Monday, May 17, 2010

Ice Cream Sundaes, Cheesecake, and Shavuot

Yesterday, while eating ice cream sundaes with my It's a Girl Thing group to celebrate the month of Sivan and Shavuot, I found myself talking to the girls about why we eat dairy on Shavuot. This year, I spoke from a new perspective, though--the one of a nursing mother.

Among the numerous reasons for eating dairy on Shavuot, when Jews celebrate receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai, is that Torah can be compared to mother's milk. If mother's milk is the perfect physical food, then Torah is the perfect spiritual food. Just as mother's milk is custom-created for each baby, changing its quantity and composition based on each child's developmental needs, each reading of Torah contains a new lesson, perfect for a specific reader at that moment of his or her life. Just as a mother feels compelled to feed her child, God is driven to give humanity--God's children--Torah.

I could probably go on for a while on this tangent, as it combines two of my most fervent enthusiasms of the moment: breastfeeding and Torah.

Inspired by my dairy ruminations, I will be marking Shavuot with a custom-created cheesecake--I'm going to experiment with a ginger-dark-chocolate chunk cheesecake. Wish me luck.

For more explanations (traditional and otherwise) of eating dairy on Shavuot and other Shavuot customs, see the following links:
http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=43636
http://www.aish.com/h/sh/r/48969771.html
http://www.jewishsantabarbara.org/page.aspx?id=130669

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Shavuot/At_Home/Foods.shtml
http://www.amotherinisrael.com/shavuot-cheese-cake/

For my favorite cheesecake (with thanks to Erica):
Maple Cheesecake with Maple-Cranberry Compote