival.

Energy conservation is actually an ancient mitzvah. Rav Zutra, in the Talmud (Shabbat 67b), mandates fuel efficiency saying that those who burn more fuel than necessary violate the law of not wasting (bal tashchit). Let us be inspired this holiday season by the simple lives our ancestors led and take action towards the greening of our homes and synagogues. To begin the process, conduct an energy audit: Turn the thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer; Switch to compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs that use 75% less energy than regular incandescent bulbs and last seven times longer; Adjust the water temperature on your hot water heater to 110 Fahrenheit; Contact your pubic utility and find out how you can purchase clean, safe, renewable energy; Commit to making your next automobile a fuel efficient hybrid or high-mileage (over 30 mpg average) vehicle. Work towards water conservation, waste management, and toxics reduction. In fact, while removing the chametz in preparation for Passover, consider freeing your home of chemical cleaners and other toxins. Determine the proper way to dispose of these products based on waste management facilities in your community and replace them with more natural substitutes that do not threaten the health of you and your family.

Just as our ancestors left their footprints in the sand and greatly impacted all those who followed, we too are leaving our eco-footprints on Earth. This Passover let us step lightly and work towards removing the chametz from our world that threatens the health of our planet and its inhabitants. And, let us convey to our children the moral and imperative message of simplicity through our deeds. Dayenu!

For many Jews, the coming of Pesach marks a great time for a spring cleaning- both internal and external. Dishes are changed, cabinets are cleared, homes are aired and dusted. We also work on removing spiritual chametz- ego, ungratefulness, self-righteousness, etc.

But there’s another type of spring cleaning that’s popular this time of year among Jews and non-Jews alike; namely, cleansing.   Cleanses range from juice fasts to detox diets to colon flushes and beyond, and devotees claim to gain energy, lose weight and get their bodies ready for spring.  On the other hand, skeptics argue that these types of cleanses do more harm than good for our bodies and the ultimate positive effect is only mental.

On March 24th the Brian Lehrer Show had a segment titled, “Spring Cleaning“, where dietician Lisa Sasson took the anti-cleanse position. Also featured was Joshua David Stein, whose New York Press article, “The Dirty World of Cleanses“  had much to say about this popular spring ritual.

Among the most popular cleanses mentioned in the above is The Master Cleanse; a ten-day detox program where the only thing consumed is a mixture of maple syrup, cayenne pepper, water and fresh squeezed lemon juice.  I did the Master Cleanse last year during Pesach (food options were so limited anyway!) and made another attempt pre-Pesach this year (only made it 4 days). I stand by it as a positive cleaning process for our bodies, but I don’t think its for everyone.  Peter Glickman’s “Lose Weight, Have More Energy & Be Happier in 10 Days” is the “official” guide behind the Master Cleanse.  The book is written in a rather absurd conversational style and makes no claims to be scientifically legitimate.  Still and all, however, the Master Cleanse has been popular for decades and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

I’d love to hear what everyone has to say about cleansing!  Thoughts? Experiences?

* Photo by Daniel Albanese

I hope you’re feeling that early spring feeling, where your energy starts to lighten and brighten, springing your creative life force into action. Many people begin to feel this enlivening occur as buds grow on the trees around us and the days get lighter, longer, and warmer. Some though may feel like they are still carrying around the weight and heaviness of winter, physically and/or emotionally. I know I was. Hence the notion of spring cleaning… I don’t think it’s an accident that both Lent and Passover occur during this time of year, both holidays encouraging the clearing out that makes space for the spirit of rebirth to spring forth.

Spring cleaning can happen on many levels. On the physical level alone, a simple elimination of processed and refined foods and chemicals from the diet can work miracles. As always, if you feel stuck, change something up and movement is bound to follow. You might consider giving up alcohol, sugar, and/or coffee for a month. Note: not forever! Try switching it up with an herbal detox tea instead. For allergy sufferers, this elimination can be profoundly beneficial. By diminishing unnecessary stressors, our bodies are more apt to handle the stress of pollen and other seasonal allergens with greater ease.

