The food & the fish – B’ha’alot’cha
Our ancestors wanted fish, cucumbers, melons, leeks and garlic – and all they got was manna (Num. 11).
No matter that the manna was regular, reliable and versatile in taste. No matter that this was the desert and it was a miracle that there was any food at all.
They needed something to complain about and the food was the first thing that came to their minds.
Maybe this was the beginning of the age-old Jewish obsession with food.
The apocryphal Jewish mother thinks that food (especially chicken soup) is the cure of all ills.
“Ess kindelach, ess!” is her way of handling every problem.
If anyone is not hungry she takes it as a personal insult (“What’s wrong with you that you’re not eating?” she demands; “You don’t love me – I made the food!”).
It’s a joke, but every joke has its serious side.
If you eat well you feel well. If you feel well you think well. If you think well you can face what life brings. If you can face what life brings you can find a way through.
It all begins with food.
Jewish mothers, thank you for being such sound philosophers!