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<font size=3>On 5/7 I posted the following on Areivim:<br><br>
Teaneck, NJ - Orthodox Yeshivah Adds Culinary Class To Its
Curriculum <br><br>
Please see
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/d25cs3" eudora="autourl">
http://tinyurl.com/d25cs3<br><br>
</a>I hope that this will begin a trend so that elementary and high
school Bais Yaakovs as well seminaries will introduce similar
courses. <br><br>
I am an advocate for everyone, men, women and children, knowing at least
the basics of cooking. Some years ago the wife of someone who lived
on my block passed away at a relatively young age, and the husband was
left with taking care of his two young daughters. He had absolutely no
knowledge of how to do anything in his home, and it turned out to be
problem.<br><br>
Home skills are survival skills!<br><br>
YL<br><br>
I then followed this up on with <br><br>
"Proof" From the Torah That All Yeshiva Boys Should be
Taught How to<br>
Cook<br><br>
The article at
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/d25cs3" eudora="autourl">
http://tinyurl.com/d25cs3</a> about boys taking cooking classes at the
Torah Academy of Bergen County (TABC) has got me to thinking. I believe
that one can "prove" from the Torah that this school is doing
the correct thing and that all other day schools and yeshivas should be
teaching boys to cook.<br><br>
We are told that we should emulate the Avos and follow in their
footsteps. Furthermore, we all know that when Eisav came home, he
found Yaakov Aveinu cooking some sort of pottage. <br><br>
Bereishis 25: </font><font size=4><b>29 </font><font size=3><i>One day
Ya’akov cooked a pottage, and Esav came in from the field,
exhausted.<br><br>
</i></b>The Chumash tells us explicitly that Yaakov had cooked this food,
not his mother. Also, Yaakov was, of course, a yeshiva bochur. Hence we
deduce from here that a yeshiva bochur should know how to cook and
actually do some cooking himself! <br><br>
In light of this, I really do not understand why all yeshivas are not
doing what TABC is doing, namely, giving their students courses in
cooking. <br><br>
YL<br><br>
Last night I sent the message below to Areivim and the Moderator wrote
that he felt it should be sent to Avodah.<br><br>
This morning someone in shul pointed out to me that the Or HaChaim <br>
writes about Yaakov learning to cook. See<br><br>
<a href="http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/or_hachaim_yaakov_cook.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/or_hachaim_yaakov_cook.pdf<br>
<br>
</a>and the Or HaChaim on pasuk 29.<br><br>
Again, it seems that TABC in Teaneck is following a true Torah <br>
approach when it some to teaching boys to cook!<br><br>
Yitzchok Levine <br><br>
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