“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Vayera
16 MarCheshvan 5782/October 22, 2021
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לרפואה שלימה נטע יצחק בן רחל
לז"ן שפרינצה בת אברהם
יצחק ע"ה
THOUSAND ISLANDS
The
other day at lunch in Yeshiva, I was taking salad from the serving bowl. Just
ahead of me a colleague was putting dressing on his salad. He looked up at me
and said “elef iyim”, Hebrew for a thousand islands. He explained that
in Israel that’s what the dressing is called, translated from the English
Thousand Island Dressing.
That led
me to wonder where the dressing got its name from.
It turns
out that Thousand Island Dressing was named after the area where it was
created, Thousand Islands, New York.
The Thousand
Islands are a North American archipelago consisting of 1,864
islands that straddle the Canada–US border, stretching about 50
miles.
The
islands range in size from over 40 square miles to “Just Room Enough Island”,
which is also known as “Hub Island”. (Hub Island, approximately
one-thirteenth of an acre, is the smallest inhabited island in the world. It
has a house, a tree, shrubs, and a small beach.)
In the
early 1900s, Sophie Lalonde, a fishing guide's wife, mixed a few ingredients
for her husband’s dinner.
A few
nights later, she served her mix to an actress visiting the area. The actress
liked it and asked for the recipe, which she then shared with another Thousand
Islands visitor, George Boldt, the owner of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New
York.
Boldt
then directed his world famous maitre d', Oscar of the Waldorf, to add it on
the hotel's menu and that’s how Thousand Island dressing was born.
On
Friday night in the beautiful perakim of Tehillim recited as part of Kabbolas
Shabbos, we say “Hashem will reign, the land will rejoice; the many islands
will be happy.” Where are these rejoicing islands and what are they so happy
about?
It is
painfully apparent that our society is sliding down a precipitous slope toward
moral anarchy. It is disheartening and somewhat frightening to see how much is
being slaughtered upon the altar of liberalism and open-mindedness. As someone
once said, “some people are so open minded that their brains fall out of their
heads.” Recent news stories which demonstrate the veracity of this point cannot
even be recounted in a family-friendly column.
When
gender orientation becomes front and center of how a person defines himself or
herself (or itself), it demonstrates that society has veered away from focusing
on the soul and core of our humanity. We have lost our moral compass and are
now drowning in an ocean of lewdness and spiritual bankruptcy.
Within
that degenerate ocean, however, are islands - paradise islands for the soul and
oases of divine connection where one can find respite to reinvigorate his
spiritual muscles. The islands may be few and far between, but they give hope
and direction for humankind.
Perhaps
the islands we refer to on Friday night refers to us, the Torah faithful. We,
who maintain our faith and dedication to Torah values, are islands of morality
and divinity in an otherwise depraved world. It isn’t easy to counter the tides
of society. But we maintain our commitment knowing that the day will come when
we “the many islands” will rejoice, when the world will recognize the truth.
Where did
we learn how to do this? From Avrohom Avinu, who was an island of morality, faith
and kindness, in an otherwise antithetical world.
During
Neilah on Yom Kippur we declare, “Ayn shiyur rak haTorah hazos -
Nothing remains except for this Torah.” In a sense, we have a deeper
appreciation of those timeless words than they had in recent generations. Ours is
a post-truth world, where what feels good in the moment is what dictates right
and wrong. Indeed, the sole beacon of unadulterated truth is Torah.
We are
the thousand islands which contain the hope of the future. Our islands may have
their flaws and aren’t perfect. But they are governed by a Higher Being, not
swayed by the tempests of society.
Perhaps
our thousand islands aren’t creamy and rich. But they are unquestionably dreamy
and rich - with dreams of a utopian future and rich in moral and spiritual
growth.
This
Shabbos, 17 Cheshvan, is the yahrtzeit of my beloved Savta, Mrs.
Minnie Staum, a”h. Our family is grateful to her and my Sabbah for building
each member of our family into one of those holy islands. While they may not
have produced a thousand islands yet, they set wheels in motion that iyH will
produce many thousands.
May her
memory be for a blessing.
Shabbat
Shalom & Good Shabbos
R’ Dani and Chani Staum