Tisha B'Av commentary

From today's Jerusalem Post:

• Temples destroyed (editorial)
  
  
  
  
• Are you fasting? by David Golinkin
  
  
  
  
• The ninth day, one year after by Yisrael Medad

Also: OU live web broadcast of Kinnos service (archived broadcasts also available)

Have we fasted long enough already?

At lunch the other day, a non-religious colleague posed the following question: "Could a rabbi come along and decide that we've spent enough years mourning for the destruction of the Temple, and just cancel Tisha B'Av? For typical secular Israelis, it's hard to understand why people still fast. Why should we close the cafes for something that happened 2,000 years ago?"



I don't think I answered him very well on the spot. I've been thinking about it since, especially since I've seen that same question as the title of a religious-secular dialogue evening scheduled for Tisha B'Av. Apparently it's in vogue.



The answer I gave him: "Clearly, a rabbi could issue such a ruling, but he'd have to justify it with very strong halachic arguments. There are certain rabbis today with sufficient stature that if they were to rule that Tisha B'Av should no longer be observed, their ruling would be followed, at least by their communities."



This is true, as far as it goes, but it doesn't get to the essence of what he was asking. He wasn't really asking about the practicalities of rabbinic leadership; he was challenging the essence of Tisha B'Av today: "What's the big deal? Isn't it time we moved on?"



So here are some of the ways I could have responded:

• Haven't we celebrated Pesach long enough? Purim? Chanukah? Why is this question only asked when it comes to a day of mourning? Does this indicate that modern secular society is open to any opportunity to celebrate, but is willing to mourn only when presented with an immediately tangible loss?
  
  
  
  
• How many years should we mourn any national tragedy? What about the Holocaust? The Rabin assassination? What if a rabbi were to rule that we've commemorated the Holocaust long enough, and it's time to move on - how would secular Israel react? Exactly how long is too long? Maybe we should continue mourning so long as the lessons remain relevant?
  
  
  
  
• How can you expect religious Israelis to respect the modern days of mourning enacted by the secular Jewish state (Yom Hazikaron, Yom Hashoah) if you are not willing to grant at least equal respect to an ancient day of mourning which has been with the Jewish people over 2,000 years? Does modernity demand that we erase the past?
  
  
  
  
• "It's hard to understand why people still fast"? When something is difficult to understand, the appropriate intellectual response is to study it. Even if you continue to disagree, we will at least have a basis for meaningful discussion.
  
  
  
  
• The Beit Hamikdash was the central manifestation of Jewish sovereignty in the ancient world. In a world where politics and religion were inherently one, where national success or failure was inevitably attributed to the power of the nation's gods (l'havdil), the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash - twice - expressed the apparent finality of the defeat of the Jewish people. Each time, it was far from clear that we would survive such a devastating blow. Isn't that cause for continued mourning?

Finally, my colleague's question implies another, one which should concern us equally as religious Jews: Haven't we finally overcome the loss of sovereignty symbolized by Tisha B'Av? With Israel a sovereign independent state, with Jerusalem a thriving Jewish metropolis, how can we pray to God lamenting its desolation?



Granted, even in the rebuilt State of Israel there is much we still lack, from peace and security to internal harmony to, not least, the Beit Hamikdash itself. But all this was true throughout most of Tanakh! Fifty-six years of a united Jewish sovereignty in most of the Land of Israel is more than was ever achieved in biblical times. (Though Solomon's kingdom enjoyed greater peace, prosperity and power than we have now, it only lasted forty years.)



Can we continue mourning as before over the lack of the Beit Hamikdash, oblivious to the palpable changes in other aspects of our national situation? If we do, are we being honest with ourselves? With God? Even without discarding Tisha B'Av, shouldn't the character of the day somehow adapt to reflect our current circumstances?



Were my colleague to have posed his question this way, I don't know if I would have a satisfactory response.

Iceland and the Holocaust

Yes, you read that right. Snorri G. Bergsson writes about the history of Jews in Iceland (talk about short stories!) and, in particular, Iceland's approach to the "Jewish question," the Holocaust, and Jewish refugees.

More on Naomi

JPost's Sarah Honig continues with part II of her essay on Naomi Shemer's politics, Maariv's Rubik Rosenthal writes about the use of biblical sources in her poetry, and Dudu Elharar speaks to Naomi's husband Mordechai Horowitz.

