Forget Zen koans, trips to the Dalai Lama, meditation retreats.

You can find life’s secrets in a cheese blintz.

Says the Rebbe Rav Naftoli of Ropschitz , the cheese (in Hebrew gevina) whose numerical value is 70 (gematriya) stands for the 70 paths to Torah wisdom which enlightens the soul of the Jew. The pancake wrapper is a metaphor for the body or physical existence.

Yummy cheese inside a wheat pancake is a metaphor for a Holy Jew whose soul is filled with sweet Torah. Blintzes even look like Torah scrolls if you roll them up like crepes. And they are remarkably easy to make once you get the hang of them and not even outrageously fattening.

Enjoy one as you contemplate the sacred mysteries on Shavuos night.

(I adapted this teaching from Rabbi Dovid Meisels’s wonderful book Shavuos Secrets. Rav Naftoli was actually referring to the blintzes close cousin the cheese kreplach. I expanded his observations to include blintzes)

Blintz leaves (bletlach)

1.One cup of flour.

2. Two whole eggs

3. One cup of milk

4. One teaspoon oil (any kind except olive)

5.One teaspoon white sugar

Blend all of the above together until smooth. If you’re a perfectionist, put the batter in the fridge to “set” but you can also use it right away. The batter will keep for up to three days in the fridge so that you can mix the batter on erev Shevuous and fry it up on the holiday after the men get back from shul. You’ll need to thin it out with a bit of milk before using it.

Filling

1.One package of Tuv Ta’am cheese or 1 and 1/3 cups farmer cheese. (for years I avoided Tuv Ta’am thinking that it was some horrible foul substance. I was pleasantly surprised at home yummy it was and how low in fat—only 3 per cent!)

2.One third of a cup of white sugar

3.One egg yolk

4.One teaspoon of fresh lemon juice (use the real thing—it’s so much zippier than bottled lemon juice)

Blend together.

Instructions.

1. Pour a tiny bit of oil into the bottom of a ceramic non stick frying pan. (I’m usually not picky with equipment but for blintzes ceramic non stick is the only way to go)

Once the pan is sizzling pour in a half soup ladle of blintz batter. Tilt the pan so that the batter forms into a perfect (or imperfect) circle.

2. Fry until the edges of the blintz leaf begin to curl up and the top is dry. This will happen sooner than you think so hover over your pan. This isn’t the time to multi-task. If hovering idly bothers you, then say some Tehillim, but a short perek, not 119.

3. Flip and let the blintz cook briefly on the other side. (some people don’t flip. They just remove the blintz from the pan at this point and add filling to the cooked side)

4. Remove the blintz from the pan. Spoon two teaspoons of cheese filling into the center of your blintz leaf.

5. Fold up the leaf so that it looks like an envelope with the cheese inside. This is easier than it sounds—fold the top over about a third of the way down, like an envelope flap, the one side, the other and the bottom until the filling is tucked inside or you can roll it up like a Torah scroll—nice for Shevuous when we

6. Melt a tiny nut of margarine or butter and refry the blintz until its golden brown on all sides. Eat plain or sprinkled with confectioners sugar.

You can make filled blintzes ahead of time refrigerate and refry just before serving.

I know this sounds very complicated, , but trust me, once you get the hang of it, a homemade blintz is a celebration. You’ll be amazed and how many people you will delight by mastering this one simple dish.

Good luck

Makes about eight and freezes well.

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