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VAYAKHEL
SABBATH FIRES
The parsha of Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1-38:20) begins the account of the actual construction of the Sanctuary, which continues through the end of the book of Shemot, the details meticulously laid out in the parshot of Terumah and Tetzaveh and part of Ki Tisa. Before describing that undertaking, however, the text reiterated a matter initially introduced in conjunction with the descent of the manna (Exodus 16:23-26) and then included in the Ten Commandments (20:8-11) -- Shabbat. The text in Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1-2) states, "These are the things which the Lord has commanded, that you should do them. Six days you shall do work, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a sabbath (cessation) of solemn rest to the Lord; whosoever does any work shall be put to death." The words “These are the things” denote 39 prohibited categories (avot) of creative work called melakhah and their derivatives (toldot), forbidding the performance on Shabbat of those acts that were utilized for the construction of the Sanctuary (Sanhedrin 35b). One of the categories of creative work (Av Melakha) proscribed on Shabbat is changing the physical structure of a substance by means of heat, including baking/cooking. (Melting wax and metal and drying wet clothes are toldot.) The Jerusalem Talmud relates that every Av Melakha (category of work) has 39 toldot. (Thus there are a total of 1,521 acts biblically proscribed on the Sabbath.) In addition, in order to avoid activities that resemble or could lead to the practice of a prohibited type of work various extensions (gezerot) developed over the course of time.
Shabbat and the Sanctuary, here conjoined, are both affairs of kedusah (holiness). As the Sanctuary was the embodiment of sanctified physical material, so Shabbat, the word derived from the root shavat (“to cease” i.e. Deuteronomy 32:26, Exodus 21:19, Proverbs 20:3), serves as the essence of sanctified time. Physical matter, however, is limited and temporary and, therefore, so is its holiness. Indeed, it was a man who engendered the Sanctuary's state of holiness, "And it came to pass on the day when Moses finished erecting the Sanctuary that he anointed it and sanctified it (Numbers 7:1)." The holiness of Shabbat, on the other hand, is eternal for "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it (Genesis 2:3)." Indeed, Shabbat is the very first recorded instance of holiness, while the Sanctuary appears only after the incident of the Golden Calf.
When does one form of holiness take precedence over another form? The holy nation might assume that the holiness of the Sanctuary outweighs that of the Sabbath. After all, cooking is intrinsic to the Temple offerings (i.e. Numbers 28:9-10). Similarly, the prohibition of shatnez (wearing any garment mixing wool and linen) is not applicable in the garments of the priests (Exodus 39:2-29) as were and several other normally forbidden activities. According to Abarbanel, “Since the Sanctuary and its vessels, whose making God had commanded, represent spiritual union with Him and the residing of His presence on the nation, we might have thought that this activity outweighed in importance all other prohibitions, particularly the Sabbath rest. For perfection exists in action, and performance is more perfect than passiveness and rest.” Similarly, Rashi explained, "He preceded the prohibition of Shabbat to the commandment of the construction of the Sanctuary, to teach that it does not supercede Shabbat." On the Sabbath, man's efforts to control the world, endeavors that all too often border on the obsessive, must be put on hold. Shabbat forces its practitioners to return to a state of harmony with nature and the world. The individual is immersed in reflection, family, and community. What may seem to be an oppressive experience or a set of arcane picayune restrictions is actually a philosophy of desisting from interfering in the physical world. Thus Shabbat serves, for those who understand its wisdom, as an unlifting and invigorating time. As the writer Ahad Ha-Am stated, "It is not so much that the Jews have kept the Sabbath, but the Sabbath has kept the Jews."
