“So, what's the problem,” I asked my mom as I sat in the study on a comfortable black leather chair.

It was a Wednesday night and my mother had just interrupted my very important web surfing to discuss a certain issue.

“Well, you wanted gazpacho for Friday night appetizer and your brother, Judah, really wanted to make this beef bean soup,” my mom informed me.

“But mom, I’ve wanted this gazpacho ever since the weekend after finals were over!!!!” I sullenly replied.

My mom had promised me, as a reward for completing my freshman year of high school, that I could have my favorite soup at Friday night dinner. Friday night dinner is so special because it is the only night of the week that my family sits down for dinner together.

Because I am Jewish, Friday night and Saturday lunch are big meals. During those meals, we have special dishes that we normally do not eat during the week. Chicken soup, potato kugel, pot roast --just to name a few. Thus, choosing a dish for either of these meals is a big deal.

Gazpacho soup's tangy zest puts a great tingle to my taste buds. When I was younger, my mom would have gazpacho made for a refreshing, piquant appetizer for Saturday lunch. When I was in elementary school, I remember the time when I slept over at my friend's house for the weekend. Since she is a vegetarian, we had this bright red gazpacho soup for an appetizer on Friday night. My mouth filled with gusto as I filled it with the spicy broth. Gazpacho is a great, cold soup for a hot summer day.

“Yes, but Elisheva, I kind of wanted Judah to actually do something with his spare time,” my mom continued.

“And you don’t want him to loaf around the house all day - - correct?”

“Exactly! We can always have it next week!”

“But mom you keep saying that!!! It's not fair.”

“I know. I even bought all of the ingredients! But, Judah had some pretty good logic.”

“Yeah? What was his brilliant logic?” I skeptically asked.

“Well, he said that since it is the 9 days, we can have the gazpacho on any night, yet we can't have the beef bean soup during the week. On the Sabbath, he wants to cram in as much meat as possible.”

The “nine days” is a period of time in the Jewish calendar (that takes place during the summer) in which it is a custom to omit meat products from one's diet, in mourning of the destruction of the Temple. This nine day period lead up to the ninth day, which is the day that the Temple was destroyed. On the Sabbath that takes place during the nine day period, it is permissible to eat meat products.

“Well, he kinda makes sense. That's actually pretty good logic. But, gazpacho isn’t as good on a weekday. It has this special taste on the weekend,” I said.

“Yeah, it's the Sabbath spirit,” my mom added.

There is just something special about the Sabbath that makes food taste so much better. It is as if G-d inserts a special ingredient that makes food have a better, a holier taste.

“I guess we can have the beef bean soup. BUT, we must have the gazpacho before I go to camp, because next week is the last weekend before I leave. And, I don't care if anyone else wishes to have chicken soup or any other type of soup!” I said firmly.

“Ok, that sounds good. If you want, you can help make up the menu for the meal on Friday night,” my mom suggested.

My mother knows that I love to plan the meals because then I can request all of my favorite dishes.

“Fine. Hmmm... What should we have?” My eyes lit up and the wheels began to turn in my mind as I began to think about the meal I was going to plan.

On that Friday night, we had the beef bean soup, which was fantastic. The soup had great texture and superb spices. Besides, beef and beans the soup had barley and carrots which helped enhance its thickness. As promised, we had the gazpacho, which my brother also made, and it was excellent. The soup had tomato juice, cucumbers and some Tabasco sauce that really gave it a zest. The tangy liquid FINALLY satisfied my craving for this spicy soup.