That’s why I’ve continued to do my own spring cleanses. Eliminating sugar, coffee and alcohol from my diet during this season has made my previously severe allergies tolerable without medication on most days. In addition, every spring for the past 4 years I have done a spring cleanse. Today I am on the 6th day of a fairly extreme detox program called the “master cleanse.” The details of the program are not important, as I’m not advising you to do it on your own. You can certainly learn more about it online. But, I have more energy and clarity than I did almost a week ago, my body and mood feel consistently light, and finally the heaviness of winter has lifted. I did endure a tough headache and fatigue on the 2nd day, but as you can tell, I’m on the other side and it was worth it!

There are many ways you can lighten the load from winter and make your transition into spring a smooth one. Here are my suggestions:

• Seasonal dietary elimination. Take some of the suggestions I mentioned above and see how much lighter and energized you feel by cutting out processed and refined foods, sugar, alcohol, animal products, especially heavy meats, and/or coffee. Rediscover tea, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, etc.

• Clear your physical clutter and personal space. Getting organized, cleaning your closets, clearing your desktop, are all supremely helpful ways to make room for newness at this time of year. Set aside a time to tackle your most cluttered areas. If you are in need of help, consider using a professional. Amanda Wiss of Urban Clarity is a genius! Email her at Laughing Sage Wellness, a center for women’s holistic health. I participated in this well designed cleanse last year. It involves a simplified diet of whole foods and support for 7 days starting between now and the month of April. Email jessica@laughingsagewellness.com to learn more.

• Acupuncture can also be helpful in making this seasonal transition go as smoothly as possible. It is a holistic way to encourage the detoxification of body, heart, and mind, restoring balance, openness, energy, calm, and clarity. Come in for a treatment if you’d like the support. Contact by email at redefiningdiet@gmail.com .

I know, I know, you were out late tonight. Fully costumed. Dancing in circles. Taking shots. Forgetting the difference between Haman and Mordechai.

And now you’ve got a headache like a chorus of groggers spinning between your temples, a stomach ache like an overstuffed poppyseed hamantashen and even though its still Purim, you’ve got to go to work!

With your troubles in mind, I present to you the following five food ideas for curing a killer Purim hangover.  Though there is certainly some debate as to whether these foods will actually work, I doubt you have much to lose in trying.

1. Tomato Juice: This tangy drink will cure your craving for more alcohol. Try a virgin bloody mary, an alcoholic version, or make some pasta sauce with tomato juice!

2. Spinach Pie: Hungover folks crave grease and cheese and this yummy alternative isn’t too far off.  Check out the instructional video!

3. Giant Soup: Nothing could be more cleansing than a clear broth filled with noodles and veggies.  Try Japanese Udon or Vietnemese Pho.  These soups are actually my cure for everything, including stress, heartache and exhaustion.  Give it a try.

4. “Fry Up”: The British version of scrambled eggs including all sorts of mix-ins (meat, potatoes, beans, etc).  This is definitely what you’ll be craving so put a fun spin on it like adding smoked salmon.

5. Seltzer: My other personal cure for everything, those fizzy seltzer bubbles seem to effervese my hangover away.   Try mixing in some cranberry juice and a squeeze of lemon for a cocktail-esque beverage, or go for a classic anti-hangover combination of seltzer and alka-seltzer before bed.

Open up your kitchen cupboard, grab a handful of common herbs, fruits and vegetables and voila, your own unregulated pharmacy. On Friday, Tamar Lieb shared her knowledge of the medicinal uses of common plants in the workshop “Kitchen Wisdom for Common Ailments.” To use herbs as medicine, you can do everything from eating them to dissolving them in water, honey, sugar, or oil to extract beneficial properties from fresh and raw plants. I’ve included her long list of beneficial herbs and their properties here (it’s even alphabetized!)

To use waters for your herbal preparation, you can make an infusion (pouring boiling water over delicate things like flowers or leaves) a decoction (boiling harder things like bark or certain dried roots), or use steam. The smell of a plant is its volatile oils escaping, so when you’re making tea, Lieb suggested, keep it covered while it steeps. In a steam bath, made by pouring boiling water over your more delicate herbs (think the pizza spices – oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme – for a cold) and then placing your face, under a towel and over the bowl while you breath in the oily, aromatic steam.

