A watched pot does not boil

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Mushroom Barley and Yellow Split Pea Soup

by Jill Hertzman

Was it because our pot was too large? Did we fill it with too much water?  Was the burner working properly?  In the end, it did come to a boil, but the hour was late and Marla was mopping her worried brow.  Actually, there were four very large pots of the most delicious mushroom barley and yellow split pea soup, colourful and fragrant.

Our 6th Annual Holy Blossom Temple Bikur Cholim Soup Brigade was held on November 10, 2014, with Marla as our returning chef.  For the record, Marla has attended all the soup nights, led two, and has cooked for our committee for many years.

Bikur Cholim means visiting the sick, and in Jewish tradition it is an “obligation without measure whose reward too is without measure”.  One of the ways we do this mitzvah is to prepare soup and fill our synagogue’s freezer (a tight fit this year as we made 125 500 ml containers).  Then we always have on hand some nourishment to offer to congregants who are frail, elderly, or unwell, or to those families in crisis.

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