Ki Tov Tuesday: July 15, 2025
Cholent controversy, Bnot Tzelafchad, Israeli Navy SEALS, revisiting Grossinger's and more
Editor’s note:
Dear Chevralah,
Along with our weekly dose of good news for the Jews, we finally just launched our Kumzits lexicon, Speaking Jewish with The Kumzits. Have any words or expressions you’d like to understand better? Drop a comment below or respond to this email, and we’ll try our best to get to it. Next word up: Halevai.
A quick note on the parshah.
This week’s torah portion is Parshat Pinchas. Let’s focus for a moment on the daughters of Tzelafchad, whose collective story is shared within.
TLDR: Tzelafchad died without a male heir. Even though he left behind five daughters, they were unable to inherit land in Israel. Each one of the five Bnot Tzelafchad (Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah) presented a different cause, urging Moses to plead their case to God. He did. God reconsidered and for the first time in nascent Jewish history, women could inherit land.
The moral of this story isn’t that existing rules are bad per se, but that five strong Jewish women found a way to create lasting change. To put this into a girl power perspective, this event occurred roughly during 1273-1272 BCE (approximately 3488-3489 in the Hebrew calendar). It was in 2013 that Queen Elizabeth amended the Succession to the Crown Act to end the system of male primogeniture, under which a younger son can displace an elder daughter in the line of succession. But what’s 3,285 years to catch up on women’s rights?
Meanwhile, here’s your fresh serving of Ki Tov Tuesday goodness from Kiki:
Bean there, done that
There are crises aplenty that hit the Jewish community (unfortunately), but this one regarding cholent (or chulent) is getting a lot of ether ink. Apparently, some rabbis have ruled that we should not eat the traditional Shabbat treat of slow-cooked bean stew during the week. I’ve been hearing too many "outside voice" arguments in restaurants, synagogues, and car speakers (where Jewish men consume lots of the midweek cholent throughout the year).
A cholent crisis!?! The wise ones decided that midweek cholenting (let’s make it a thing) ruins the uniqueness of the Shabbat cholent experience.
What say you? ( I say nom nom nom - it's delicious). My sis Rachel is always looking for updated cholent recipes if you’ve got some to share!
Writing on the Wall
Professor William Kolbrenner started the Writing On The Wall literary community as a way to begin writing about 10/7.
While it's often very difficult to write about trauma and traumatic experiences very soon after they happen, Kolbrenner has created an immersive and interesting site. It also features a downloadable quarterly magazine, Balagan. Worth checking out.
Go tell it to The Mountains
If you’ve ever spent the summer upstate in the Catskills or nearby, you no doubt referred to it as The Mountains. Alan Zweibel & Harris Salomon are creating a scripted series with the same name about Grossinger’s (a hotel in the Catskills which inspired Dirty Dancing) Jewish matriarchs Jennie and Elaine Grossinger. We are here for it!
David Bezmozgis interview
Last month, we recommended David Bezmozgis’ New Yorker story From, To. A good friend of The Kumzits sent us a link to a terrific and insightful interview with him, including the choice of title.
Peddlers’ Synagogue
A rural, 120-year-old NYS synagogue in the Adirondacks, Beth Joseph "Peddler's Synagogue", celebrated its anniversary on July 13th. The story and history of its founding and founding members are inspiring. And 'til 120 as they say - what are the plans for the future?
Israeli SEALS
Some of us at The Kumzits (I'm one of them) have a special fondness and fascination for US Navy SEALs and their civilian mindset instructors. I've been overwhelmed by the SEALS who've said that Holocaust survivors are their heroes and the toughest people they know.
Now, we're hearing more about Israeli SEALS and feeling grateful to them for all they do, their service and sacrifice. And guess what? They love a good barbecue! If you'd like to sponsor one, or a part of one, hit this link and send the love. (Editor’s note: We’re not at all affiliated with this and are not fundraising; we just think it’s a great cause).
Summer camp for families
I was a camp person; I went for years and loved it! Activities, sports, the lake, choir and play, color war, and hanging out with summer friends love love love. So Chi Camp sounds different and like fun. They're sold out for this August, but maybe join their waiting list?
An unexpected board game
Some of us still feel PTSD from summer camp. A new video game, Freud's Bones, and a board game, Unconscious Mind, are fun ways (I heard those shrieks of terror and saw the eyerolls!) to explore more and just have fun.
Related:
Quick PSA: I've heard and read about people using ChatGPT as therapy. I've explored it and other AI programs, and it's not therapy. I repeat - AI is not therapy. Don't try it at home. I won't go into all the reasons it's not therapy here, suffice it to say - it’s not.
The Jerusalem Film Festival
The Jerusalem Film Festival begins this week on July 17, 2025. If you're in Israel, be sure to check out the listings and offerings. Some of them look great. Some we wish everyone else would watch, especially October 8, which explores the rise of antisemitism in the world post 10/7.
An inspirational quote by Camus
Back in the day, and what I call early early (Kiki) Weingarten, I went through that existential phase many of us go through. One of my favorites was Camus. For whatever reason, he keeps popping into my head lately, and I found this quote by him particularly meaningful and helpful for the times we're going through.
Stay strong, build your resilience one tiny step at a time, get through these often distressing times and know that better times are coming. As individuals and a nation we have all gotten through very terrible times and we will again. We will prevail. Make every day wonderful in any way that you can.
Am Yisrael Chai.
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