Making herbal honeys, oils and vinegars takes somewhat longer, but its results last longer too, and make beautiful gifts, particularly if you use whole, fresh herbs in clear bottles. Try to use raw honey, which has its own beneficial properties, and apple cider vinegar, which contains probiotics. For each of these media, you’ll place the herb in the solvent and let it sit in a warm place for a couple of weeks, taking it out and shaking it around every day to ensure that more of the surface area of the herb comes into contact with the solvent. When making herbal honeys with dried herbs, Lieb suggests, use them in their powdered form, and mix them into a paste, but be sure to keep the paste slightly wetter than you think you may eventually want it. The powdered herbs will absorb liquid from the honey over the life of your spread.

In making medicines from fresh herbs, sugar is used like salt, to draw the moisture out of plants and create syrup. To make onion syrup, which is good for colds (and surprisingly delicious) layer thin slices of onion with sugar (or honey) and muddle at each layer. Over several hours, the sugar will draw the moisture out of the onion. When you have a sufficient amount of syrup for your purposes, remove the chunks of raw onion and eat your syrup or mix it with water or tea. The taste of onion is much less intense in this form.

Last but not least, the revelation greeted with the most enthusiasm by conferencegoers was Tamar’s ginger peeling method, as seen below (with the back of a spoon). Apparently it is helpful in getting around all of those little knobs.

Tamar’s List of Herbs and their Uses:

Blueberries: Rich in flavonoids and antioxidants; treats varicose veins, hemmerhoids, capillary fragility, and is a gentle remedy for children’s diarrhea.

Cardamom: Eases stomach pain and indigestion, warming stimulant, stops intestinal spasms, treats gas and bloating.

Cayenne: improves poor circulation and weak or irregular heartbeats, colds and flus, indigestion and sluggish bowels. Cayenne and ginger mixed with oil work as a massage oil for aching or painful joints. Cayenne dissolved in25ml of lemon juice and diluted with water and honey make a gargle for sore throats.

Celery: Seeds treat rheumatic conditions and gout. Support kidneys and acidify the body, treat arthritis, detoxify the body, improve circulation to muscles and joints, treats cystitis through mild diuretic and significant antiseptic action. Infuse in tea or mix celery and carrot juice once a day to cleanse.

Cinnamon: A warming stimulant for circulation and to clear congestion, 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon can triple the body’s efficiency of insulin use. Digestive aid, powerful antiseptic, antiviral, astringent, helps stop bleedinging, good for poor digestion, colds and the flu.

Fennel: The volatile oil is antispasmodic, relieves gas and acts as an antacid, relieves bloating, settles stomach pains stimulates the appetite, is safe for children and can help with teething and stomach colic as an infusion or syrup. Nursing mothers can drink 2-4 cups of fennel tea a day to increase breast milk production, a wash of warm fennel tea can treat conjunctivitis or other eye inflammations.

Garlic: anitbiotic, expectorant, increases sweating, anticoagulant, anti-thrombotic, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, reduces blood sugar, expels worms and parasites, antiseptic. Use it in cooking or make an infused oil for salads and topically for antiseptic or antinflammatory action. A cottonball soaked in garlic oil can treat earaches due to infection, garlic syrup can stop a cold or cough from gaining hold.

Ginger: Improves digestion and helps the body move out waste, reduces nausea, good for pregnant women suffering from motion-sickness, decreases flatulence and bloating, anti-inflammatory, soothes coughs, good for circulation, respiratory illness. Use a ginger/sage honey for flu or indigestion.

Horseradish: Sinus congestion and headcolds, rich in minerals and vitamins (including vitamin C). A warming antiseptic for asthma, congestion, lung infections. Increases gastric secretions and appetite.  Promotes sweating, helful during a fever, combine with thyme to treat headcolds.

Lavender: Mild sedative for treating headache, nervouseness and insomnia, digestive remedy, in a compress or cold tea wash it treats burns, open sores or infections. Allow to dry between applications.

Oats: Mild anti-depressant, raises energy levels, increases nursing mother’s milk, eases constipation, relieves itching associated with eczema. Fill a mesh bag with oats and toss in a bath under a hot, running tap, relax in the bath for 5-10 minutes.

Onion: diuretic, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory,  pain numbing. Beneficial to circulation, expels mucous and congestion. Helpful with colds, coughs and flus. Like garlic, onion offsets tendencies to angina, asteriosclerosis and heart attacks. Warmed juice can be placed as a muff over the painful ear to draw out the infection.

