Cucumbers – Delicacy of Kings
This week, I'm all about cucumbers. This humble vegetable, which the Talmud calls a delicacy of kings, became an internet craze a few years ago when Macka B released his "Cucumber Rap." Check it out in my source sheet for this episode.
The Talmud has a lot to say about cucumbers, including a discussion about whether or not they're good for your body, even if they did grace the table of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. In the end, they opt for a compromise, and all of it is driven by one line in this week's Torah portion, about the pain Rebekah experiences in her womb as she carries Esau and Jacob, each the father of a great nation destined to quarrel throughout time.
Shabbat shalom, and thanks for listening.
Written Format*
A few years ago a video made its way around the internet, about a magic vegetable, that has a very high number of vitamins and minerals, silica to make your hairs and nails longer, and other vitamins that make your bones get stronger, and anti-wrinkle to make you look younger. I’m talking about the Cucumber Rap, from Macka B, a Jamaican YouTube artist who publishes the video as part of his Medical Monday video series. He’s got another on the importance of drinking water, you can check them both out in my source sheet, there’s a link in the show notes.
I love cucumbers, they’re essential in Israeli salad, and they always help my brain feel better. But I wasn’t prepared this week to find that the Talmud has some very definite opinions about the importance or danger of cucumbers, as a vegetable.
One thing I love about the Jewish canon is how interconnected and yet totally off topic it can be. This is for sure one of those times. This week, we read about the life of Isaac, including the birth of his children Jacob and Esau, and the seemingly eternal quarrels between these two brothers. In the beginning, even before they’re born, Rebekah struggles to carry the two rambunctious boys, who seem to fight each other even in the womb.
Genesis 25:19-26
This is the story of Isaac, son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, sister of Laban the Aramean. Isaac pleaded with יהוה on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and יהוה responded to his plea, and his wife Rebekah conceived. But the children struggled in her womb, and she said, “If so, why do I exist?” She went to inquire of יהוה, and יהוה answered her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
Two separate peoples shall issue from your body;
One people shall be mightier than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”
When her time to give birth was at hand, there were twins in her womb. The first one emerged red, like a hairy mantle all over; so they named him Esau. Then his brother emerged, holding on to the heel of Esau; so they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
That’s all the Torah I have to share for this episode, and honestly most of it isn’t relevant, because the Talmud tractate I’m about the share doesn’t really have to deal with Isaac and Rebekah, but with the power of dreams, and how to interpret dreams. In this tractate, generations of rabbis share omens and signs that are good, or bad, depending on how they arrive in a person’s dream or waking life. From there, the conversation evolves further, in a decidedly more mystical direction until we get here.
Berakhot 57b:8
Similarly, the Gemara says: All types of metal utensils are auspicious signs for a dream, except for a hoe, a chisel, and an axe, as these are instruments of destruction. The Gemara notes that this applies specifically when they are seen on their handles. On a similar note, the Gemara says: All kinds of fruit are auspicious signs for a dream except for unripe dates. All kinds of vegetables are auspicious signs for a dream except for turnip heads. The Gemara challenges: Didn’t Rav say: I did not become wealthy until I saw turnip heads in my dream? Apparently turnip heads are a good omen. The Gemara responds: When Rav saw them, he saw them on their stems; if one sees turnip heads already picked, it is a bad omen.
The Talmud is a collection of conversations that evolved over centuries, into the canonized version that we know today. It contains the Mishnah, a collection of legal rulings and opinions that form the heart of Judaism’s Oral Tradition, balancing the written tradition: the Hebrew Bible. Surrounding the Mishnah is the Gemara–which means learning in Aramaic. The Gemara is commentary on the Mishna from the next few generations of rabbis in Jerusalem and Babylonia. At some point the whole thing was canonized, but the commentary never really stopped, right up until today. In fact, this podcast is part of that tradition, where each generation of Jews re-examines the original text, and what others have said about it, before contributing our own thoughts, in a way that future Jews can access when their turn comes.
