The Jewish narrative is often told through our tastebuds. In our home, a new custom has quietly taken shape over the past few years..

During the recent military campaigns against the various regimes that have sought to harm us, we found ourselves looking for outlets of positivity for our children. Instead of only experiencing these nations through the lens of hostility and threat, we began bringing elements of their cultures into our home – through food.

Persian dishes. Lebanese flavors, Yemenite delicacies.. Foods that, not long ago, might have felt distant or even foreign for a nice Ashekanzi family, began appearing on our Shabbat table.

It started almost as a joke, but quickly became something more meaningful.

If they define their relationship to us through conflict, we refuse to do the same. We will not only endure their hostility – we will also absorb, elevate, and enjoy the good that exists in the world around us. There is something deeply Jewish about that instinct. Like on Purim, where we celebrate even as we were nearly destroyed. Like on Chanukah, where we light specifically in the darkness.

We don’t survive history. We transform it. 

While on this Shabbat we enjoyed Persian rice and Kabobs,  I opened my phone after Shabbat........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)