In the Hebrew
month of Cheshvan,
humans and bees
turn to working to
preserve food from
the harvest.
A Teshuvah (Return) to
Fall Preservation
T
he month of
Cheshvan,
which contin-
ues through Nov. 8,
is the only month in
the Hebrew calendar
without holidays.
Carly Sugar
This gives us ample
time, in our temper-
ate climate, to focus our energy on
preserving the harvest.
There is precedence for this both
in our history and in the natural
world. It would have been a busy and
anxious time for our ancestors, pre-
paring to make it through the colder
season ahead, but a bonding tradi-
tion, nonetheless. Honeybees, too,
are working together to preserve the
summer’s bounty for winter survival.
In the wake of the High Holidays,
Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat
Torah, many of us are spiritually
drained. We put away our jars of
honey and disassemble our sukkahs,
putting a majority of our annual
Jewish holiday activity behind us.
The physicality of this work in
Cheshvan is a welcome shift from
the headiness of Tishrei. Without
any holidays to observe, we are free
to return to our gardens for late
harvests of squash, corn and toma-
toes. We can take to our kitchens to
ferment, dehydrate, can and freeze
the excess. We store bubbly jars of
wild yeast-fermented wine and lac-
to-fermented kosher dills with hopes
of stretching fresh summer flavors
through winter.
This activity is mirrored in the
natural world, too, with the example
of the honeybee fresh in our minds
from Rosh Hashanah. In their hives,
the honeybees are doing their own
30
October 25 • 2018
jn
food preservation. The nectar they
collect is spit back out, along with
preserving enzymes, into the cells of
honeycomb. It may sound unhygien-
ic, but all products made by honey-
bees are antimicrobial and beneficial
to our health. This mixture is fanned
by the bees’ wings, causing evapo-
ration, and when it reaches a water
content of 33 percent, the bees cap it
with wax, preserving it as a source of
carbohydrates for the colony.
Food preservation is a cultural
tradition many of us have lost touch
with over the generations. Our peo-
ple’s survival once depended on these
skills, so many of which are lost on
us today. Now, these tasks are largely
outsourced, separating us from the
joy of this work and the connection
our Jewish identity food traditions
can bring. During a month when
we may not be coming together as
a community as frequently, we can
continue to build and preserve our
culture, following the examples of
our ancestors and creatures like the
honeybee.
As we bring these processes back
into our homes and communities,
we can reconnect with ancestral
traditions, with natural cycles and
with each other. Invite friends and
family together for some fall canning
or pickling and tap into the joy this
physical work brings. You will be in
good company.■
Carly Sugar is a food grower and educator,
examining the intersection of Judaism and
food systems. She lives and works collab-
oratively with other artists and creatives as
part of the Glastonbury Collective in Detroit’ s
Rosedale Park. She is director of Yad Ezra’s
Giving Gardens.
CARLY SUGAR
jews in the d