All 39 categories of prohibited work are subsumed under the general prohibition (Exodus 35:2), “It is a complete rest to God, whoever does work on it will be put to death.” Yet the Torah then immediately singled out one particular type of creative work (havarah), "You shall not teva'aru a fire in all your habitations on the Sabbath day (Exodus 35:3)." The word tva'aroo -- the piel (intensive-active) conjugation -- connotes "to ignite" or "kindle." (Similarly Jeremiah 7:18, Ezekiel 39:9, and II Chronicles 13:11.) The text did not employ the simple “burn” or passive “let burn,” but rather the dynamic “kindle.” Thus fire itself, its existence not a creative act, is perfectly permissible. According to the Talmud (Shabbat 70a), the Torah included the specific prohibition of lighting a fire as a prototype to serve as a basic postulate for the other 38 categories of work. Ramban explained, “because I might think that all activities which benefit man in such a way that the benefit is only to the body –- such as lighting a candle, making fire, or washing one’s whole body in hot water – should be allowed, for these are the delights of the Sabbath.” And since cooking is necessary to provide the most basic of all human needs, one might assume that for food the laws of Shabbat would be overridden. Pointedly, this particular prohibition, unlike most of the other ones, is permitted on Yom Tov. Therefore, the text says, ‘You shall not kindle a fire,’ to prohibit these activities.
Although cooking is a prohibited activity on Shabbat, hot foods are treasured as a part of Oneg Shabbat (enjoyment of the Sabbath), an enhancement of the day. To get around the dichotomy of having hot foods without cooking them on Shabbat, inventive cooks found ways to produce warm fare for Shabbat dinner and even lunch. This practice is memorialized in the Friday evening liturgy through the recitation of a Misnah (Shabbat 2:7) listing the things a person may do at the point of Sabbath eve when it is questionable whether it is nightfall or not -- "tomnin et hachamin" ("hide" or "cover" "the hot dishes"), whence the widespread term for Sabbath stews, hamin. Every Friday before sunfall, cooks would cover their food pots with insulating materials, resulting in the retention of heat through the night. In the town of Sepphoris (Tzippori) in the Galilee, Jews would put sealed pots in the fires of the Roman baths on Friday, leaving them to simmer overnight in the dying ashes of the fuel used to heat the water (Avodah Zarah 67a). The Midrash (Bereshis Rabbah 33:3; Talmud Shabbat 119a) related the story of a Roman general by the name of Antoninus who frequently visited the leader of the Jewish people and compiler of the Mishnah (215 C.E.), Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi. One of these visits fell on Shabbat and the rabbi invited the general to join him for lunch. The general enjoyed a dish so much that he asked for the recipe. Later, Antoninus returned to the rabbi to complain that the dish was not the same, that some spice must be missing. Rabbi Yehuda answered, "The name of the missing spice is Shabbat."
Not everyone shared this view about fire on Shabbat. Following the successful Hashmonean revolt against the Seleucids in 162 B.C.E., a group called the Tzedukim (Sadducees) emerged. According to the Talmud, Zadok, who misunderstood the teachings of his mentor Antigonus of Sokho, founded the sect. Zadok was also the name of the high priest installed by King Solomon in place of Abiathar (I Kings 2:35) whose descendents controlled the Temple hierarchy until the Hashmonean revolt and subsequently constituted many of the sect's adherents. The original Tzedukim came from the well-connected segment of the priesthood and viewed the Temple and its sacrificial cult as the primary religious element of Judaism. In addition, the followers constituted the wealthy and political elite of Judea and, therefore, interacted with the Greeks and their successors, thereby falling under Hellenistic influences and viewing God in anthropomorphic terms. As a result, Tzedukim denied the validity of rabbinic interpretation and innovation and insisted on a literal reading of the Written Law. For example, the Tzedukim considered the lex talionis -- literally as "an eye for an eye (Exodus 21:24)" -- rather than the Talmudic explanation of monetary compensation. In regards to the word tva'aroo, which the rabbis interpreted as "to ignite," the Tzedukim translated it as "burn." Hence not only was kindling fire forbidden on Shabbat, but also the very presence of any fire, and thus its light or heat, or even hot food. In response, the rabbis and their followers purposely enjoyed hot dishes on Shabbat to demonstrate their convictions.
