Creative Kiddush A Different Start to Shabbat Dinner Featuring the California Collins

I: Ritual

Ritual. It’s the grande dame of religious practice: old, beautiful, and intimidating. But ritual, for our ancestors, was a sort of spiritual technology. It accomplished something specific, something almost magical, with meaning and intention. One of the challenges of Jewish leadership is the balance between tradition and innovation. Too much of one, and you can’t taste the other. Ritual — not just the words, but where they come from, why we say them, and what they are meant to do — is a complex cocktail, a mix of past and present that empowers you to accomplish something almost magical every Friday night. The Shabbat dinner table is a weekly opportunity to own ritual in a way that reflects you, not only where you come from but who you just might become, with meaning and intention.

II: The Name is Collins

Learn to make a Collins and you will instantly know a whole family of drinks. The basic ingredients are two ounces of citrus juice, half an ounce simple syrup, two ounces of liquor, and a splash of soda water. The original, Tom Collins, is a gin-based drink made with lemon juice, and while its origins are up for debate, the name likely comes from Old Tom, a sweetened gin popular in the 19th century.

Sometimes served as a build, many bartenders choose to serve it shaken, which produces a more effervescent cocktail. Change the spirit, change the flavor; Collins drinks can also be made rum, whisky, vodka, brandy, or tequila. Tall glasses work best, so much so that the Collins has a namesake glass, one slightly taller and narrower than a highball with a 10-14 ounce volume.

III: California Collins

• 1 1/2-inch piece of lemongrass, tender inner white bulb only

• ice

• 2 oz. gin

• 2 oz. apple juice

• 1 oz. chilled club soda

In a shaker, gently muddle the lemongrass bulb.

Add ice, gin, and apple juice; shake well.

Pour over fresh ice in a Collins glass. Top with club soda, stir, and enjoy.