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.

Torah Ecology: Terumah 2018 (Exodus 25:1 – 27:19)

On: February 18, 2018 By: Leslie Cook

In last year’s initial exploration of Terumah, I looked at the structure of the narrative about building the Tabernacle and how its construction alludes to and parallels the creation story, setting out the environment from the outside in, then furnishing it from

On: February 9, 2018February 18, 2018 By: Leslie Cook

Increasingly I focus my attention on a paradox: the beautiful vision of Genesis 1-3 against a world filled with bloodshed and violence in the rest of the Torah, a world in which bloodshed is deliberately increased through animal sacrifice. It is very

On: February 4, 2018January 16, 2021 By: Leslie Cook

Last year’s analysis of Yitro revealed a relationship theme and a 3-2-3-2 structure to the 10 Utterances: The first three utterances refer to G-d: 1) I am the Lord your G-d; you shall have no others before Me, 2) No graven images,

On: January 27, 2018January 27, 2018 By: Leslie Cook

For those of you who are looking for recipe inspiration, I have a huge set of files on Pinterest that I used to use when I wanted to try something new in the Cafe and now use for ideas for the CSA

On: January 27, 2018 By: Leslie Cook

Beshallach focuses on food and water, essentials for life, and how these necessities shape and define relationships. Last year I explored these themes and how structural elements in the story reveal them. This year I will examine the Animals’ Story subtext, how

On: January 21, 2018 By: Leslie Cook

I’ve been taking another religion class online through Harvard recently (an excellent — and free — program, btw). In addition to an NPR segment I heard the other day, this class caused me to think more about the abortion issue. I wondered

On: January 13, 2018September 13, 2018 By: Leslie Cook

This is a great soup, my comfort food — a meal in itself for a wintry evening. It took me ten minutes of prep time to load it into my Instant Pot, was cooked under pressure for 20 minutes while I put

On: January 13, 2018January 13, 2018 By: Leslie Cook

I began my Torah Ecology project with this pair of Torah portions a year ago shortly after and because of the election of Donald Trump to the presidency. I mention that because today is one day after Trump once again showed us

On: January 10, 2018January 13, 2018 By: Leslie Cook

DAL MAKHANI Ingredients (Serves 3-4 unless you have a big appetite like I do!) Urad dal (Whole black lentils), 1/2 cup Dark red kidney beans, dry, 2 TB rounded Spanish onion, 1 large, finely chopped Ginger root, 1 TB, peeled and finely minced Garlic,

On: January 3, 2018 By: Leslie Cook

This week’s portion begins with a genealogy of sorts, the sons of Israel (Jacob) in Egypt — 11 who came to Egypt with Jacob from the land of Canaan and Joseph who was already there. The real purpose of this brief introduction,