{"id":90042,"date":"2017-04-26T08:45:06","date_gmt":"2017-04-26T12:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=90042"},"modified":"2019-04-10T10:40:43","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T14:40:43","slug":"matzo-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=90042","title":{"rendered":"Matzo Therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Call it an inspiration.  Sandy was leafing thru the pages of Scientific American<\/em> when she happened on \nan article about Emanuel Rifkin, a Salt Lake City CPA, who decided to build a \ngeodesic dome in the Utah dessert out of matzo. One can only guess \nthat Rifikin (one of nine Jews who live in Utah) ordered more matzo than he needed for \nhis Passover table.  Hoping that he was going to make a financial windfall, he \nhad been pleased when he had cornered the market in matzo for all the mountain \nstates, and at the close of the Passover he peered out his kitchen window to \npallets of matzo boxes stacked up on his driveway. What to do with the extra \nboxes of matzo?  After all, one only uses one or two boxes of the stuff during \nthe eight day holiday.  That is, unless you live in Brooklyn and are feeding the entire congregation of B\u2019nai \nTsuris\u2026 then you might use up to nine boxes.  But as already noted, the Rifkins \nlived in Salt Lake \nCity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it was to be expected when \nRachel (his wife of 17 years) suggested that Manny find lodgings elsewhere.  And \nthat is when the ambitious Rifikin, armed with R. Buckminster Fuller\u2019s blueprint \nfor a geodesic dome, loaded up his matzo into a ten-wheeler and headed for the \ndesert.  And to the amazement of all, build it he did!  Further, he saw that \nwhen he was in the finished dome he felt an unmistakable calm as he rested from \nhis labors.  Surrounded by walls of matzo and in the desert air his skin \ntightened and he felt rejuvenated.  The salutary effect was real.  It wasn\u2019t \nlong before word spread about this curious structure in the middle of \u201cnowhere\u201d. \nThe newsprint media covered it. Reported to be better<\/em> than a salt cave<\/em>, health nerds began traveling to \nhis doorstep, and paid a high fee to spend two hours in his matzo dome.  The \nHollywood glitterati soon began chartering flights to Salt Lake City. You get \nthe idea.  Fortune follows the \nbrave!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One can only imagine Manny Rifkin \nin the Utah \ndesert sipping a chilled Mogen David and counting his Ben Franklin\u2019s.  Who would \nhave thought?  Matzo Therapy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now to Sandy.  She read this \narticle when our pantry also had a modest surplus of matzo. We had purchased \nfive boxes in advance of the Passover Holiday and had overshot our needs by 3.5 \nboxes. The words of the article danced in her head as she put the finishing \ntouches on her latest coloring project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This coloring \u201cthing\u201d has captured \nSandy.  She sets \nup shop on the kitchen table.  Spreads out a stout collection of pens, pencils, \nmarkers and fine brushes in front of her\u2026 selects an elaborate drawing and \nspends a couple of hours coloring it in. With music playing in the background \n(or the news on the kitchen TV), she is the picture of contentment. Coloring therapy?<\/em>  And the finished \nproducts are really<\/em> good.  \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it was just a natural \nprogression of thinking\u2026 the article in Scientific American<\/em>, a pantry with too \nmuch matzo, and maybe a touch of \u201cmatzo induced constipation\u201d?  Sort of simple, \nreally.  Sandy \ndecided to make use of the unwanted matzo, and she put her coloring talents to \ncreating matzo art!  You could say it was a new form of matzo therapy!<\/em> \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This first piece of matzo art was \nmade while listening to Pachelbel\u2019s Canon in \nD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Serenity, \nBefore the Onset of an Intestinal Blockage<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Next, Sandy applied herself to \ncapturing the likeness of the first Hebrew Super Hero: Constipator the Great.  \nThe roots of this legendary figure are indeed linked to the biblical Exodus \nstory.  We have learned that the Hebrews had to flee Egypt in a hurry \nbefore Pharaoh reversed his decision to let Moses\u2019 people go. \u201cThey could not \ntarry\u201d.  The bread was not allowed to properly rise, and so the Hebrews had to \nsettle to making a flat \u201cbread\u201d \u2013 matzo!  However, a considerable excess of this \n\u201cbread\u201d had to be left behind.  And it was said that the Egyptian host spent \ndays gorging out on matzo and the charioteers, archers & foot soldiers \nsuffered from serious bloating, twisted bowel syndrome and painful rectal itch.  \nPharaoh\u2019s army was completely incapacitated before leaving the gates of \nEgypt.  No need for Moses to split \nthe Red \nSea for the escaping Hebrews.  That was clearly an unnecessary \nliterary device exploited by Cecil B. DeMille.  The savior for the Hebrews was \nMatzo Man! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drawn while listening to the \nRolling Stones\u2019 \u201cCan\u2019t You Hear Me Knocking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matzo \nMan<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sandy followed \nMatzo Man with a piece of three dimensional art.  On a plain matzo board she \nplaced four slices of American cheese, which she said represented the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse<\/em>.  Then she \napplied a quantity of scrambled eggs, which she said represented the Turmoil caused by the Rangers giving up the tying \ngoal with 17 seconds left in the game<\/em>. And a sprinkle of Tabasco \nSauce, which she said represented a mistake. \n<\/em> N.b. <\/em>The bacon-like \nobjects I photo-shopped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Made while listening to Al Roker\u2019s \nweather report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eggs \non Matzo<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After breakfast Sandy returned to two \ndimensional art.  I asked her to knock-off my favorite Georges Seurat canvas.  \nShe agreed; but first she wanted to find a way to overcome the handicap of \ncoloring on matzo\u2019s irregular surface.  Particularly the perforations.  The \nproblem was solved by mixing matzo meal and anchovy paste and applying it to the \nmatzo board. Voil\u00e0! An ideal surface to use! The \nresults are uncanny!  Her best piece of art to \ndate!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In the manner of, A Sunday \nAfternoon on the Island of La Grande \nJatte<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

How to follow up that superb \nrendition of Seurat?  First, let me say I don\u2019t want to limit Sandy\u2019s enthusiasm for her \nart.  But she may have over-reached her skill set.  But she is set on giving \nthis a \u201cgo.\u201d  We have just taken a long term lease on a vacant aircraft hangar \nat Oxford Airport, and Sandy has decided to make a 1:2 scale model of \na Blue Whale out of matzo.  Costco has agreed to sell us 30,000 boxes of \ntheir<\/em> surplus matzo.  We were \nable to get a very good price, even better \n<\/em>than their usual low price.  The trucks arrive next week, the sound \nsystem will be installed by mid-May, coloring will begin in June and \nconstruction will follow in November.  Stay tuned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Balaenoptera \nMusculus<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Call it an inspiration.  Sandy was leafing thru the pages of Scientific American when she happened on an article about Emanuel Rifkin, a Salt Lake City CPA, who decided to build a geodesic dome in the Utah dessert out of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90042"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90184,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90042\/revisions\/90184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}