CURRENT TALMUD PASSAGE

Posted May 10, 2007, by Rabbi Judy Abrams. Please refer to Maqom's home page for information about previous passages.

BH

CONFESSIONS OF A FAILED BAKER
© Judith Z. Abrams, 2007

True confession: I enjoy cooking for my family and while I'm no gourmet chef I get a decent meal on the table every weekday night. (These are called "Mommy Rule Dinners", i.e., the table is set, the television is off, a protein, a starch and a vegetable are served and even if it only lasts 10 minutes, it's important to me.)

But my bread baking has always been a humiliating failure…until now. I found a procedure for making bread that turns out to be just as good as really good bakery bread. Check out this video: all you need is flour, yeast, salt and water and you let it rise without kneading it and it turns out really wonderfully:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU

I make triple the recipe because it goes so quickly!

Your bread will turn out as good as that mentioned in the Talmud:

One time Rabbi went out into a field, and an idolater brought before him a loaf baked in a large oven from about two gallons of flour. Rabbi said: How beautiful is this bread! (B. Avodah Zarah 35b)

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you ever felt ashamed of not being able to do a certain thing? Have you been able to overcome it? What happened? If you haven't been able to overcome it yet…will you try now?

B'hatslachah! (Good luck!)