Cholent

A friend of mine gave this speech in synagogue the other day. To understand it, you do require some background information. If you possess this, you will really enjoy. If you don't, you may enjoy and appreciate the effort nonetheless.

Cholent:

A Brief Discussion of Historical, Halachic, Jurisprudential and Metaphorical Perspectives

Since we had so much beautiful davening today and so much beautiful laining today, including Kohelet, I will try to do two things: one, keep the dv’ar torah short; and two, talk about something very dear to the hearts of everyone in the room – namely, Cholent. I’d like to take this opportunity to very briefly examine this special food from the perspectives of history, halacha, American jurisprudence and metaphor.

First, the etymology of the word. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica, Volume 5, the word Cholent likely comes from the Yiddish words “Shul Ende” that is, the food we eat after shul is over. Wikipedia states that the word might alternatively be derived from the Old French chaud – meaning “hot”, and lent – meaning “slow”, because it is a hot, slow cooked dish. Historically, cholent is a stew prepared on Friday night and placed in the oven before Shabbat begins to be cooked over night and eaten Shabbat day. Cholent is also a historical statement of support for Rabbinic Judaism. The Karites, a Jewish group from the early Middle Ages who followed a more literal interpretation of the Torah, would not eat hot foods on Shabbat. Rabbi Saadia Gaon who lived from 882 to 942 established a minhag to show rejection of the Karite view by eating a hot dish on Shabbat that was prepared before Shabbat.

Saadia Gaon and the Karites were arguing over the prohibition of cooking food on Shabbat. To give a quick summary – the actual melacha prohibited is “Opheh” – baking. The Av Melacha is baking dough into bread. The derived principle is the prohibition of changing the state of a substance by the heat of fire. The derived toldot include bishul - cooking or deep-frying through the medium of hot liquid. Tzli - roasting or toasting. And Tigun - frying through the medium of direct fire. The Melacha involves bringing an item to "Yad Soledet Bo." That is, "so hot you'd instinctively pull your hand immediately away", which is minimally 113 degrees Fahrenheit or 45 degrees Celsius.

Saadia Gaon’s custom of eating a hot dish on Shabbat that was prepared before Shabbat to demonstrably differ with the Kaarites eventually morphed into the custom of eating cholent.

Cholent is common to Jewish communities around the world with slight variations. Basic ingredients include meat, beans, barley, and other ingredients that take to slow cooking. Ashkenazim generally also use potatoes and onions. Many Sephardim use mutton and rice instead of beef and barley. There is an Iraqi Jewish tradition to use a chicken stuffed with fried rice and season with cardamom and mint. An Afghan Jewish tradition is to add cinnamon and rose leaves and a Turkish Jewish tradition is to add eggs in their shells to be hard boiled over night. Of particular timely note - there is a Syrian Jewish tradition to put the mixture in a hollowed out squash - so save those pumpkins after October is over for the cholent.

While cholent is a food that we commonly think of as one that can bring the community together for a nice shared hot dish, there can be a dark side to cholent, and kiddush more generally. On the suggestion of Jeremy Epstein, I did some quick legal research and found a good handful of lawsuits in the American court system emanating from cholent and Kiddush related disputes. For example, in Kandel v. Sobol, the Superior Court of Connecticut held a civil trial and assessed liability and punitive damages of $43,000 against the defendant for a fight that broke out at a Kiddush after the plaintiff and defendant became embroiled in a verbal argument. In the case of Laitman v. Laitman the Rockland County family court had to order the defendant to pay the plaintiff for the Kiddush celebration of their son’s bar mitzvah. Likewise, in the case of Gross v. Gross the Michigan court of appeals had to step in to force the defendant to pay his agreed upon share of the expense of a Kiddush.

While these court cases demonstrate that cholent and Kiddushes can be used by individuals as the arena for their disagreements, the virtue of cholent should not be tarnished. Cholent can literally bring the community together. For example, according to the Encyclopedia Judaica, in Eastern Europe frequently all the community members would take their pots of Cholent to the baker’s on Friday, where all the pots of cholent would be cooked together. And cholent is an excellent metaphor of the virtue of the kehilla. As we discussed, different Jewish communities have different variations of cholent. But for each, cholent is the mixing together of different flavored ingredients to make a dish more delicious than the individual elements. Similarly, different Kehilot have different ways of doing things. But essential to each successful Kehilla are that individuals of different strengths come together to form a community that is greater than the mere sum of its individual constituents. There is a Chasidic expression that how good that Shabbat’s cholent is, is a reflection of those at the meal. To extrapolate on that concept, it is wonderful to note that the hashkama minyan Kiddush is always delicious. May we all continue as a community to enjoy and merit excellent cholent. Shabbat shalom.