Oregano and Marjoram: Calming and soothing, can be used for nervousness and irritability and insomnia due to tension and anxiety. They are excellent in tea, alone or in combination. These herbs also have antispasmodic properties and can be used for digestive and muscular spasms.

Parsley: High in iron, beta carotene and chlorophyll. Enhances immunity and helps infections, the primary herb for bladder and kidney function and is a safe and effective diuretic, particularly its seeds. It has beentraditionally used to dry up nursing mother’s breast milk and is effective as a poultis for mastitis and swollen, enlarged breasts. Make a tea, a vinegar or simply use in cooking.

Peppermint: Stimulating to the mind, a great antispasmodic, good for cramps and spasms, good for nausea and motion or mornign sickness, stomach aches and soreness or itchiness of eczema as an infusion.

Potato or Carrot (grated): drawing agents, when used topically. Carrot treats inflammation of swollen glands, potato draws to treat chalazions or styes of the eye in conjunction with other treatment.

Pumpkin seeds: One 1/4 cup a day maintains prostate health and is a good zinc suppliment, treats prostate enlargement.

Sage: Used to dry up a nursing mother’s milk, as an antibacterial mouthwash, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal. Taken internally, it fights infections, dries up secretions of all kinds, including persperation and saliva.

Tea Bags: Useful astringent, treats skin eruptions and allergic reactions or inflammations, treats hemorrhoids.

Thyme: Good astringent, antiseptic, treats upper respiratory infections, allays coughs and bronchitis, use as tea, facial steam or herbal vinegar.

Thanks to Yigal Deutscher for this guest post.

We have just begun the Sefirat HaOmer, counting off the direct correlation between Pesach & Shavuot, two celebrations separated by a string 50 days long. These are two moments in time, interwoven, yet at polar opposites. On Day 1, we have left bread behind, as Chametz. On Day 50, we are elevating bread as an offering in the Holy Temple, a sacrifice unique to the day of Shavuot. A serious transformation has just taken place.

The link between our starting point and our destination goal is food, bread in particular. This corridor of time marks the counting of grain ripening…from the start of the barley harvest to the start of the wheat harvest.

And just like no moment in time stands alone, no seed of grain stands alone, separate from its mother plant. So the counting is not just the story of this year’s grain harvest…it is the story of grain, and bread, in general. All our labor over the months, all the collective rains from the winter season, all this energy is now stored in these tiny seeds….and as we watch their ripening, as we anticipate the harvest, we count…and we become aware.

Jews say, “If there is no flour, there is no Torah”. We might as well say, “If there is no bread, there is no modern human history.”

Wheat & barley grow wild in the valleys of Israel, plants native to this landscape. These were two of the first plants to become “crops,” to be domesticated by human, colonized right here in Israel, in the southern tip of the Fertile Crescent. The product of their flour, bread, is the symbol of agriculture. And it fits perfectly. We may bless “Who brings forth bread from the earth,” but there are 10 full steps needed to go from seed to final product, most of which are human powered and occur post-harvest.

With bread in hand & mouth, humans can boast of their powers over nature, an unparalleled refinement process, an alchemy from seed to fluffy, wholesome, filling & nutritious loaves of bread. And the honor we afford bread is evident every time we follow the hierarchy of berachot at meal time. If bread is to be eaten, its blessing is recited first, an umbrella blessing for all other foods. And when we must bless wine first, we cover the bread so the poor loaves will not be embarrassed.

And here we are in the Pesach holiday, stepping away from bread in a complete detox. So what’s the story with bread? And how do we go from shunning it to turning it into a holy offering in the Temple?

The Hebrew people entered the Land of Egypt free, as a celebrated & honored tribe. But they also entered in tension. It was the ancient meeting of Cain & Abel, on replay. In this version, the pastoralist has entered into the agriculturalist’s empire, a powerful land thriving on the overflowing abundance of the Nile River, sustaining an agricultural system large enough to fuel this empire’s growth. The Hebrews, as shepherds, were granted the lush pastures of the land of Goshen, where they could live their pastoral dreams, separate from the rest of the nation.

