Cooking with Hashem

Judaism and food. Food and Judaism. Food has always been an intrinsic component of Jewish life. From raising a cup for kiddush to the mitzvah of a seudah at every simcha, Yom Tov, and three times each Shabbos, food is constantly used as a means of celebration and connection. Food also has the distinct reputation of being a Jewish woman’s way of giving and of showing love, care and compassion.

We spend an enormous amount of time and effort shopping, planning, preparing and cooking food, and understandably, this can sometimes feel like quite a burden. And then there’s that constant hum in the back of our minds as we get dinner on the table every night, which is, of course, “So what am I cooking tomorrow?”

But our tzadikim teach us that nothing in Judaism is “mundane.” There is no place and no time that is devoid of the presence of Hashem, and every moment we are faced with on this earth is another opportunity to open ourselves up to see the presence of Hashem. בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי אבוא אליך וברכתיך — Wherever you mention My name I will come to you and bless you.

TYH spoke with some women about how they uplift their food preparation to be more than just a mundane but necessary act. We asked them for ideas on how to use it as an expression of avodas Hashem, and to help bring us closer to our Creator and to our families.

LET’S INVITE HASHEM INTO THE KITCHEN!

“I love having hartzig music playing in the background as I cook, Shabbos music before Shabbos and corresponding music before Yomim Tovim,” says Sara. “I find that it really uplifts and inspires the cooking experience and also infuses the food with a spiritual energy and kedusha. Also, the love of feeding people and wanting to warm their hearts through food really gives it an aura of royalty.”

Bracha also loves listening to niggunim, and finds that singing and dancing in the kitchen bring so much simcha to the mitzvah. Tanya says, “Music in the kitchen is a must! Anything from TYH Nation and the food tastes delicious as an added plus. My kids are trained from a young age — no negative talk when Mommy is cooking or it will go straight into the food! Keeping a happy vibe affects every aspect of our day!”

Pull quote: BRACHA ALSO LOVES LISTENING TO NIGGUNIM, AND FINDS THAT SINGING AND DANCING IN THE KITCHEN BRING SO MUCH SIMCHA TO THE MITZVAH.

Tefillah is an essential part of how Esti connects to Hashem in her kitchen. “When I make food for Shabbos,” she relates, “I try to say ‘L’kavod Shabbos Kodesh.’ Hashem, please make my food delicious.” And I find that He really does! Also, when I cook dinner for my family during the week, I ask Hashem to make the food pleasing for my children, and that the food should be nutritious and filling for them.

I then ask the same for my husband when I serve him his meal later in the evening. Hashem is very much in my kitchen!”

Shira also davens and asks, “Hashem, please let the food enhance my family’s Oneg Shabbos and Yom Tov!”

Bracha and Rivka both love listening to shiurim as they cook. “It helps me pay equal attention to both the physical and spiritual nourishment, and then I can come into the Chag feeling refreshed and tuned in,” says Bracha. Keeping our minds occupied with Torah

While many spent the day wrapped in avodah in the Beis Hamedrash, the Ropshitzer Rebbe was found one erev Yom Tov in the kitchen, stirring the pot of soup and kneading challah dough. His gabbai asked, “Rebbe, isn’t it beneath you to be in the kitchen doing these preparations?” Replied the Ropshitzer, “Oh no, you have it all wrong — this is the holiest place to be! When you are making dough, you’re connecting the upper spheres and the lower spheres!” It is said that at that time, a new level of chochmah was revealed to the heilige Ropshitzer.

…thoughts is also a great way to add a zest for Torah learning into the food, (and bonus points!) to actually get a lot done without even noticing!

We were lucky to get the perspective of Malky, who cooks daily for a yeshiva. She davens first and foremost that the food should come out tasty then she asks Hashem that the food should be pleasing and satiating, and she adds a special request. “Hashem, please let the bochurim feel cared for and have the koach and ratzon to serve You, b’emes, honestly.”

Chayala recalls when she was a young girl, and her little brother was sick with swine flu. Her grandmother called the house and told her daughter (Chayala’s mother), “My sister had him in mind while she was preparing his fish for Shabbos.” This made a big impression on Chayala, who commented, “I can’t always daven Shacharis. This made me realize that when we are in the kitchen, that is our opportunity! That’s the time that’s so crucial for women to daven!”

When we spoke to Faigy, she brought up the concept of “מי שטרח מיערב שבת שבת אוכל בשבת” — Someone who prepares for Shabbos gets to enjoy what they’ve prepared on Shabbos. The Kedushas Levi teaches that when one does hachanah (preparation) for something — here, the meal prep, shopping, planning — it shows how much the person loves the mitzvah. When we prepare for people we love and for the things that are precious to us, it’s a delight!

