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Pork-nography: A Diatribe on Kashrut

February 21, 2010 By punktorah

(Originally posted here)

Recently Tablet Magazine ran an article titled “High on the Hog“, where it looked at the phenomenon of cuisine which purposely mixes not just meat and milk, but treif (forbidden foods) with foods considered to be part of the Jewish culinary spectrum (matzo balls, bagels, etc). Several of the speakers talk about cuisine a flexible medium, and a reflection of the cosmopolitan world we live in. They talk about shattering barriers, challenging assumptions.

Besides, many say, who can resist the persistent pull of the pig? Food, they tell us, is better with bacon.

Hogwash.

I find myself siding with Rabbi and Chef Gil Marks (also quoted in the article), that pork does not stand shoulder to shoulder with the a good set of pots and pans in terms of importance in the kitchen. It’s not a necessary component.

In Texas, a smoked turkey leg serves the same role in dishes as bacon or a ham hock. And while it isn’t easy to find right now, beef bacon (beef smoked and treated in the same process as pork bacon) does exist.

Worried because fat = flavor? Turn to the past, honor your grandmother, and pick up a carton of shmaltz. Phil Romano, an accomplished local chef, reminded me that “instead of butter, you already have a great alternative in rendered chicken fat. But if that is not the way you would like to go, there is always a plethora of butter alternatives that can be used and a few of the better ones even act like butter when melted.”

But it’s more than all that. I’ve come to learn that bacon is almost a cop-out for cooks.

Recently, my friend Doug attended a cooking lecture which was supposed to present some innovative cooking techniques. The presenter began the first demonstration by tossing a stick of butter and a few pieces of bacon into the pan.

“I just walked out.” he said, “It was clear I wasn’t going to learn anything there. You can make ANYTHING taste good if you start with bacon and butter. Good food is more about technique and care than anything else.  If you can cook well, you can serve up a vegan dish and a non-vegan will enjoy it.”

(By the way, Doug’s site is testimony to that ideal. You should check it out.)

That leaves us with the issue of the people who submit to their porcine pecadillos, their attraction to sinful sausages, their… well, you get the idea.

That some people feel pork is irresistible, and that it’s very forbiden-ness in conjunction with Jewish cooking makes it that much more attractive, only points (in my opinion) to the growing phenomenon of “food porn” – food that titillates as much as (or more than) it satisfies.

“Suppose you came to a country where you could fill a theatre by simply bringing a covered plate on stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let everyone see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a pork chop or a piece of bacon. Would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with their appetite for food?”
– C.S. Lewis

How close are we to the world that C.S. Lewis envisioned? How far have we strayed from the idea of food that nourishes and sustains us, toward one where it merely tantalizes but leaves us feeling empty, or worse, sullied?

At the end of any meal or snack, Jews are commanded to give thanks. Part of that blessing – the Birkat Hamazon – is the phrase: “Blessed is our God, whose food we have eaten, and through whose goodness we live.”

Speaking for myself, I try to make sure that when I say those words, they aren’t going to get stuck in my throat.

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?) Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, Counterculture, darshan yeshiva, food, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, kosher, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, pork, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, Torah, treif

PunkTorah: Tzedakah In Your Pants!

February 9, 2010 By punktorah

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Podcasts & Videos, Random (Feelin' Lucky?) Tagged With: charity, Counterculture, Jewish, Judaism, Punk, punktorah, Religion, Torah, tzedakah

Are Jewish Labels Necessary?

January 25, 2010 By punktorah

Everyone is judging everyone all of the time, whether it is based on the clothing they wear, the community or place they live, what kind of car they may drive or where they buy their groceries. Judaism is no different when it comes to judging and labeling. Everyone uses labels on a daily basis to decide whether or not they want to move to a certain community, send their kids to certain school or eat at certain people’s house. We, orthodox Jews, love to judge and also hate the judging, but in my mind we kind of need the labels, maybe not to the extreme that they exist, but to me it seems that without labels there would be huge issues.

I have heard so many people say that they just want to be Jewish. I would love to just be Jewish, but so many issues would arise without labels like frum, modern or Chassidic. As much as we love to hate the labels, they do serve a purpose.

Though I don’t think the judging serves a purpose, other than as providing entertainment, the labels themselves do serve a very valid purpose.

Imagine for a second that you wanted to erase labels, think of all the problems that could arise.

How would people date if they didn’t know anything about the person’s religious level beyond the fact that they were Jewish? How would these people know if the prospective date kept kosher or kept shabbos without labels? When you say someone keeps kosher you label them in my mind.

What about sending your kids to school? Lets say that you want a modern school, but can’t say such things, so you try and describe what modern orthodoxy is. The problem is everyone has a different opinion as to exactly what constitutes modern orthodoxy. I have many friends who wear black hats that are modern orthodox, and friends who wear “regular clothes” who consider themselves yeshivish. Without these labels, people would spend all of their time trying to get places without saying exactly what they wanted.

It seems as if having labels is like having a necessary evil. We love to hate them and hate to need them, but what would we do without them? Some people cannot be labeled, that’s true, but you can place yourself in favor of a certain label. I wouldn’t know how to properly label myself. I dress and look modern orthodox; I like the yeshivish mussar movement and I have an affinity for chabad, even though I didn’t place myself in one category it was easier than explaining all of my affiliations.
One of the beauties of Judaism is that there is no right way to practice, everyone does their own thing. But how on earth would we be able to categorize these Jews without labels. Or is there really no need for categorizations?

(Originally posted at FrumSatire)

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?), Rants Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, Jewish, Judaism, just jewish, labels, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, post-denominational, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, Torah, yeshivish

Prayer Before Meals: Ha-Motzi

November 5, 2009 By punktorah

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghWMOlzTr7g

Barukh atah Adonai Elohaynu melekh ha-olam
ha-motzi lechem min ha-aretz.
(Amen)

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: bread, challah, chamotzi, daven, food, hamotzi, Jewish, jewish prayer, Jews, Judaism, kosher, mitzvah, mitzvot, prayer, prayer before meals, Torah

Tallit?

October 3, 2009 By punktorah

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQDSauQwC6E

Wrap yourself in Hashem’s love with Tallit/Tallis! G_d acts as a mother, clothing us in her love. This video is brought to you by PunkTorah.org. Check us out at twitter.com/punktorah and also on Facebook!

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: bible, Counterculture, darshan yeshiva, holy underwear, Jewish, jewish prayer, Jews, Judaism, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, prayer, prayer shawl, punktorah, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, tallis, tallit, tallit katan, Torah

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