Tuesday, October 5, 2010

why are WE, as JEWS, uncomfortable with 'pumpkins' ??

Search Amazon.com for pumpkin recipesdo you suppose that the Torah refers to 'pumpkins' as a 'forbidden fruit' ?
i think not......
I'm pretty sure that the 'apple' takes first position on that one!
curious thing about the apple.....
it goes from being 'forbidden'
to being the symbol of 'sweetness and newness' on the high holidays.....
(just saying.....)
during the 40 year exile in the desert,
we were, apparently,
given 'manna' from the heavens....
for sustenance....
so the story goes that the manna tasted like 'anything you wanted it to taste like'....
so we imagine 'CHALLAH FRENCH TOAST, wine, steak.....'.....
but never in all of the imaginings does the word PUMPKIN appear.....
do you suppose that pumpkins existed in those days ??
did they have pumpkin pies made of MATZOH MEAL from the MATZOH that they were forced
to CARRY ON THEIR BACKS ???!!
confusing and potentially,
LIFE ALTERING mini-factoids......
blah......blahhhhhhh

IS IT ALL RELATIVE ?

What makes a traumatic situation real and not somehow sensationalized or exaggerated ? What constitutes real trauma ? Is it all relative ? I...