Molly Goldberg Jewish Cookbook (33 page)

There can be no doubt that the rules and regulations were advanced with one primary purpose in mind—the health of the people. Although many of the food injunctions have become interwoven with religious procedures, and although over the centuries observance of kosher food restrictions have become a part of the life of a religious Jew, the original purpose was to protect the people. Today, dozens of centuries later, many of the injunctions seem unnecessary to present-day descendants of those early Jews, and they are often disregarded by them. On the other hand, there are hundreds of thousands of people who still follow kosher practice precisely as it was formulated thousands of years ago.

But all of the above merely discusses which foods are fit and not fit to eat, and which combinations are permitted. Under no circumstances may
trefe
foods be eaten, and even some permitted foods require special attention.
Milchig
(dairy) foods and
par eve
(neutral) foods require no further attention, but meat and poultry
(fleischig)

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may be slaughtered only according to the complex laws of
shechitah,
the ritualistic laws. Only a qualified person, called a
schochet,
is permitted to slaughter cattle or poultry, since the intent of the law was to cause the animal as little pain as possible and to permit the maximum effusion of blood. Even more blood must be removed by the
kashering
process, which the housewife does in her own home. Only the forequarters of cattle may ordinarily be consumed, since the hindquarters (although actually more desirable as food) contain too many veins filled with blood to comply. To make hindquarters fit for use, the veins must be removed with great care by hand; otherwise it is not fit, not kosher. At the time of slaughtering, the
schochet
(who is specially trained for this purpose) examines the animal carefully for signs of disease or internal lesions; all those that do not qualify must be rejected. This is an involved examination involving the lungs, liver, spleen, and other parts of the animal. At the present time many of these early regulations have become adopted into our present-day laws regarding the inspection of slaughtered cattle.

Blood of any animal or fowl is
trefe,
forbidden. The rules prohibiting the eating of pork or shellfish are easily understood on a health basis and have been previously discussed. But why this prohibition against blood? Leviticus states that blood is the life of the flesh, and while this is only symbolically correct, there is considerable truth in the statement. It is possible that the early law-givers felt that, by removing the lifeblood from the animal, the people were not eating a being that had once lived and walked on the face of the earth. Another theory which is well supported is that man is naturally a creature of violence; the scholars were trying to wean him away from a life of lawlessness into a life of living by the book and the law. Primitive peoples always thought (and still do) that eating certain parts of animals endowed them with the strength of the animal which they had consumed. A few African tribes believe that eating the heart of a tiger will give them the courage of that tiger, and possibly it was to prevent the development of warlike natures that

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Kosher Food and How It Began

blood was forbidden. Certainly this prohibition does not fit as readily into classification as a health safeguard as the other restrictions so easily do.

After meat has been ritualistically slaughtered, the housewife must continue with the process of removing as much blood as possible. The meat must be submerged in cold water for half an hour. It is rinsed and sprinkled with a handful of coarse salt and then placed on a grooved or perforated board for one hour, tilted so that additional blood will drain from the meat. Since broiling removes blood from meat, the requirements for
kashering
meat in the home are not necessary if the food is prepared in this fashion.

Meats which have been properly slaughtered according to
kashruth
are entitled to certificates to this effect called
heksherim,
and these are often placed on meats or canned goods. In passing, it may be said that kosher butchers charge about 25 per cent more per pound for meat than do ordinary butcher shops, owing in part to the additional expenses involved.

It has been mentioned above that dairy and meat dishes may not ordinarily be eaten at the same meal. In practice, this means that the orthodox Jewish housewife must have two sets of dishes, one for meat and one for dairy. These may not be intermingled and must be kept in separate cabinets. In addition, there must be two sets of cooking utensils, and every single pot or pan must be used either for meat or dairy, not both. Naturally there must be two sets of silverware to accompany the dishes. In the Passover section you will learn there are two additional sets of both dishes and silverware required for that period, so that the orthodox home must have a minimum of four sets of tableware. The same number of different towels are necessary. The soap must be made of vegetable fat, as most other soaps are made of non-kosher meat fats.

No work of any sort may be performed on the Sabbath, which commences with sundown of Friday and ends twenty-four hours later. No cooking can take place on Friday night or Saturday. How-

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ever, previously prepared food may be warmed, provided it is done on a fire which was lit before the Sabbath began.

In the Introduction, mention has been made of the reason why no type of shortening has been specified in the recipes. Keeping the explanation of the
kashruth
in mind, the recipes in this book can be used in the kosher manner by following the rules set forth therein.

304

THE STORY OF PASSOVER

In the section on kosher food, a little of the varied and colorful history of the Jewish people is briefly described. You will recall that the early Jews were enslaved about the year 1300 b.c. by the Egyptians. The Bible recites the hardships of these enslaved people, forced to work long hours in the hot sun for their cruel masters. Endlessly they built and constructed cities for the Pharaohs.

