The Military Bread and Shabbat Shalom from a Friend

First, a whimsically delightful message from Marc Gellman.

Raining Cats and Dogs:

06/06/2024

A Shabbat moment to think about other things:

“REIGN KATZEN UN HINTEN” . . . . . . was the expression my Bubbe
(grandmother)would say, Raining Cats and Dogs, during heavy rain.

My wife and I were leaving an
event one evening, and it was pouring rain. We had no umbrella, and our car was parked ten blocks away.
We decided to make a run for it. But after a half-block, we were soaked through
and through. My wife pulled my arm and said, “Why the rush? We can’t get any
wetter.” We stopped in our tracks, looked at each other, and laughed. We continued
slowly, laughing, and looking at each other all the way to our car. Sitting in
the car, we could hear the squish on the seats. We looked into each other’s
eyes, smiled, kissed, and drove home.

Often, we rush through things and drive ourselves Meshuga (crazy). Let’s control

our Shpilkes (impatience) and slow down. Think! Is whatever we
are rushing to worth the rush, and can we get there by taking it slower? We can
savor precious moments, even when it’s reign katzen un hinten.
Clothes can be replaced. But nothing will replace those moments that become
precious memories.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY and. . . . SHABBAT SHALOM!

Learn more about the author at: marcgellman.com

I suspect that, having read Marc’s story, most of you immediately had the same mental image, combined with a lovely auditory hallucination:

Ah, don’t we all wish that the world were gentle, loving, laughing, and whimsical, rather than a dangerous and cruel place. Tragically, human ambitions and avarice of the few have always prevailed over the common sense of many who ended up paying for it by paving the battlefields with their bodies and painting the proud marble palaces with their blood. Enter one of the heroes of the Ancient world, the charismatic leader of the most significant slave uprising:

Spartacus, a Thracian warrior, and his wife Phrygia were captured by the Romans.There is a theory that he may have served in the Roman auxiliary forces which would have given him knowledge of Roman military tactics, later used effectively during the slave uprising. On the other hand, perhaps he was just a talented military leader, from a long line and honored tradition of the Thracian warriors. Be that as it may, at some point, Spartacus either fell out of favor with the Romans or was captured during a conflict, sold into slavery and trained as a gladiator. Phrygia was taken into the harem of the Roman general Crassus. Wait – a harem? In the First century BCE Rome? Have you heard of it, Beautiful People? Even as a teenager, reading this line in the libretto, I smirked, to which my mother, sitting next to me, calmly explained (with a straight face!) that strange things happen in operas, and even stranger things in ballets, so “don’t embarrass me, but sit quietly and enjoy the music and the dancing.” I did just that, and have been doing it ever since.

Meanwhile, to make the ballet more personal, in the arena, Spartacus is pitted against his friend, but they refuse to fight. They turn against their common enemy, inspiring other gladiators to join the revolt. Spartacus leads the uprising, and they escape to freedom. He trains the slaves for battle and rallies them with fiery speeches of freedom. Fortunately, we did not have to listen to speeches in a ballet (we had all been speeched out in the USSR, as you would imagine); instead, we gloried in the fiery music of Aram Khacharutian. Somehow, Phrygia also escapes, joins her beloved husband, and they celebrate their reunion with one of the most famous adagios in classical music, flawlessly performed on the Bolshoi stage by the legendary Maximova and Vasiliev.

We all know the end of this tragic story – Spartacus dies. In the ballet, he is betrayed by one of his buddy gradiators, who is enticed by the promise of freedom. In the iconic film (1960) with the inimitable Kirk Douglas, in the scene of powerful brotherhood, the only man who sheds a tear instead of admitting his identity is Spartacus.

In reality, however, Spartacus was killed in the last battle where he led a huge army of close to 70,000 liberated slaves and some free men who joined their cause. We don’t know what happened to Phrygia, if she ever existed. 6,000 slaves were crucified along the Appian Way, the main road from Capua to Rome. “There were so many prisoners that they could not all be punished in the ancient fashion, and hence they were all crucified along the road from Capua to Rome” (Appian, “The Civil Wars”).

But what did this immense army eat, while on the march? Contrary to the well-prepared and provided for Roman army, the rabble, as the Romans called them, did not have anything, nor any money to buy provisions. It has been suggested that they emulated their captors by baking Panis Millitaris, the Military Bread, traditionally baked by Roman soldiers on their shields.

In tribute to the great Armenian composer, I have tried to re-create the Roman military bread, based on scant descriptions. What came out was a delicious version of the Armenian unleavened Lavash (there is also a recipe of Lavash with yeast), which is considered one of their national foods. To be fair, Iran, Azerbaidzhan, and Turkey also claim authorship of this soft, adaptable flatbread that complements everything, from sweet to savory, and shines on its own as well.

INGREDIENTS

1. 2 cups of flour (I use spelt which is gluten free for our purposes, but consult your physician if you are unsure)
2. 2 cups of water, room temperature
3. 1 teaspoon of salt or to taste
4. 1 teaspoon of sugar or substitute or to taste
5. 1 tablespoon of olive oil

PROCEDURE

1. Mix dry ingredients.
2. Gradually add water, keep mixing to avoid lumps.
3. Add oil, mix it in.
4. Preheat frying pan on Medium to Low. Mist with oil and wipe out excess oil.
5. Pour batter, spreading it evenly and thinly.
6. Bake for 1 minute or until it lifts easily, flip.
7. Bake the other side for 1 minute, turn heat to Medium High, and flip again.
8. Bake for 5 – 6 more minutes, flipping occasionally and pressing down gently with spatula.
9. When it starts inflating, remove it. Repeat the procedure.
10. Note: This makes 6 – 8 pieces, depending on the size of your frying pan.

Enjoy!