The purpose of this email is to seed more fruitful Shabbat table conversation. Please share.
Dear Body,
I know I'm not supposed to feed you a lot of carbs.
I know that fruit is high in carbs.
But this coming Sunday night is Tubishvat - the Jewish New Year of the Trees.
So what can I do? It's a mitzvah to eat extra fruit.
(Greatest way to break your diet is to make it into a mitzvah. Go challa!)
Every year at this time I prowl Whole Paycheck Market (no, Bezos hasn't lowered the prices), hunting for as many different fruits as I can find. Hopefully I'll also find something novel.
A typical harvest: olives, grapes, dates, figs, pomegranate, walnuts, cashews, almonds, pistachios, 5 varieties of apple, 2 or 3 types of grapefruit, lemon, lime, cacao nibs, pineapple (not from a tree but looks great on the table), avocado, red bananas (not strictly speaking a tree but exotic!), mango, 2 kinds of pears, kiwi, prunes, apricots (the only fruit I really don't care for), star fruit, dragon fruit, grape juice and wine, coconut water (drink it cold), capers, maple syrup....
These will all be laid out in a colorful feast Sunday night, in great anticipation.
First question for your table - anyone surprised I included maple syrup?
Second question - what did I leave out?
(How about chocolate? Or is that cheating because it's not really a fruit?)
The Torah calls the fruits of the Land of Israel "zimrat ha-aretz" - literally, "the song of the land".
When you drive around there in the summertime through endless landscapes of ripening succulence, it does rather seem as though you're soaring through a harmonious melody.
Question for your table: So why is the New Year of the Trees in the dead of winter?
Hint: what is happening to trees in the winter that influences their fruit in the summer?
3 more questions for your table:
3. What's the most exotic fruit you ever tried?
4. What's the most exotic fruit you ever refused to try?
5. If you had to be stuck on a desert island and could pick exactly one type of fruit tree to have there, which would you choose?
Shabbat Shalom
and Happy Tubishvat
PS - It's looks like it's too late to get some miracle fruit in time for Tubishvat, but how about for Purim? (here's an Amazon link or here).....
PPS - While digesting all that fruit, I hope you'll enjoy the bloody moon.
Dear Body,I know I'm not supposed to feed you a lot of carbs.
I know that fruit is high in carbs.
But this coming Sunday night is Tubishvat - the Jewish New Year of the Trees.
So what can I do? It's a mitzvah to eat extra fruit.
(Greatest way to break your diet is to make it into a mitzvah. Go challa!)
Every year at this time I prowl Whole Paycheck Market (no, Bezos hasn't lowered the prices), hunting for as many different fruits as I can find. Hopefully I'll also find something novel.
A typical harvest: olives, grapes, dates, figs, pomegranate, walnuts, cashews, almonds, pistachios, 5 varieties of apple, 2 or 3 types of grapefruit, lemon, lime, cacao nibs, pineapple (not from a tree but looks great on the table), avocado, red bananas (not strictly speaking a tree but exotic!), mango, 2 kinds of pears, kiwi, prunes, apricots (the only fruit I really don't care for), star fruit, dragon fruit, grape juice and wine, coconut water (drink it cold), capers, maple syrup....
These will all be laid out in a colorful feast Sunday night, in great anticipation.
First question for your table - anyone surprised I included maple syrup?
Second question - what did I leave out?
(How about chocolate? Or is that cheating because it's not really a fruit?)
The Torah calls the fruits of the Land of Israel "zimrat ha-aretz" - literally, "the song of the land".
When you drive around there in the summertime through endless landscapes of ripening succulence, it does rather seem as though you're soaring through a harmonious melody.
Question for your table: So why is the New Year of the Trees in the dead of winter?
Hint: what is happening to trees in the winter that influences their fruit in the summer?
3 more questions for your table:
3. What's the most exotic fruit you ever tried?
4. What's the most exotic fruit you ever refused to try?
5. If you had to be stuck on a desert island and could pick exactly one type of fruit tree to have there, which would you choose?
Shabbat Shalom
and Happy Tubishvat
PS - It's looks like it's too late to get some miracle fruit in time for Tubishvat, but how about for Purim? (here's an Amazon link or here).....
PPS - While digesting all that fruit, I hope you'll enjoy the bloody moon.
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