Cooking
Today is Yom Kippur, or the day of atonement. It is traditional for Jews to go to temple on this day, to fast, to pray and to reflect upon their actions. We are supposed to literally contemplate our own fate. I've never been completely comfortable with this holiday which I suppose is appropriate. It is a day to be uncomfortable.
There is a story about Yom Kippur that I like very much. It's a Polish story about a rabbi who disappears on Yom Kippur and when someone follows him to see where he goes, it is not to "heaven" but into the forest to chop wood for a sick old woman. In effect, he goes "even higher" than heaven, because in Judaism the best thing you can do is a "mitzvah" or good deed.
And so today seems like the perfect day to do a good deed. Instead of fasting, or spending the day in temple, I went to the San Francisco Food Bank. I volunteered with a handful of others, packaging up peanuts to be distributed to people in my own community who do not get enough to eat. How ironic, "peanuts" a metaphor for an insignificant amount. But in this case, possibly a lifesaver.
Who are these people who end up with "peanuts"? Many of them are seniors on a fixed income who must decide between groceries and medicine, families struggling to keep everyone clothed, fed and under one roof, and the working poor.
This year, I want to share with you my commitment to do more to alleviate hunger. Because I do get enough to eat and it's just too easy to forget about those who don't.
FOOD + YOM KIPPUR + HUNGER
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In the 1970's my dad was out of work for a year. For as long as I can remember, my mother tended an organic garden and baked bread from scratch and during that year my dad fished for salmon and went clamming for geoduck. We ate lots of eggs from...
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Cooking
Peanuts for Yom Kippur
Today is Yom Kippur, or the day of atonement. It is traditional for Jews to go to temple on this day, to fast, to pray and to reflect upon their actions. We are supposed to literally contemplate our own fate. I've never been completely comfortable with this holiday which I suppose is appropriate. It is a day to be uncomfortable.
There is a story about Yom Kippur that I like very much. It's a Polish story about a rabbi who disappears on Yom Kippur and when someone follows him to see where he goes, it is not to "heaven" but into the forest to chop wood for a sick old woman. In effect, he goes "even higher" than heaven, because in Judaism the best thing you can do is a "mitzvah" or good deed.
And so today seems like the perfect day to do a good deed. Instead of fasting, or spending the day in temple, I went to the San Francisco Food Bank. I volunteered with a handful of others, packaging up peanuts to be distributed to people in my own community who do not get enough to eat. How ironic, "peanuts" a metaphor for an insignificant amount. But in this case, possibly a lifesaver.
Who are these people who end up with "peanuts"? Many of them are seniors on a fixed income who must decide between groceries and medicine, families struggling to keep everyone clothed, fed and under one roof, and the working poor.
This year, I want to share with you my commitment to do more to alleviate hunger. Because I do get enough to eat and it's just too easy to forget about those who don't.
FOOD + YOM KIPPUR + HUNGER
- More Observations On The Hunger Challenge
Yesterday's post was the most pitiful thing I think I've ever written. I tried a new recipe, Queso Panela Kebabs, and it was a failure. The cheese melted into a sad pile of goo. Failure happens but it's all the more discouraging when you're...
- Is Hunger A Taboo Subject?
The first year I participated in the Hunger Challenge, one of my commenters basically said that anyone who was hungry in this country was lazy. I was also told by a blogger that she wouldn't participate in the Challenge because it was her personal...
- Budget Grocery Shopping Tips
Just yesterday the San Francisco Chronicle reported that unemployment has reached 12.2% in California, that's the highest it's been since 1976. That means more and more people are struggling to make ends meet. More and more people are facing...
- The Hunger Challenge
In the 1970's my dad was out of work for a year. For as long as I can remember, my mother tended an organic garden and baked bread from scratch and during that year my dad fished for salmon and went clamming for geoduck. We ate lots of eggs from...
- Shopping At The Food Pantry
Let's put aside those arguments about whether or not organic food is too expensive or elitist, just for a minute. Or if local food is truly sustainable. Because for some people, it's really not an issue. Their own sustainence is the issue. For...