© Danielle Goldsmith
I have been writing and collecting timeless and classic quotes since I can remember. In this case, I chose Rashi’s words of wisdom, “Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you.”[1] Rashi was a French medieval rabbi who first wrote commentary on the Talmud (a form of record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law and ethics). This quotes is enduring, and it has served as a simple guideline that has stayed with me for years.
With the extra fondant I had from the first cake, I began to knead it, roll it out, and began to write on it. I didn’t want the fondant to rely on just being an epidermis of the cake and have that be sole purpose. In blue I wrote, “Receive with” and in green I wrote, in a separate space, the word “simplicity”. In red, I wrote the Hebrew in an informal handwriting, rather than print as in Hebrew. I was first taught to write in print as it is written in that manner in the Torah and then in script, which is more everyday. I dripped water on to the surface to see how the food coloring and sugary consistency of the fondant would hold up. The water caused the coloring to bleed and the fondant to melt away. The delicate consistency made me want to preserve its value, preserve the integrity of the piece, so I draped the fondant over a salt shaker in the shape of an egg and stuck it in the fridge over night. The next morning, I pulled the shaker out. The writing on the small, delicate object is not legible, but I know the quote is there. This Torah portion comes from the Chumash saying
Be wholehearted with the Lord, your God: Conduct yourself with Him with simplicity and depend on Him, and do not inquire of the future; rather, accept whatever happens to you with [unadulterated] simplicity and then, you will be with Him and to His portion.[2]
I do not expect to know the outcome of my life or my work, which is the beauty of it all.
[1] Yitzhaki, Shlomo (Rashi). Sapirstein Edition Rashi: The Torah with Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated and Elucidated, Vols. 1-5 [Box Set, Student Size]: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 18:13. Artscroll / Mesorah Publications, Ltd 1999.
[2] Yitzhaki, Shlomo. Chumash with Rashi for Shoftim, Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9 http://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?AID=36236&p=4&v=ds