Outside of the Temple and government, the Tzedukim held little sway. On the contrary, the rabbis proved much more popular among the masses who appreciated their care and liberalism. In many ways, the rivalry between the rabbis and the Tzedukim mirrored that of the prophets against the priestly and patrician establishment during the First Temple period. Just as the destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E. ended this conflict, so too the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the center of the activities and power of the Tzedukim, effected their demise as a political/religious force. This, however, was hardly the end of political-religious rivalry or, for that matter, of textual literalism.
Following the destruction of the First Temple and the exile of the upper and middle classes from the Holy Land, the Jews of Babylon and subsequently Persia enjoyed a substantial amount of autonomy. Without a leader or legislative body such as the Sanhedrin, the Jewish community needed a unifying element as well as a way to manage its internal government, including the appointment of judges. At the same time, the Persian authorities required a vehicle to reach the sizeable Jewish community, especially to serve as chief tax collector. Therefore, a hereditary exilarchate was established, headed by a descendent of the house of David. From at least the second century B.C.E. until the thirteenth century C.E., the Exilarch (Resh Galutha) served as the lay head of the Jewish community of Babylon and later of Jews throughout the Arab lands. Meanwhile, Jews all over the world turned to the two geonim, the heads of the Talmudical academies of Sura and Pumbeditha, for guidance.
In 761 the Exliarch Solomon ben Chisdai died childless and next in the line of succession was his oldest nephew, Anan ben David. However, the Geonim, Judah the Blind of Sura and Dudai of Pumbeditha, suspicious that Anan "lacked the fear of God," opted for his younger and arguably less accomplished brother, Chanania. In response, the disgruntled Anan denied the authority of the Talmud and rabbinic interpretation and professed a belief in strict adherence to the Written Law. Anan rejected the set calendar established by Hillel II and counted the Omer and celebrated Shavuot on Sunday only. Among the numerous rites that he renounced were blowing shofar on Rosh Hashanah, the Four Species on Sukkot, the separation of milk and meat, using a constructed mikveh (only running water was permissible), donning tefillin, and the rabbinic get (divorce), the latter being the most problematic as it led to mamzerim (bastards). The Caliph imprisoned him as a rebel, but after Anan declared his beliefs a separate religion, he was released and made his way to Israel.
At first, the Ananites proved relatively unsuccessful in attracting adherents. Then in the tenth century, the group was absorbed into another sect, the Bnai Mikra ("followers of the Scripture"), abbreviated as Karaim (Karaites). The term Karaite was first recorded in the early seventh century, a century before Anan ben David, in a proclamation by Amar ibn al'As, the first Islamic governor of Egypt. Due to Anan's stature, however, the Karaites subsequently considered him the founder of their group and his descendents became leaders of the sect and accorded the title nasi (prince). Soon this anti-rabbinic movement emerged as a major force in some areas, at one point threatening to surpass the orthodox establishments in Egypt and Israel. Initially, the rabbinic authorities treated the heretics as full Jews, but eventually viewed the Karaites as a separate religion and its adherents forbidden to intermarry. Faced with the fierce opposition of rabbinic Judaism, particularly Saadiah Gaon (882-942), whose intellectual prowess, indefatigable energy, and command of Arabic made him an overwhelming opponent, the impact and growth of the Karaites was stymied. The Crusades in 1099 further weakened the movement as did the arrival in Egypt in 1166 of Moses Maimonides, who employed his intellectual and political power to combat the group. The appearance of masses of Sephardic refuges in the Ottoman Empire after 1492 resulted in the remaining Karaites being overwhelmed culturally and numerically. Today, a small remnant of Karaites survives, including about 20,000 living in Israel and perhaps 10,000 elsewhere, primarily in Crimea.
