Vegetating with Leslie

I like food, plant food, that is — I like to plant, grow and eat it. I like to serve it to others and recycle it to contribute to next year’s harvest. I like working and being outdoors, walking and hiking. I like to study Hebrew Bible, Tanakh, especially the first five books, the Torah. Most of all, I like to think about all these things and what they have to say about the meaning of life. I started my blog when I decided to explore veganism, and it has led not just to recipes and farming but to a reexamination of the biblical text from a different perspective and to thoughts about ethics, ecology, evolution, animal rights, the human place in creation and more. I explore and refresh my own spirituality through these projects.

What would you do?

On: November 9, 2022November 9, 2022 By: Leslie Cook

What would you do if you were making breakfast and looked up and saw this little face peering at you over the pass-through?

A Protein Smoothie – A Delicious Dietary Solution

On: November 9, 2022December 3, 2022 By: Leslie Cook

A Protein Smoothie is a great solution to a couple of dietary issues we have in our home. We get a strong added boost of calcium and protein.

Power Oatmeal — Breakfast of Champions

On: July 14, 2022August 31, 2022 By: Leslie Cook

Power Oatmeal is a work in progress. It contributes significantly to our daily nutrition, so I continue to adjust it.

An Ant and a Rubber Tree Plant: A Metaphor

On: June 7, 2022June 14, 2022 By: Leslie Cook

Everyone knows an ant can’t . . . move a rubber tree plant. A metaphor for our relationship to a life so much greater than we can imagine.

The Wilderness of Sinai – BaMidbar

On: June 7, 2022July 10, 2022 By: Leslie Cook

Wilderness of Sinai. Why 40 years wandering? Google Maps says the walk Cairo-Jerusalem is 452 miles or 148 hours on foot.

A Story of Relationship: Biblical Anthropomorphism

On: May 1, 2020June 16, 2020 By: Leslie Cook

I love mythology. Like religion, it speaks in the language of “as if.” It is the human story, telling us who we are, where we fit in, our purpose. And our ability to create stories and engage others in them is our

On: March 29, 2020March 6, 2021 By: Leslie Cook

Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to share in services and Torah discussion on Zoom with a group from my synagogue. Our Torah discussion crystallized some thoughts I have about a set of themes that seem to compete in the Torah. The

On: March 1, 2020June 16, 2020 By: Leslie Cook

In The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible, Charles Eisenstein coins the word, “Interbeing,” a knowledge “that my being partakes of your being and that of all beings. This goes beyond interdependency—our very existence is relational . . . that

On: February 24, 2020March 6, 2021 By: Leslie Cook

I had an interesting conversation the other day. It included something of a debate about who we are as human beings and the question, are we evolving or devolving? It seems to me the answer is yes — and no, depending on your