Michael Graham reminder

I already mentioned that talk show host Michael Graham is visiting Israel this week. He's broadcasting from Jerusalem in his usual time slot, 9am to 11:45am EST, and can be heard on 630 WMAL in Washington, DC, or streamed live on the Internet. I heard half of his show Monday and recommend it.



I also wanted to recommend his Israel Trip Journal. An excerpt:

Then we grabbed lunch on the Israeli/Lebanese border. That's right: Jerusalem, the Mediterranean, the Syrian border and the Lebanon border--all before LUNCH. That's the lesson of the politics of Israel. The place is just so darn small. If there's one thing the Israelis should not give up--for peace or anything else--it's land. They don't have enough as it is.

(Yeah, it's funny. He broadcasts from Jerusalem to Washington; I listen via the Internet from Israel.)

Moore than ironic

Has anyone else noticed that Michael Moore, currently the darling of all self-respecting European "intellectuals," fits precisely all the negative stereotypes Europeans have about Americans?



He's a loudmouthed foul-tongued wisecracking know-it-all Hollywood filmmaker, he goes around in a t-shirt and baseball cap and he's obese to boot. You could probably peg him as an American from half a mile away in any European capital.



If he weren't a radical leftist endorsing all their anti-American prejudices, the Euroleft would be the first to sneer at him haughtily as an uncouth, uncultured Yank. They probably do when no one's listening.

Blessed are the cheesemakers

Today is Rosh Chodesh Av, the start of an annual nine-day period in which Jews mourn the destruction of our ancient temples. Among the strictures observed during this period (at least by Ashkenazim) is a ban on the consumption of meat. It thus seems an appropriate time to talk about cheese (though no glatt kosher cheese steaks this week, Soccer Dad!).



Lately I've become curious about making cheese. An odd interest for a suburbanite like me, I know. Even odder, my motivations were entirely pragmatic.



I like cottage cheese. I've been eating a lot more of it lately, what with cutting the carbs and upping the protein. It's a good, healthy nosh. But get this: In Israel, cottage cheese is sold only in 250-gram containers. (That's about half a pound, for the metrically-challenged.)



Rather than coming home from the supermarket juggling half-pints of cottage cheese, I figured why not try making my own? I can control the quantity and - for better or worse - the taste. If only I knew what to do.



So far I'm still in the research phase, trawling websites for tips on the production of cheesy comestibles. Once I muster enough time - all right, enough courage - to try making a batch, I'll let you know how it comes out.



Meanwhile, I'm busy being fascinated by the magical properties of milk. Through different processes, it can be made into cream, butter, cheese (countless varieties, soft and hard), yogurt. Byproducts include whey and buttermilk. It can be pasteurized, homogenized, skimmed, fermented, coagulated, soured, powdered. And I thought water was an impressive substance.



Now for the Jewish angle. Milk is kosher if and only if it comes from a kosher species of animal. The situation with cheese is more complex.



The rabbis of the Mishnaic era forbade the consumption of cheese produced by gentiles. The reason behind the decree is a matter of Talmudic dispute, but one thing is clear: It's not out of concern that the cheese might be produced with non-kosher milk.



The rabbis were definite on this point: Non-kosher milk does not curdle, and thus cannot be used to make cheese: "Kosher milk curdles; non-kosher milk doesn't curdle" (BT Avodah Zarah 35b). In fact, the fact that milk has been turned into cheese is considered ample proof that the milk came from a kosher animal!



Intrigued, I investigated further. Is this true? Why should milk curdle only if it's kosher? And hadn't I heard somewhere about camel's milk cheese?



Well, the main characteristic distinguishing kosher from non-kosher animals is rumination, the chewing of the cud. It turns out that the milk of ruminant animals differs from non-ruminant milk. According to Cornell University's Professor Dave Barbano, "Since the pig is a nonruminant, the milk fat will be primarily long-chain fatty acids (probably a lot of C16:0). The short-chain fatty acids that provide the typical flavor to dairy products produced from ruminant milks (e.g. cow, goat, sheep, etc.) would not be present in pig milk."



Prof. Barbano doesn't mention whether this also inhibits coagulation, but it stands to reason that the different chemical compositions and the different propensities to form cheese would be related. I found not a single web site about pig milk cheese,* and also discovered that "no cheese is produced from horse milk."



