The Kosher Maven

Sylvia writes for an industry magazine as "The Kosher Maven" (expert) so it wasn't too odd that I met her at the grocery store at the end of my block, Western Kosher. Off camera, she was extremely talkative. She told me she was rushing around to get ready for Shabbat, but she continued to stand there and give me tips on healthy eating - even telling me about "Earth Kosher," a new label that came out which is entirely organic. I wasn't raised in a kosher home but when I asked her why a non-religious person should eat kosher she told me it's the healthiest - especially the Lubavitch meat, which she likes the best. She said with kosher meat there are no hormones added and the animals are treated better before they are killed. They aren't put in cages because there's too much risk of disease. A good point and a valid argument but am I the only one who finds it just a little off-putting that kosher chicken seems to be covered in feathers?

Her first piece of advice - Gam zu l'tovah - "This, too, is for the best," is a Jewish concept which says that even when seemingly bad things are happening it is for a better reason. I've heard stories of this - things along the lines of a guy who is late to catch a flight and races to the airport. Maybe he gets a flat tire on the freeway. He changes the tire and then a few miles from the airport another tire pops. He's stranded and the flight he was trying to get flies right over his head. Later, he hears of a plane crash - his missed flight. Gam Zu L'tovah. I made that story up but you get the idea. The thing is, it's a nice concept - and religious people (not just Jews) hold on to this idea that everything that happens to us is for a reason - a reason which we might not understand because God doesn't want us to. I wish I believed that way. It would make my life a lot easier. But, I can't. I try but it doesn't work for me. I feel like if there is a God then He's not paying much attention to me or anyone else's lives.

I have this image of a kid who gets an ant farm. He's excited - he puts in the soil, balances it with the right amount of moisture, and feeds the ants the necessary food. It's fun to watch them build things in their new world and when the boy sees an ant tunnel collapsing, he adds some moiture in order to build up the strength of the sand. But as time goes by the boy grows tired of his ant farm... and soon, it's sitting on a shelf somewhere left abandoned by its creator. The ants build tunnels, fight for resources, mate, and go about their lives. But when a tragedy happens - a drout, a tunnel collapse - the ants are on their own. There's no gam zu l'tovah, even if they wish it to be. They might say it, but deep down they all know - they've been left to their own devices a long time ago.