This week's Torah portion begins with God telling Moses:
שְׁלַח־לְךָ֣ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְיָתֻ֙רוּ֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֥י נֹתֵ֖ן לִבְנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִ֣ישׁ אֶחָד֩ אִ֨ישׁ אֶחָ֜ד לְמַטֵּ֤ה אֲבֹתָיו֙ תִּשְׁלָ֔חוּ כֹּ֖ל נָשִׂ֥יא בָהֶֽם׃ “
Send men to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people; send one man from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a chieftain among them.
The text continues to offer the details of how this will work-- who will go to scout out the land and then says: וּלְקַחְתֶּ֖ם מִפְּרִ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ וְהַ֨יָּמִ֔ים יְמֵ֖י בִּכּוּרֵ֥י עֲנָבִֽים׃ And take pains to bring back some of the fruit of the land.”—Now it happened to be the season of the first ripe grapes.
Throughout the Torah portion we read that indeed it is a land flowing freely with milk and honey, of the ripeness of the grapes, the pomegranates and the figs. Certainly this might lead one to have a fruity meal-- think Moroccan chicken cooked with an assortment of dried fruits native to the area or even pomegranate chicken. Having just bought our first watermelon of the season and finding the most stunning blueberries, clearly a fruit salad might be in order. As I read No Vacancy by Tziporah Cohen with my girls, I was thinking of making a grape pie due to the stress on grapes in the parasha and this novel. On the other hand, there is the famous verse that the scouts return with as their report: "and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.” This verse brings to mind, grasshopper pie.
However, for me this week, I am going easy and accomplishing the main point with a festive sangria. Wine is the symbol of joy in our tradition and the fruits of the land are plentiful. While I will also make a non-alcoholic version, the sangria opens the conversation to the metaphoric fruits of the land. While the land is blessed with richness, true richness comes from a deeper place. What are these blessings in your life and offered by Israel's existence. Let us all appreciate and actively protect this sanctity.
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