Making Your Dinner Table a Temple
For my 33rd birthday back in 1992, I received a book from our best friends and frequent dinner partners, a book that changed my life. It was the Hebrew edition of the collected writings of Rabbenu Bahya ben Asher, a 13th-14th century kabbalist and biblical commentator. It included what has become a constant companion over the past two decades, the14th century kabbalistic ethical manual on mindful eating: “Shulhan Shel Arba”, “Table of Four.” It has informed many Shabbat and holiday meals I’ve made and it has become central to my academic research on food and religion as well as a subject for my teaching.
The Original Tu B’Shvat Seder: 'Pri Etz Hadar'
Some Jews will celebrate this Tu B’Shvat, by blessing and eating different kinds of fruits — paying attention to their different textures and tastes, by eating the Seven Species of grains and fruits of Israel or seven local foods and by reciting or singing a string of passages from Jewish and other texts as part of a seder.