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Thoughts to Nosh OnAugust 2007From the Desk of Rabbi SharffOne of my favorite television celebrities, Alton Brown will be returning in his acclaimed show "Feasting on Asphalt" this month. Alton is a Food Network chef, who on this particular show travels the country via motorcycle encountering local ethnic cuisines from the Deep South to the West Coast. Last year, Alton happened to stop at Ted Drew’s in St. Louis, which also happens to be one of Joy and my most favorite frozen custard places in the whole world. It is intriguing watching the show realizing that although we like to think in terms of "American" taste, our palates in fact are greatly influenced by the regions where we grew up. We can see this in cases of grits versus oatmeal, tomato-based chowder versus cream-based chowder, and even barbeque treif versus slow-cooked brisket (a favorite in Texas). If this is true of our culinary heritage, how much more so is it true of our traditional heritage, for Judaism has always been profoundly affected by the environment in which Jews live. Whether it was the rise of worship while living in Babylonian exile, or the development of what some term "American" Judaism, our experiences cannot be separated from the world that surrounds us. The world we grew up in is what we consider normative. The melodies we heard in synagogue as children are the ones that offer comfort and meaning. The food we enjoyed as children at the Passover Seder are still in many ways the foods we look forward to the most each and every Pesach. Those of us who have ever tried not to serve Manishewitz wine at Passover know this all too well. The challenge arises when we mix Jewish ritual cuisines in one kitchen. Our new siddur represents an attempt at this most difficult of processes; the melodies we sing in shul face the same issues as well. Because of our disparate individual experiences, one prayer experience cannot be all things to all people. This is the reason why we offer such a broad variety of worship styles and experiences here at Temple Emanu-El. We do this to enable each and every one of you to be able to Feast on Tefillah. We do this with the hope that we can all find a place and time of worship that satisfies our spiritual souls in a way that is filling and comforting at the same time. So, as we begin this year offering up a wide variety of worship styles, please join us in sampling all that Temple Emanu-El has to offer.
Rabbi Ben Sharff |
