I have always loved to cook.  I can remember the first meal I ever prepared.  My Aunt was staying at my house because my mother had gone into labor in the middle of the night with my sister.  There was a local cable show that showed children how to make scrambled eggs.  That’s exactly what I had prepared, at seven years old, for my Aunt.

They say that chicken soup is Jewish penicillin, a kind of a cure-all.  It’s the first meal I ever made for my wife (she was sick on our first date with a cold) and it’s my go-to meal when the children are feeling under the weather.  It’s also one of the most comforting foods to eat while gathered at the Shabbat table.

One of the highlights of my week is when my children ask me to prepare something special for Shabbat.  The weather is getting cooler in the Holy Land so they are in chicken soup mode.  They seem to be requesting it every week.  It’s one of my favorite meals to make, not only because it’s incredibly easy, but because my children love it and request it.

Over the years I have tried various recipes but have found the simplest one to be the best one.  One whole roaster chicken, 2 medium onions, 5 celery stalks and three carrots.  Cut up the veggies, place them in a soup pot with the chicken, cover with water, bring to a simmer (not a boil or you will have dark soup) and let simmer for an hour and a half.  Add salt and pepper.  I remove the chicken and let cool.  Once cool, I break off the meat into little pieces and return them to the soup pot.  This is my way of adding a little extra TLC to the soup.  You can serve with egg noodles, but my kids are 100% Israeli.  They need soup nuts (shkedei marak).

While preparing this week’s soup, I couldn’t help but think of all of the families that have been affected by the recent terror wave.  There are many victims still hospitalized with knife and bullet wounds.  There are those families who are still grieving the loss of a loved one that was murdered at the hands of a terrorist.  There are those children that have been orphaned because of a terrorist’s murderous rampage.  I wondered how many of them would be finding comfort this Shabbat in a simple pot of chicken soup.

Shabbat shalom.