Parashat Noach

When I reviewed the parashah earlier this week, I was a bit overwhelmed. The story of Noach is one of the earliest we learn as children (my pre-schooler has water-play today as his class re-enacts the flood!) because animals are a big draw for kids, but the story is actually horrific and the parashah itself raises scores of theological and philosophical questions through its complex (and sometimes disturbing) narrative.

This parashah also happens to be jam-packed with material for a ParashahMom. So, I think that we will stick to the more colorful aspects of the parashah and raise a few less difficult--and more age appropriate--questions for the time being.

This week we will dedicate both Shabbat dinner (as our oldest--age 9--requested) and Shabbat lunch to Noach. Dinner will focus on the end of the parashah (Bereishit 11) that introduces the generation after the flood, the generation that built Migdal Bavel, the Tower of Babel. As this is a recent addition (as of last night), the ideas are still percolating, but so far I know that my husband and I will try to speak to the kids incorporating phrases from different languages , we will use place cards at dinner with our names written in various languages, and the meal will consist of "architectural recipes," recipes that try to defy gravity by standing up: stacks of polenta and grilled vegetables, towers of couscous and chicken (that you can mold in a ramekin), and a dessert that also towers somehow (still working on that; I'd like it to be somewhat healthy--and I am open to any ideas you would like to post in the comments section about dessert or activities for the table). After dinner we will definitely play Jenga (our kindergartner's favorite game) as we try to build our own tower. I will update this section as more ideas come to me.

Lunch will be all about Rainbows. Before Shabbat, we will set up our centerpiece (and learn a little science in the process): several thin vases holding food colored water in rainbow hues (using a LOT of food coloring) and either white carnations or queen anne's lace (whichever I can get at the florist) whose stems have been snipped and split to allow the color to travel to the petals. By lunch, the white flowers should turn the color of the water in which they are placed, and we should have a rainbow of flowers at the table. I'll also scout out any rainbow balloons or even just a series of regular latex ones in a spectrum of colors that I can use to decorate the dining room. The meal is easy: a broad spectrum of rainbow colored food: red tomatoes salad, orange carrot salad, yellow corn salad, green pea (or spinach, asparagus, broccoli, etc.), and purple cabbage slaw. For the main, I'll cheat and make something (chicken, probably) with olives--another connection to the parashah (also an opportunity to discuss with our aspiring 9-year-old vegetarian the change that Hashem introduced in the world post flood when Hashem allowed people to become carnivores). Dessert will be a double rainbow effort: skewers of fruit arranged in ROY G. BIV order and then fanned on a plate into a bow served with cups of rainbow jell dessert. (See http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Rainbow-Jello for instructions and an image.)They look beautiful, but we'll have to see how ko-jel does with this. I'll try to post a photo when I'm done with the table and with the cooking.


As for questions, the rainbow provides the best. Why does Hashem use a rainbow as the sign of the covenant not to destroy the world? The Ramban (Nachmanides) suggests that the rainbow is similar to the weapon, a bow, that Hashem has directed away from the earth. Now, we'll have to see what answers our kids imagine.

One last addition to our Shabbat Noach:

We have some great kids books, stories that might be considered modern midrash, that I'll set out for the weekend:

One is a book in which the pages latch together to make a carousel with images of the animals and the ark.



The second is NOAH'S WIFE: The Story of Naamah by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso with full-color illustrations by Bethanne Andersen, a tale of how Naamah preserved seeds from every plant while Noah collected the animals.





The third book, my personal favorite, is The Littlest Pair by Sylvia A. Rouss, illustrated by Holly Hannon. This story explores what happened when two termites sought refuge on Noah's ark.


Shabbat Shalom!


Copyright Tammie Rapps 2008