Regarding camel cheese, recent research has apparently succeeded in producing a cheese-like substance from camel milk after a great deal of intricate processing, as described in this report by the Food and Agriculture Organization. Even this technical report, though, doesn't explain what properties of camel milk inhibit cheesemaking.



I'll leave you with the following excerpts:

The processing of camel milk into cheese is said to be difficult, even impossible.... It is surprising that although the majority of pastoral systems have produced at least one type of cheese, no traditional methods exist for making cheese from camel milk....



It appears that camel milk is technically more difficult to process than milk from other domestic dairy animals.... In the Ahaggar region and the Sinai peninsula only a few rare cheeses are manufactured by acidic separation and heating of milk proteins.... It is noted that these cheese types do not come under the standard definition of cheese which results from the simultaneous action of a milk clotting enzyme and lactic souring.

So: Were the rabbis right? Can milk coagulate if and only if it's kosher? And if so, why, from a scientific perspective?

---

* Except for this fantasy comic strip and this half-baked comment.

The Shark, by Naomi Shemer

Venerable Jerusalem Post columnist Sarah Honig writes this week about songwriter Naomi Shemer’s politics, illustrated with some personal anecdotes.



In this context, it’s worth mentioning what is perhaps one of Shemer’s least-known songs. “The Shark” was written during the original Camp David talks between Israel and Egypt, which ultimately resulted in the return to Egypt of the Sinai Peninsula, and the razing (by Israel) of the Jewish communities which Israel had built there.



It was apparently never put to music or recorded, and has remained something of a samizdat among nationalist circles. The original Hebrew lyrics can be found at a few websites, including at the end of this essay by commentator Elyakim Ha’etzni.



I’ve translated it rather literally. The original is in rhymed couplets of iambic quadrameter (each line goes da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM da-DUM), but I haven’t tried to preserve rhyme or rhythm.



I should note that the key word in the poem is “Shalom”, meaning variously “hello” or “peace”. I’ve left it as “Shalom” in the translation.

The Shark

By Naomi Shemer



Off the coast of Eilat or El-Arish

A small sardine met a shark

You meet a shark in the heat of day

What do you say?

You say Shalom!



A small sardine says Shalom

And the shark stares at him in silence

Say Shalom!

Calls the sardine

And the shark does not understand



Then the sardine raises his voice:

I am prepared in exchange for Shalom

To give you an entire fin!

And the shark was deaf and mute.



But this same young sardine

Was also a brilliant diplomat

And thus he did not give up

And from day to day he offered more!



He gave his tail for Shalom,

His two eyes for Shalom,

For a nice, broad Shalom –

His whole belly and his back

You meet a shark in the heat of day

What do you say?

You say Shalom!



Shalom, Shalom – and the shark

Only smiles and stays mum.



Then the sardine with bitter heart

Trumpets in his enemy’s ears!

For a great – great – Shalom

I am prepared to give it all!



This the shark finally heard

And he finally said Shalom

He said Shalom – bared his teeth –

And the sardine he tore apart.



Flowers, peace and love

Not a wave in the water nor a ripple

And off the coast of Eilat or El-Arish

Undisturbed swims a shark.



La la la la la..



You meet a shark in the heat of day

What do you say?

You say Shalom!

For more thoughts on Naomi, see here.

On air, live from Israel

Conservative talk show host Michael Graham from Washington D.C.'s WMAL 630 will be broadcasting from Israel next week. According to the station's website:

Michael Graham Live From Israel



Join 630 WMAL's Michael Graham July 19 - 23 for a remarkable week of live broadcasts from Israel. Michael will report from across the country -- Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, even the Golan Heights -- as he explores the continuing conflict in Israel, the War on Terror and the many special ties between the people of Washington and the people of Israel. The Michael Graham Show, weekdays 9am to 11:45am.

Aside from putting on a great radio show, Graham is a great friend of Israel on the air. He's streamed live on the Internet in three formats, so I can listen daily from across the ocean from 4pm. I'm looking forward to hearing his impressions of our beautiful country.



Welcome, Michael.

Would you like ice cream snakes with your sweats?

Quiz: What is the location of the cafeteria menu board in the following photograph? Note especially the last three items.







Answer: Believe it or not, the departure lounge of Ben Gurion Airport.



To give them the benefit of the doubt, I assume they would have checked the spelling but they couldn't find any native English speakers around the airport. Right?



(In case you can't work it out, it should read "draft / draught beer", "sweets", and "ice cream snacks".)