It’s a complicated process, with lots of information being delivered and debated, so the Talmud often turns to memory aids, like mnemonic devices, to help pre-Internet Jews remember all the things they’re supposed to do. For example, this set of mnemonics, from the same tractate, Berakhot 57B, is how the Talmud takes us on a journey, exploring what’s good to put in our bodies, and what’s bad for us, all while questioning the health benefits of cucumbers, because of the pain in Rebekah’s womb.
Bereakhot 57b:9
The words: The body, the body, microcosm, ease, and comfort are mnemonics for matters that the Gemara will discuss, each of which represents a list with shared qualities, similar to the lists cited above. The Gemara says: Three food items enter the body yet the body does not benefit from them: Cherries, bad dates, and unripe dates. In contrast: Three matters do not enter the body yet the body benefits from them, and they are: Washing, anointing, and usage [tashmish], commonly used as a euphemism for conjugal relations. Three matters are microcosms of the World-to-Come, and they are: Sabbath, the sun and usage. The Gemara asks: Usage of what benefits the body and is a microcosm of the World-to-Come? If you say that it refers to conjugal relations, doesn’t that weaken the body? Rather, it refers to usage of his orifices, relieving oneself. Three matters ease one’s mind, and they are: Voice, sight, and smell, when they are pleasant and aesthetic. Three matters give a person comfort, and they are: A beautiful abode, a beautiful wife, and beautiful vessels.
The rabbis go on to list sets of good and bad omen and causes for various states of personal health. Small fish, they claim, will cause the body to flourish, two of six matters that can cure a person. While shaving, or eating cheese are two of the ten matters that cause a sick person who has recovered to relapse. Also bathing in a bathhouse. And some say eating nuts, and some even say eating cucumbers. So what, you might ask, is the deal with cucumbers. Well, as you might imagine, countless generations of Jews have provided an answer.
Berkahot 57b:18
It was taught in the school of Rabbi Yishmael: Why are they called cucumbers [kishu’im]? Because they are as harmful [kashim] to the body as swords. The Gemara asks: Is that really so? Is it not written: “And the Lord said unto her: Two nations [goyim] are in your womb” (Genesis 25:23) and the Gemara says: Do not read it as goyim, rather read it as gayim, proud ones. And Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: This verse was fulfilled in these two great individuals who descended from Rebecca: Antoninus and Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, whose tables, because of their wealth, never lacked for radish, lettuce or cucumbers, neither in summer nor in the rainy season. Apparently, cucumbers are good and are even a delicacy of kings. The Gemara resolves: This is not difficult. This that says they are harmful to the body refers to large ones, while this that says they were always served on the table of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi and Antoninus refers to small ones.
Antoninus, is a character we hear about in the Talmud, a contemporary of Judah haNasi, the 2nd century rabbi credited with editing the Mishnah. Abraham Cohen, the British scholar from the early 20th century, notes in his translation of Tractate Berakhot that the two are “Often mentioned together in the Talmud as being intimate friends. Antoninus is often identified with Marcus Aurelias.” He goes on to say that, “The latest and most exhaustive investigation of the material is by Krauss, Antoninus und Rabbi, who identifies him with Avidius Cassius, a famous general of Marcus Aurelius and Procurator of Judea.”
So when these two figures, each leaders of the powerful nations in Roman Judea, sat and dined together as friends they fulfilled the prophecy that we read this week, that two proud ones would emerge from Rebekah’s womb. And they dined on the delicacy of kings, the humble or maybe not so humble cucumber, but only the small ones, which are good for you, and not the large ones, which the Talmud claims are harmful to the body.
But I wonder if they knew that all cucumbers make you look younger. They’re 95% water, even the big ones, a kidney cleanser, a great hydrated, with detox, fiber, they’re a good regulator. So give your body good things, don’t be a traitor. Get the cucumber, cut it in a slice, put it in a jug of water overnight. You know what you get for a fraction of the price? Energy drink, full of electrolytes.
Shabbat shalom.
*written formats may differ from recorded versions
