Parashat Vayeshev

Happy Thanksgiving!

Because of extenuating circumstances (Thanksgiving feast travels and no computer access), I will once again rely on the archives for this week's offering. Next week, bli neder, I will get back into creativity mode.

Even though we will be out for the meals for this shabbat, we will help with the preparations, so Yosef's amazing coat of many colors can take center stage. A layered salad (a la one of the Kosher by Design cookbooks), striped vegetable terrine, striped jel dessert, and colorful striped table accessories will be prominently featured.

We will also serve foods to represent Yosef's dreams that so infuriated his brothers: star shaped muffins beside a butternut squash sunburst and a mashed potato moon. String beans and steamed carrot fingers tied with scallion will stand in for the sheaves of grain in Yosef's dream. His bundle will be made of asparagus tied togehter with the green onion.

Again, see the archives for how to get the baker's and butler's dreams into the meal and how to inlcude a punny food related to Yosef's time in a pit.

Have a colorful shabbat!

Tammie Rapps

Parashat Vayishlach

Sealed with a Kiss

The following is from the archives of this blog. Sometimes it is just that difficult to think of new ideas.

Parashat Vayishlach begins with Yaakov frantically preparing for a confrontation with his brother. When Yaakov realizes that he is about to encounter Esav whom he had not seen in decades since angering him upon receiving Yitzchak's blessing, the younger brother prepares for the meeting in three ways. He sends gifts to Esav in an attempt at diplomacy, he prays to Hashem, and he divides his camp as preparation for battle. This three-pronged approach to combating an enemy is the paradigm that the Jewish People has often followed (see Megillat Esther, for example). I think that the first approach, diplomacy, lends itself nicely to the table. I will wrap three large boxes and use them as the centerpiece for the meal. Under one will be small gifts for every guest, under the second will be birchonim, and under the third will be toy soldiers. During the meal we will discuss why using diplomacy should be the first communication between enemies. We would try to bring the conversation down to a micro level and talk about interpersonal relationships in the house and how Yaakov's example could help us in our own interactions at home.


Dessert for this parashah will focus on a famous midrash related to Yaakov and Esav's reunion. When the brothers see each other again after decades of separation, the Torah text states that Esav runs toward Yaakov, embraces him, falls upon his neck, kisses him, and they both weep. The Torah known for concision of language provides many verbs for this reunion. In addition, in the text itself, the word "and he kissed" appears with what appear to be extraneous dots above it. The midrash explains that the dots allude to Esav's true intent. While he seemingly envelops Yaakov in an embrace of forgiveness and fraternal love, Esav is really acting as a wolf in sheep's clothing (nice comparison to Yaakov in parashat Toldot who was a sheep dressed in wolf's clothes, so to speak). Esav falls on his brother's neck not to kiss him, but to bite him. The midrash continues that Yaakov's neck turns to stone/marble to become impervious to his brother's threatening action.
How does this midrash translate into dessert?
I have two confections that I am going to bake and serve side by side: Mexican chocolate cookies (http://bakingbites.com/2005/07/more-of-maida-mexican-chocolate-cookies/) and marble cupcakes (recipe adapted to make them pareve--http://littlechefandi.blogspot.com/2009/08/marble-cupcakes.html). The cookies look like chocolate cookies but, made with cayenne and black peppers, they have a definite bite to them (pun very much intended). I plan to try to cut the cookies in the shape of chocolate kisses before I bake them if possible. Marble speaks for itself.

Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat Vayeitzei

Rock n' Roll

Rocks are featured prominently in this week's parashah. Yaakov uses rocks to rest his head when he camps out the night of his ladder dream and he later shows off his strength for Rachel by rolling a huge boulder off the mouth of the well. To recognize the suporting work that rocks play in Vayeitzei, I've used river stones and sharpie marker to make place cards for the meal. I've also made a cobbler out of stone fruits (peaches and cherries) for dessert. As I did last year, I got a pull apart challah to remind us of the midrash that explains that after all the rocks vied for the honor of resting under Yaakov's head, God miraculously merged them into one large stone.

For lunch, we are using the ideas from previous years, starting with foods fashioned into the shape of ladders. I've stuck cards under each seat that offer different explanations to the meaning of the ladder (all from the Ba'al Haturim who shares several gematriya calculations for the word sulam--including, money, poverty, voice, Sinai, throne of glory, etc.). At the emal, we'll ask each eprson to do an exercise in metaphors and explain how a ladder could be like ______ (the noun placed under his or her plate).

Dessert for that meal will be a speckled sheep cake.

Have a rockin' shabbat!

Parashat Toldot

This post is dedicated in honor of the birth of my brand new niece, yet to be named. May she lead a life filled with love, happiness, Torah, and wisdom.

I've discovered that I am very happy with the Parashat Toldot menus from years past. Placing lentils and red food front and center on the shabbat table just works so well for this parashah that I can only think of swapping out one lentil recipe for another or trying a meat stew to replicate the delicious delicacies that Rivka cooked up for Yitzchak.

With that said, I am going to focus on the decor for shabbat this year. I plan to set the table up as a sort of color war--the two competing sons/sides at odds with each other. One side of the table will be decorated with furry red napkin rings and arrows in the centerpiece. The other side of the table will be decorated with books and pictures of tents fashioned around the napkins. We will talk about the connotation of color: why red is such a strong association with Esav, why he actually went for the lentils when he preferred a fresh kill (what did he think was actually in Yaakov's pot?), what color could we associate with Yaakov (even though the Torah does not mention one) and why?

At another point over shabbat, I'd like to introduce a variation on a game our daughter invented on Sukkot: the blessing game. Our daughter instructed each person at the table to say something nice about the person sitting next to him or her. In honor of this week's parashah, we will switch it a bit and ask each person to give a berachah to he person sitting next to him or her. It would be intriguing to hear what our kids think of berachot, what they consider important for a parent to impart, how thy understand the birth order blessings that Yitzchak planned to give, etc.

I invite any additional ideas you might have about the parashah and ways to incorporate it at the shabbat table.

Shabbat Shalom!

© Tammie Rapps, 2010/5771