In considering the claims of the Tzedukim and Karaites, several things become apparent. Many of the features and rites that practitioners currently prize most about Judaism was rabbinic in origin, including Chanukah, Purim, Tu b'Shevat, Lag b'Omer, the Siddur, Kiddush, Havdallah, the Seder (including the four cups of wine, charoset, and Hagaddah), and nayrot Shabbat (Sabbath lights). In addition, despite any claims of the Written Torah being the only legitimate source of Jewish law, the text itself proves completely inadequate for constructing a way of life, requiring interpretation as well as frequent adaptations. Thus the Tzedukim and Karaites were quickly forced to establish their own traditions, frequently more ascetic than rabbinic Judaism.
In his work Book of Commandments, Anan instructed that the 39 types of work forbidden on Shabbat was extended to include anything not imperative for worship, sustenance, or essential human needs. Based on the verse "Let every man remain where he is, let no man leave his place on the seventh day (Exodus 16:29)," Karaites stayed in their homes on Shabbat except to go to their synagogue, which it should be noted is rabbinic in origin. Interpreting the verse "at plowing time and harvest time you shall rest (Exodus 34:21)," they forbid sexual relations on Shabbat. One of the Karaites' principal doctrines, similar to the Tzedukim, construed the admonishment, " You shall not teva'aru a fire in all your habitations upon the Sabbath day (Exodus 35:3)," as including not only kindling fire but also forbidding the very presence of any fire or even hot food on Shabbat. To followers of rabbinic Judaism, the Tzeduki and Karaite version of Shabbat was a cold and gloomy experience.
As the dispute with the Karaites intensified, the practice of kindling the Sabbath lights and eating hot food for Shabbat lunch took on special import, no longer simply a matter of enjoyment, but a attestation of identification with rabbinic tradition. In this vein, Zerahiah ben Isaac ha-Levi (late fourteenth century rabbi of Saragossa and Aragon) in his Sefer ha-Ma'or declared, "Whoever does not eat hamin (Sabbath stew) on the Sabbath should be investigated on suspicion of being a heretic (a Karaite)." To emphasize the point, the rabbis instituted the recitation of a blessing for the Shabbat lights, "asher kidshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu lehadlik ner shel Shabbat" (who has made us holy with commandments and has commanded us to kindle the Shabbat lights). Although no commandment in the Torah per se invokes the nayrot Shabbat, the wording of the blessing reflects the full authority of rabbinic interpretation in the evolution of Torah law. Pointedly, in the fifteenth century, Karaite authorities began to permit the presence of fire on Shabbat and many followers emulated the practice of Shabbat lights and even allowed warm foods.
And what were the hot dishes that so enticed the Jews and incensed the Karaites? For millennia, one of the staples of the Middle Eastern diet was kashak, a Persian cracked wheat dish, also called harisa, from the Semitic haras ("to break," referring to the crushed wheat). (When kashak reached Eastern Europe and was stuffed into intestine casings, it became the famous Ashkenazic kishke.) Middle Eastern Jews devised their own form of harisa in conjunction with Shabbat by slow-simmering cracked durum wheat berries and lamb (generally a proportion of two-thirds wheat to one-third meat as well as some optional chopped onion) overnight in a sealed earthenware pot. Just before serving, the bones were removed, the mixture frequently pounded into a creamy consistency by a non-Jewish maid or neighbor, and the final step was a sprinkling of ground cinnamon. When a group of Yemenite Jews visited the Umayyad Caliph Mu'awiya (founder of the first Arabic-Islamic dynasty in 661 C.E.) in his capital of Damascus, the first question the ruler asked was whether they knew how to prepare the Jewish harisa, which he had sampled during a visit to Arabia. The visitors obliged by whipping up a batch of this Jewish specialty for the grateful ruler. In some areas, rice was substituted for the wheat. In thirteenth century Spain, Jewish vendors commonly sold harisa from street corners on Fridays. When the dish reached England in the fourteenth century, it was renamed frumenty.