The Egyptians feared the Jews in their midst, for they were numerous, and ordered that all sons born to Jews should be cast into the river, although daughters would be permitted to live. Moses, as an infant, was left in the bulrushes in the hope of avoiding his death but was reputedly rescued and reared by Pharaoh's daughter. When Moses had grown to maturity, God appeared and instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people go. Pharaoh not only refused, but ordered his taskmasters to give the slaves even more work than before. After another refusal by Pharaoh, the Lord turned the river into blood, and there was no water for the Egyptians to drink. But this was of no avail, for Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not

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let them go. Then the Lord commanded Moses to tell Pharaoh that if his people were still held there would be a plague of frogs, and so it came to pass that a plague of frogs covered Egypt, filling the land and the houses. Pharaoh called upon Moses to have the plague removed and promised that the Jews could go into the desert as they wished and offer prayers to their God if only the plague of frogs were removed. The plague was lifted, but thereupon Pharaoh withdrew his pledge. Then came swarms of flies, and the entire country was filled with flies, and again Pharaoh promised Moses that he would let his people go. But when the swarms left, Pharaoh again failed to live up to his word. Whereupon the Lord told Moses that he would cause the death of all the cattle; and so it was, and Pharaoh again made a promise and did not abide by his promise. Then came thunder and fire the like of which Egypt had never known. Then came a plague of locusts which covered the ground and ate up every leaf and green thing; then followed a period of darkness which lasted for three full days.

But even patience has its limit, and Moses told Pharaoh, "Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel/'

But Moses told the children of Israel: "Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. . . . For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance

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The Story of Passover

to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye come to the land which the Lord will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses."

And so it came to pass that the firstborn of the Egyptians died, and then finally did Pharaoh realize the power of the Lord and told Moses that his people could go. They gathered up their possessions, and their bread that had not risen, the unleavened bread, and set out into the desert.

But Moses told the people, "Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand the Lord brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. . . . Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast unto the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters. And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the Lord did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. . . . Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year."

To this very day, Jews all over the world remember their flight to freedom under Moses, the
Pesach,
a happy holiday filled with cheer and homecoming.

The days preceding Passover are busy ones for the housewife. Since only unleavened bread is permitted, all bread, flour products, and other
chometz
(anything not permitted during Passover) must be removed. The special dishes, flatware, and kitchen utensils required for the holiday will take their place. It is also customary to clean the house and often to redecorate.

When the day of Passover comes, the table is set with the finest

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that the house can furnish. Gleaming candlesticks usually occupy the center of the table, and it is customary for the mother of the family to give the benediction over the ceremony of lighting the candles. Of course the unleavened bread which Moses told his people to eat, the matzos, are placed upon the table. Although three thousand years have passed since this injunction was issued, there has never been a time when Jews all over the world have failed to eat matzos during the Passover week in remembrance of their forebears who fled from Egypt. Also on the table are several other symbolic objects:
beitzah,
a roasted egg, symbolizes the loss of the Great Temple at Jerusalem where it was customary to bring offerings;
charoset,
a chopped mixture of nuts, apples, and wine, symbolizes the clay and mortar used in constructing buildings while enslaved by the Egyptians;
motor,
or bitter herbs, is to remind everyone of the bitterness of slavery (this usually consists of small pieces of fresh horseradish);
zroah,
a roasted lamb bone, signifies the old custom of roasting the Paschal lamb;
karpas,
sweet herbs, is indicative of springtime and hope (this is usually a piece of lettuce or parsley); salt water in individual bowls is to recall that the people of Israel shed many tears during their period of enslavement. A glass of wine is placed at each person's setting, and it
is
customary to drink four glasses of wine during the evening's services; this symbolizes the four promises made by the Lord to redeem them from the slavery of the Egyptians. In addition, an extra glass is filled with wine expressly against the coming of the prophet Elijah, who is believed to be the messenger of God to tell of the coming of the Messiah. During the services, the door to the home is opened symbolically to permit the entrance of Elijah.

The services themselves are often quite enchanting with their mixture of history, legends, old stories, and songs. At each place is a
hagadah,
a
Seder
book, which contains the Passover service. The first portion of the service concerns itself with the history of the Jews in bondage to the Egyptians and mentions the various symbols of enslavement described previously. The youngest person present

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asks the
mah nishtanah,
the four questions. These begin with "Why is this night different from all other nights? On all other nights we eat leavened or unleavened bread, but on this night only unleavened bread." After the Passover meal is eaten, there are prayers of thanks to the Lord for deliverance from bondage. Later there are many traditional songs, such as
"Dayainu"
(It Would Have Sufficed Us), and
"Chad Ga Ya"
(An Only Kid).