When speaking of kavanah, Faigy brought a beautiful concept from the Baal HaTanya, who says that י-ק-ו-ה could be compared to the four levels of physical existence: chi, tzomeach, domem, midaber. The lowest form — the inanimate object (domem), can be compared to the physical act — the cooking itself. Then the vegetative state (tzomeach) is connected to the thoughts that one was preparing, which is the next level up. Even higher is the living state (chi), which is the phase where one’s emotions are stirred instinctively. And then the highest form is speech — tefillah (midaber), which is when one contemplates and meditates on the action that she’s doing, connecting to her seichel. This transforms the entire process, … how hard her mother worked to elevate food and use it as a spiritual enterprise. She once borrowed and studied a Kabbalistic book called HaShulchan HaTahor to learn about approaching food in a holy way.

Yes, food, which our bodies require in order to live and function, is steeped with spiritual components, as important as the salt and pepper itself!

We may sometimes think that the process of bringing food to the table, be it on Shabbos, Yom Tov, or a Tuesday night, is just “something that needs to be done.” In actuality, it’s a unique and uplifting avodah which lies before us, with the ability to transform our entire purpose and mission!

Your heart is light and happy while you’re cooking? You’re sprinkling your food with joy. You tune into your affection for your family as you’re baking? Your cake is flavored with love. Every moment spent measuring, peeling, chopping and spicing, is a moment infused with a power so transcendental that, like other deep concepts, it has to be covered up by what seems on the outside to be “mundane”!

We can’t neglect to mention the influence of Rebbetzin Henny Machlis a”h, whose entire being exemplified this concept. She and her family hosted dozens of guests every Shabbos. She would always say that whatever kavanos and tefillos you have in mind get mixed right into the recipe along with the physical ingredients. We can bake strength, confidence, good health, shalom bayis, resilience, and anything else into our family’s Shabbos and Yom Tov meals!

In the biography of Rebbetzin Machlis a”h, her daughter recalled Rav Shimshon Pincus zt”l, in his introduction to his sefer, Nefesh Chaya, brings the minhag of mishmar of many bnei Torah to stay awake on Thursday nights and delve into learning Torah with vigor. He suggests that perhaps this is spiritually influenced by their mothers, who spend Thursday nights awake as well, in the kitchen preparing their holy Shabbos food.

Rebbetzin Yitty Neustadt a”h discussed the timeless words of Eishes Chayil, “Tzofiah halichos beisah — she anticipates the ways of her household.” The word tzofiah means to look ahead in the future. A woman of valor doesn’t only look at the here and now, she says, but she looks forward. While she is cooking, baking, and tending to all of the other many tasks of running her home, she shouldn’t see it simply as a never-ending list of to-dos. Rather, she should stand in her present role with her eyes towards the future and think, “What will come out of this home? From all of this that I am doing now, the children that I am feeding, the future of Klal Yisroel is being sustained!”

So, to give our food a taste of Heaven, let’s utilize the time we spend preparing it to:

Talk to Hashem! Ask Hashem to make the food appealing to our family and guests. Use this opportunity to ask Hashem to give them not only physical, but spiritual and emotional health. Don’t limit it — ask for anything and everything!

Listen to a shiur — the thoughts that you have at the time permeate the food — make it devarim shel kedusha.

Play music and dance! When your heart is light and b’simcha, you pass that on to those whom you feed, and your overall power is sky-high!

Remember that the hishtadlus you put in is not what makes the output successful, but it’s the Siyatta diShmaya and bracha from Hashem that gives your endeavors success and your food its divine taste.

And last but not least, always be aware that ultimately, we are here with the most sacred of missions, which is to serve Hashem by giving to our families, day in and day out. Everything we do for them is heightened with the awareness that when we care for them, we are caring for Hashem’s precious children.

So, although sometimes it can feel like a repeat, making dinner every night and cooking up a storm for Shabbos and Yom Tov, the food is just a fraction of the bigger picture. It’s just another way to invite Hashem into our day-to-day lives. We are not just feeding our families and guests a protein, starch and vegetables, but rather we are bonding, connecting, creating and inspiring. Hashem is our King, and when we bring Him into our kitchens, we become queens, building fortitude and strength for our kingdoms.

Rav Avigdor Miller zt”l talks about our kavanos as mothers: “As you pick up a crying baby, say, ‘I am doing this because Hashem says ‘V’ahavta l’rei’acha kamocha.’ I love my fellow man; the baby is my fellow man.’ It’s a mitzvas asei: your fellow man is sad, he’s distressed, he’s shrieking, and you try to calm him.”

