Reading, Writing, and Sourdough

For the last three years my brother-in-law Marty has ordered Shissel Rye from Russ and Daughters as part of the Christmas to New Year's cook-athon we call Marty-week. Shissel rye is exceptionally good with whitefish spreads, but then again it is good with most any kind of overstuffed sandwich. The secret is the combination of caraway seeds and nigella seeds. Food Republic says Nigella seeds have an oregano-like quality with herbaceous notes, a slight bitterness and a warm, toasted-onion flavor.  My first attempt to reproduce Russ and Daughters' rye did not rise as high as I would have hoped. I maybe should have added some yeast, but, oh my (sigh) the flavor was incredible. The crumb was moist and airy, the combination of caraway and nigella was gracefully balanced, and the crust was crunchy.

For far too many centuries mainstream Judaism mired in ritual and stagnant orthodoxy. Just as the darkness of the Middle Ages was brightening, a new group of rabbis anxious to revive a moribund religion infused joy, song, dance, and the mystical into daily services. The irony is that Hasidic practice then lithified in the 18th and 19th centuries becoming so restrictive and formulaic that sects of Hasidim today are in many ways indistinguishable from religious fundamentalists of any stripe. The Seret-Vishnitzer rebbe, center. Hasids must adhere to ultra-strict, not just Kosher, dietary rules. Men are separated from women as neither sex may look upon the other outside of marriage. Sexual relations are prescribed with regard time of day, frequency and purpose: procreation. Dress codes may not change from what they were in 1800 eastern Europe. Even English is frowned upon in favor of Yiddish, Hasidism's lingua franca. Schooling for boys is restricted to Torah study. Women are r

This series of stories is largely about David Sedaris's family and getting older. Beyond being laugh aloud funny -- in an opening line, Sedaris decries aging, suggesting his penis has lost a washer causing a steady drip -- his tales are deeply moving. His mother, whom David misses terribly, has been dead for more than 20 years. His father, with whom he has never really gotten along, is into his 90s and worthy of both sympathy and scorn. His sister, one of six siblings, has recently committed suicide. Still, Sedaris manages to get together with his longtime boyfriend, Hugh, his dad, and his four remaining siblings at a beach house in the Carolinas called the Sea Section (get it?). Families make us laugh, cry, and scream. They see, and don't hesitate to point out our flaws, and they can be compassionate as together we harumph through late middle age. Sedaris is more than comedian. He is a philosopher.