I love to cook, so pulling off a full Shabbos should be easy, right?
Illustration by Lea Kron
Rabbi Aharon Nikop, MSW
Psychotherapist
Tzfat, Israel
Cooking for 6 adults and 2 children
When my wife, Elisheva, showed me a few Man with a Pan columns and encouraged me to apply, I was intrigued. I love to cook. Some of my fondest childhood memories are the times when I baked with my mother as a kid. In addition, 30 years ago, as a young avreich and rebbe in an English-
speaking yeshivah here in Tzfat, I supplemented our income by doing small (and not so small) catering jobs — brissim, bar mitzvahs, and even one chasunah.
Nowadays, as a practicing psychotherapist for the past 15 years, I am very involved in my work, and my cooking has been relegated to somewhat infrequent incursions into the kitchen to make a dish or two for Shabbos in order to help my wife. I thoroughly enjoy “getting into the zone” and connecting to a creative side of myself.
More recently, at a regionwide social workers’ conference about 10 years ago, each participant introduced himself and was asked to add what he or she would do if he wasn’t working as a social worker. I said that I would love to write a cookbook. I may never get to that cookbook, but I still enjoy creating new recipes!
As I stepped up to the plate for this challenge (no pun intended), I began to wonder if there should be a theme or a specific cuisine to my Shabbos. Should I prepare my usual dishes or try to develop new ones?
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