Putting You in a (Good) Pickle

I wish I lived in Idaho.

It’s not often that I say that. I don’t think I ever have before. Not that there’s anything wrong with Idaho, but I’ve never been there and, thankfully, like where I live.

But Boise now has something that New York City desperately needs: Rabbi Pickle.

For those of you who know Veggie Tales, this isn’t a cucumber that instructs young children in the ways of Judaism—though that might be a good idea. Instead, Rabbi Pickle is Rabbi Shmuel Marcus, a teacher of kosher pickle-making who travels around teaching kosher dietary laws. He’s currently visiting Boise to instruct students in the art.

The representative for Chabad in Cypress, California, Rabbi Marcus echoes the teachings of previous salty sages. After visiting with a member of his congregation, Marcus learned to make kosher pickles. Then, he took his show on the road.

Dubbing his mission the “Traveling Kosher Pickle Factory,” Marcus realized that students who might not necessarily be receptive to kosher food would become more open to it in the form of a delicious treat. Even older crowds showed up for the pickles. Starting with the Hebrew High School students he taught, Marcus has gone on to teach thousands how to make their own. Several years ago, he even acquired a second “Pickle Rabbi,” his cousin, Rabbi Mendy Margolin.

Aside from the fun of making pickles, what Marcus represents is an expansion of Jewish thought through a savory medium. While I do not personally keep kosher, I appreciate the merits, both practical and spiritual, of doing so. Moreover, it is a practice that many Jews hold near and dear, so it falls into my religious comprehension.

For those like me that don’t know the ins and outs of kosher law, people like the Pickle Rabbi are a blessing. Even if he doesn’t convince people to become kosher, he can still teach them the values and practices that go along with kosher law. That, in turn, may well lead to a better appreciation of the Jewish law and faith through both its tasty treats and learning some of its most practiced strictures.

Even more than just kosher law, Rabbi Pickle serves to spread the positive message of Judaism which, in this world, is always welcome. “He’s a very lively, funny type of guy. He captures people’s attentions and feelings,” said one Boise rabbi. He appeals to children—one of whom gave him his moniker of “Rabbi Pickle”—and an older audience. All generations of Jews and non-Jews get to have a shared experience that bonds them as a community. For the Jews in the crowd, the feeling of family and appreciation one’s heritage is brought home even more when one creates an authentically Jewish pickle.

There are health benefits, too, to creating sweet pickles or sour pickles, which don’t have the preservatives of deli pickles, but they—dare I say it?—may be secondary to the cultural appreciation. If pickle-making is an art, then Rabbi Shmuel Marcus is a pickle Picasso.