After you separate the choicest part from it, you will not be guilty of any sin on account of it. ~ Numbers 18:3
When it’s my turn to make dinner for my wife and son
(which, by the way, is on Wednesdays)
I often do it restaurant-style – meaning I bring out
the meal pre-portioned on their plates
and lay it in front of them so they feel
they are being taken care of.
Sometimes the plates don’t look equal –
not in terms of portion size, but
in the intended beauty of the arrangement
of the food. (Yes, I want them to be
visually delighted before their hand
even touches a fork.)
So I have to make choices about
who gets the best-looking plate.
Of course, that’s always my wife because
she deserves the best of the best.
She deserves food arranged by angels.
She deserves plates the culinary magazines
are knocking on the door to take pictures of.
(Not that I’m able to produce anything like that.)
My son (who is at camp so I won’t be
giving him a plate of food for the next two months)
used to always expect the broken piece
of whatever it was, but that made me feel guilty
so I started giving him the second-best
of the presentations because he deserves that
for his food humility alone. He doesn’t care
what it looks like. What it tastes like
is a whole other issue for him.
I give them both the choicest portions
(and often extra tater tots if they’re involved.)
I didn’t learn this from the Torah, but as with
all things involving wisdom and straying from sin,
I wasn’t surprised to find it in there.
Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 29 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Visit him at www.JewishPoetry.net
