Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 1 no. 77
October 3, 1991
 
1) P'cha (Sholem-Ruveyn Benjamin)
2) Tshuves (David Sherman)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 03 Oct 91 00:42:05 EDT
From: sbenj@Athena.MIT.EDU
Subject: RE: Yiddishe Makholim

OK Chef Noyekh, you have my attention... Now how about a
nice bowl of p'cha and a glass of cold schav?  P'cha is
much easier to consume than to spell I fear......

Sholem Ruveyn

[Mendele assumes that in this case the schav will be drunk
without smetana.]

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Oct 91 5:19:22 EDT
From: David Sherman <dave@lsuc.on.CA>
Subject: RE: Mendele Vol 1.74

> That's one question.  Another has to do with food and the
> Jewish calendar.  How come Shevuos is milkhik?  And how
> come Sukkes alone doesn't have food of its own (only rain)?

Well, you can eat the esrog after Hoshana Rabba, or make
jam out of it...

As for milchiks on Shevuos, Kitov (The Book Of Our
Heritage, Volume III, pp. 72-73) gives the following four
reasons:

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1. Shavuot is an extension of Pesach and its conclusion.
Just as we eat two cooked dishes on Pesach in memory of the
Paschal-Lamb and the Chagigah offering of Pesach, we
likewise eat two cooked foods Shavuot; one a milk dish, and
the other a meat disk.  Since one may not eat from the same
loaf of bread with both meat and milk dishes, this customs
is also a memorial of the two breads brought on Shavuot.
(Rama)

2.  The day when Moshe was drawn out of the water was the
6th of Sivan, and he was willing to be nursed only by a
Hebrew woman. Therefore we recall the merit of his, through
eating of milk foods on the same day.  (Sefer Matamim)

3.  Till the giving of the Torah, the Jews were permitted
to eat meat of animals which were not kosher as well as
meat of animals that had not been slaughtered in accord
with the laws of shechitah. After the giving of the Torah,
shechitah and the laws of forbidden foods were prescribed
for them.  Since all their utensils and dishes thereby
became prohibited and they were unable to make them kosher,
they could only eat milk foods.  (Ge'ulat Israel)

4. The numerical value of the Hebrew letters which
constitute the Hebrew for "milk", chalav, add up to forty,
corresponding to the forty days spent by Moshe on Mount
Sinai.  (Rabbi Shimshon of Ostropol)

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Does anyone know of other reasons/rationalizations?

> But the big one is a comprehensive list of dishes with
> their regional variants.

Mordkhe Shechter is currently working on a 2nd edition of
his dictionary (English->Yiddish only, I believe) of terms
relating to food and eating.  (The first edition was
mimeographed rather than published, I believe; I saw it
once, a couple of years ago.)  I believe he's hoping to
have it out within the next few months.

Mordkhe can be reached at the Yidish-Lige, 212-787-6675.
Perhaps whatever we come up with on MENDELE will be
forwarded to him?

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End of Mendele Vol 1.77