Although less prominent in recent years, many Middle Eastern Jews, especially Yemenites, still prepare various Saturday breakfast whole-wheat dishes called harisa; some are mashed, while others are vegetarian versions that leave the grains whole. Moroccans continue to make a zesty Sabbath stew from wheat berries and red chilies called orissa. Spinach or other seasonal greens might be mixed in. Potatoes are a relatively recent but popular innovation. In some instances, sugar is added at the table. Nevertheless, the most important change occurred more than 1,500 years ago, resulting in an evolutionary offshoot whose impact far surpassed the original dish.
Around the time of the initial emergence of the Karaites, many cooks began adding chickpeas or fava beans to harisa, at times enwrapping the wheat berries or rice in muslin cloth in the center of the stew. Some Middle Eastern Jews began differentiating the Sabbath bean stews from harisa with the name, from the Mishnah (Shabbat 2:7), hamin (from cham, the Hebrew word for "hot"). Egyptians, emulating the practice of Sepphoris, brought sealed bean pots of fava beans (ful in Arabic) to the Roman public baths, leaving them to slow simmer overnight in the dying embers to be served warm for Sabbath lunch; the dish is commonly called fulmedames (from the Coptic word for "buried," akin to the ancient Jewish practice of “tomnin et ha-chamin”). Egyptians also used green wheat, immature grains that are soft and milky, and meat, calling the dish farik (Arabic meaning "rubbed," referring to the final preparation process of rubbing the kernels to remove the hull). The Persian Sabbath stew was khalebibi, made from fava beans, rice, leeks, turnips, and lamb or beef. In Kurdistan, a similar dish called matphoni/mabote was made with chickpeas, beef, chicken, and sometimes also stuffed vegetables. Italians generally made hamin with fava beans, meat (such as beef brisket or flank steaks or breast of lamb), meatballs (made from chicken or beef), and frequently beet greens or chard. Romaniot Greeks made a simple hamin using large cuts of beef, onions, and pligouri (a type of cracked wheat); the Sephardim who arrived in Greece after the Expulsion of 1492 introduced overnight bean stews called avikas.
From at least the 11th century, some Sephardim, particularly those in southern Spain, began calling their Sabbath stews adafina or dafina/dfina, from the Arabic dfan, meaning "covered" or "buried," reflecting the original cooking method, reminiscent of the Mishnah, or slightly later skhina/shachina, from the Arabic skhoon, meaning "hot". Meanwhile other Sephardim, principally in the north, opted for hamin. Later, skhina emerged as the predominant name in Morocco, while dfina became the common terminology in Algeria. Whatever the name, the basic ingredients of Mediterranean Sabbath stew consisted of wheat or rice, chickpeas or fava beans, and meat, although the exact recipe varied from place to place and even according to the season of the year. A calf's foot was a prized addition, imparting a rich flavor and texture. With the rise of medieval trade, warm oriental spices -- cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace -- became common Middle Eastern seasonings. Among wealthier families or for special occasions a beef sausage, kora/boulette (meatloaf) stuffed into an intestine or wrapped in muslin, and/or a stuffed (with ground beef or a mixture of ground dates and almond paste) whole chicken would be added to the pot. Following the arrival on South American produce in the 16th century, white beans became a prominent substitute for the fava, and white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin were commonly added. Sometimes the grain component was omitted altogether, leaving a rudimentary baked bean dish. No matter its ingredients or location, hamin always contained that distinctive Sephardic food -- huevos haminados, whole eggs in the shell cooked in the stew to develop a brown color and creamy consistency. Hamin is traditionally separated into different dishes before serving: The cooking liquid in one bowl; the peeled eggs in a second, the rice or wheat in a third, the meat in a fourth, the chickpeas or beans in a fifth, and the kouclas (dumpling) or sausage in a sixth.