“When you’re bringing food to the table, you should think, ‘Noseim lechem l’chol bosor — I am providing bread to all beings. I am a shliach of Hashem. They want bread; here’s bread.’ When you’re baking, or doing anything connected to preparing food, you’re acting with the middah of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And what’s His middah, what’s Hakadosh Boruch Hu doing? Yosheiv v’zun, He’s sitting and feeding the world, mei’karnei re’eimim v’ad beitzei kinim, from the biggest animal to the smallest insects, Hashem is feeding the world. It’s a model for mothers who stand and labor in the kitchen; they’re feeding their little world. That’s how a person can think.”

“Whatever you do in the house, when you do it l’Shem Shamayim, you’re serving Hakadosh Boruch Hu And therefore, with the right preparation and a little thought, woman can transform all these menial tasks into avodas Hashem. And this is no less than the avodah of the Kohen in the Beis Hamikdash!”

DIVINE SWEET POTATO PECAN PIE

INGREDIENTS

One pie crust

Filling:

• 2 med. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3 T oil
• 1 egg
• 3 T sugar
• 3 T brown sugar
• ¼ t salt
• ½ t vanilla

Topping:

• ½ c chopped pecans
• ½ c flour
• ¼ c brown sugar
• ⅛ c oil

DIRECTIONS

Think about the mitzvah of preparing for Yom Tov that you are about to fulfill, and preheat the oven to 350°.

Cook and drain the sweet potatoes.

While they are cooking, turn on a song that makes you feel close to Hashem.

Mash well and add filling ingredients.

Ask Hashem for the pie to come out yummy, and pour filling into the pie crust.

Say “Lichvod Yom Tov!” and place the pie in the oven.

Allow to bake 15-20 min, turn up the volume, and do a little katatzka!

Afterwards, combine the topping ingredients.

Remove pie from oven and crumble the topping over it, while asking Hashem for health and sweetness in your life!

Return the pie to the oven and continue baking for 20-25 min.

Enjoy the aroma that fills the kitchen and don’t forget to say “Thank You Hashem!”

TEFILLAH FOR A WOMAN BEFORE COOKING
In Honor of Shabbos and Yom Tov

The following prayer of intention for cooking was found in the Lederman shul in Bnei Brak. Its author is unknown.

MASTER OF THE WORLD, I stand ready and prepared to begin the holy work of making fish, meat, and all kinds of delicacies in honor of the holy Shabbos (or Yom Tov). In doing so, I am fulfilling the verse (Shemos 16:5), “V’heichinu es asher yavi’u, they should prepare what they will bring (to Shabbos or Yom Tov).” With all my work and toil, please place Your blessing from Heaven. In every single dish, please send a gift from Heaven and sprinkle that special spice called Shabbos, a spice which is impossible for us to access in this world, no matter how much money we would spend. This Shabbos spice can only come through our beseeching before You with an entreaty, Master of the world.

Before I begin the work of my hand, I will give a pruta to charity as You have directed us (Devarim 15:8), “You shall surely open your hand (to the poor).”

Grant to me, My Master, that I should feel joy as the Shabbos Queen once again gets closer to arriving. You gave us this gift of Shabbos with love and let me accept it with love, great desire, physical and spiritual health. Allow me to prepare each food, guard and protect me, support me, so that no obstacle or failure should come as a result of my efforts. Every food should be kosher and proper, as You have commanded us.

Let not my thoughts wander toward food preparation worries while I daven my regular prayers. On the contrary, allow me to have my lips moving in prayer with a sincere heart while I cook.

I am so thankful to You for giving me all of my Shabbos needs this week, and You continue to give us our needs every day with Your complete, open, holy and wide hand, and You do not give it through the handouts of other people.

May the foods I have toiled and labored to prepare for the honor of Shabbos be accepted before You on Your altar, as if I have brought a sacrifice to You, G-d who is merciful and gracious. As Chazal say, at the time of the Temple, the altar would atone for Yisrael and now, one’s own table atones for him. Let us eat with joy for You have accepted our service.

Let the foods that I toiled and labored for the honor of Shabbos be tasty and delicious to my husband and to all members of my household, and to all those who will be at my table from Your nation Yisrael, as You have commanded us to invite guests and to love all others as we love ourselves, “Ve’ahavta l’rei’acha kamocha.”

I add another prayer, my G-d, that all of the food that I will place on our table should remind me that it all comes from You as a free gift, My compassionate and gracious Father. Let not any tainted, disgusting, arrogant thoughts come to me (making me feel that I did all the preparations on my own).

Let us and our children learn Your Torah for its sake (lishma) and may we be knowledgeable in all the laws in the Shulchan Aruch of cooking for Shabbos, with all of its details.

With a simple and sincere heart, we will bless and thank Your Great Name. HaTzur, the Rock, we have always eaten and have been satisfied from You, and we will praise and extol You with songs and praises from now until forever!