But peace between the agriculturalist & the pastoralist never lasts long. The root for the word bread, LECHEM, is the same root shared by the word for war, MILCHAMA. There is no coincidence in the Hebrew language. Every word is a symbol for another, showing the interconnectedness of all things we speak of. Cain, the first farmer, was also the first murderer. And now the Hebrews were about to get a taste of that reality.

Agriculture creates plenty of wealth and just as many demons to haunt your wallet. More food than ever imagined leads to more people than ever imagined, to social class systems, to specializations in the labor force & the creation of a priestly sect and a military, to raising animals as machines & cultivating their diseases, to land wealth & a real estate market, to the creation of metal tools…and weapons, and to the creation of land owners and…slaves. The original curse from the Garden of Eden was not just a curse of working the land but the ripple effect of how working the land would cripple us.

The slavery the Hebrew tribes entered was not unique. It was a disease spreading wherever agricultural systems were growing, one just as prevalent today as it was in Biblical times. Egypt was a thriving Empire, founded on the wealth the Nile brought and the agriculture it allowed. Just as the farmer-society mines natural resources, it must also mine a labor force. And that labor force usually comes from the peoples still living in the hunter-gatherer/pastoral reality, a people less wealthy & with less military strength.

So when we left the slavery in Egypt, we also left her agriculture & her bread behind. And on our way out, we found ourselves eating Matza, this unleavened, unfermented grain product. But Matza is just the top and bottom of a sandwich without a filling. The filling is Mana, our nourishment for 40 years in the desert, which ceased only after we first entered Israel and once again, ate Matza, to commemorate the start of this tale.

Mana is as far from bread, from Chametz, as possible. There is no volume, no body. There is no human involvement, there is no farmer, there is no ego of accomplishment and no taming of natural ecosystems. It is nourishment straight from the Source of Life. And this humble, simple Mana is what prepared the Hebrew tribes to complete the transition themselves, from nomadic shepherd tribes to agriculturalists. Because they were not just running from Egypt…they were traveling towards Israel, a land that would be their home, where they would live with her plants, her soils, and her seasons. They themselves would finally become the farmers.

In Israel, the Hebrews return to bread. But the grains they cultivate, the bread they craft, is not bread of slavery or enslavement. It is an offering to the Divine. It is agriculture with the hidden seed of Mana, of humility before the natural flows and graces of the Creator. It is agriculture with the wisdom of the practices of Orlah, Bikkurim, Peah, Shmita, and Kelayim. This is the offering on Shavuot, the product of a refined agriculture, where the human hands threshing, winnowing, grinding, and baking are no different than the rains germinating the seeds or the soil microorganisms feeding the plant’s roots…all parts of the One.

What do parsley, pickles, and charoseth have in common?  They constitute the exhaustive list of Jewish foods that fit neatly into a raw food diet.  The remaining arsenal of heavy, noodle-egg-and-shmaltz-filled dishes that dominate the world of traditional Jewish cuisine don’t exactly make the cut.

But now – proving that there is indeed an online community for every interest – there is a new Yahoo group for raw foodists who love Jewish food.  Members will swap Jewishly-inspired recipes created through vegan and raw techniques.  While I can see how borscht and hummus would be fairly straight forward to make raw, I’m having a little trouble wrapping my mind around an uncooked matzah ball…

Check out Jewish Raw Food here.

Photo credit: Judy Pokras “Raw Vegan Potato Latkes and Mock Sour Cream”

After I returned from our staff food cleanse, I have been trying to have more produce in my diet, even though I generally did eat a lot of them before hand. Every day I have a large salad for lunch (and add canned corn and/or a protein to make it more filling instead of just having vegetables).  I noticed that the salad can really fill me up for the remainder of the day. Of course it’s healthy to eat something at night, so Hale suggested that I have “mono-meals” in such situations, where I am not really hungry yet it is still important to eat something. I used to have either chicken and veggies, whole wheat pasta or something really filling like those dishes for dinner.

I thought this was a very practical suggestion, so now I am on the hunt for vegetable dishes to make for dinner. I steam patty pan squash; stir fry bok choy with onions and garlic; sprinkle olive oil and salt on beets and roast them in the oven;  and saute string beans and purple onions. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share!