Slow-simmered chickpea and bean dishes were so identified with Sephardic cooking that the Spanish Inquisition regarded anyone preparing such foods as suspect of practicing Judaism. The only defense for Conversos against prying eyes was to replace the customary beef or lamb with pork, thus was born one of Spain's classic dishes, a slow-simmered chickpea and meat stew called cocida madrileno. Ironically, in Spain as well as parts of Central and South America and the American Southwest, places where there are no overt Jews, some housewives still prepare a bean and meat stew on Friday and let the dish cook overnight, a residual effect of the Inquisition's pursuit of Conversos even into the New World.
Following the Spanish Expulsion of 1492, hamin sometimes took on new qualities when adapted to local ingredients and cooking styles. In Greece, it sometimes became fijonicas (from the Greek word for "beans"). An Indian variety of hamin developed seasoned with garam masala and fresh ginger and substituting chicken for the beef and rice for the beans. Unquestionably, no area developed more types of hamin than the Maghreb. When the Sephardim arrived in northwest Africa following the Expulsion, they merged their Sabbath stew with the native tagines to create a host of variations -- most containing a calf's foot or a kouclas (dumpling) and commonly served for Shabbat lunch with leftover couscous. There are even special dafinas for various occasions: On Shabbat Beraisheet, some communities prepare a special seven-layered hamin, one for each day of creation, with a stratum of rice in between each layer. For the Shabbat before Tu b'Shevat, quinces, dates, prunes, and raisins are added.
Sabbath bean stew eventually reached France, probably from Spain by way of Provence, where it was called schalet -- from "chald" (chaud in modern French), the old French word for warm -- later cholent in Eastern Europe. The first known use of the term was recorded in the Ohr Zarua, written by Rabbi Isaac ben Moses of Vienna (1180-1250), who described the way it was cooked at the home of his teacher, Rabbi Judah ben Isaac (Sir Leon) of Paris (1166-1224), one of the Tosafot. The basic ingredients of Eastern European cholents are beans, barley, potatoes, onion, and beef. After that, everything depends on the cook. It may be sweetened with honey or fruit or spiced with paprika and a bay leaf. It may be baked with a dumpling, kishke, or kugel. It may be desert dry or watery. (Sometimes a cholent's moisture condition is the result of a mistake rather than intent.) Today among Alsatian Jews, the site of the original Ashkenaz, the preferred Shabbat lunch dish is choucroute garnie, a stew consisting of cured meats, sausages, and sauerkraut.
On Friday afternoons in the villages of Eastern Europe, after the last loaves of fragrant golden challah were pulled from the town bakery's stone oven and put aside to cool, housewives or older children would haul the family's blackened cholent pot to the bakery. The women took the opportunity to socialize before heading home to continue their weekly preparations for Shabbat. Similar scenes were played out in the Islamic world where hamin pots were crowded into the town's public bakery or sometimes in furnaces of the hammam (public steam baths). With the advent of the kanoun (brazier) in the Middle East an increasing number cooked their hamin at home over coals and covered with special bulky blankets for insulation, but for the masses the bakery oven prevailed well into the twentieth century. The lids of the pots were traditionally sealed with a flour-and-water paste, preventing the contents from drying out, while safeguarding that nothing untoward could make its way inside. When all of the pots were assembled, the entire collection would be sealed with clay in the massive oven where they would remain undisturbed overnight. Although the fire would eventually go out, the heat would abide well into the following day, slowly cooking the stews inside and melding the various flavors. Late on Saturday morning following synagogue services, the oven would be unlocked and the pots eagerly reclaimed by their owners or representatives. The treasure was hurried home and placed in the center of the Sabbath table. When the seal on the pot was removed, a unique, yet familiar aroma would waft through the house, setting mouths to watering as the diners anticipated the first bite. The succulent morsels did not disappoint. Cholent/hamin truly is the taste and aroma of the Sabbath or, as Heinrich Heine immortalized in his poem Prinzessin Sabbat, "Schalet is the food of heaven... Schalet is the kosher ambrosia." And cholent remains the attestation to the efficacy and endurance of the Oral Law.
