Seven Out of Ten
The parashah introduces the first seven of the ten plagues that God sent down on Egypt. The plagues will form the meal... rather than just be represented by a drop of wine as at the Pesach Seder. Granted, it is a bit strange to base a menu on seven supernatural forms of suffering, but the plagues so engage the minds of children at Pesach time, this Shabbat will provide us with an opportunity to revisit the topic and hopefully discuss these seven forms of Divine retribution in a deeper way.
Dam/Blood: Tomato Red Pepper Soup
Tzefardea/Frogs: Chicken wings (frogs legs supposedly taste like chicken, ;-)); I also have frog decorations for the table.
Kinim/Lice: Rashi explains that the Egyptian sorcerers were unable to replicate the plague of lice because magic cannot happen on things smaller than a grain of barley, so... barley pilaf
Arov/wild beasts: More table decor (animal print napkins) and a lion made of a round squash kugel surrounded by a mane of spaghetti squash
Dever/cattle disease: Does dead meat count for this? I’ll take other ideas if anyone would like to send them!
Shchin/Boils: Boiled potatoes ???? Other boiled vegies? If it were dessert, I would serve red gushers that would pop in one's mouth! In fact, I might do both!
Barad/hail: The mefarshim describe that this hail was unlike any before or after it. Encased in each ball of ice was a flame that torched the Egyptians as the hail fell, so it was a double bombardment. So for dessert, I am serving a large scoop of pareve vanilla ice cream with an atomic red hot fireball (super spicy red cinnamon candy, for those who don’t have the same brands available) hidden inside.
Have a wonderful shabbat!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Parashat Shemot
So I have made an executive decision to reprint old posts, because very soon we will be entering uncharted waters and the creative juices will have to run in full force. Besides, a lot of the old ideas are really cute--and certainly are still relevant.
Enjoy!
A Star is Born
Originally, when I began pondering this whole blogging-the-parashah idea, I joked that reaching Shemot would be strange, because why would I want to make Pesach in January. How could I be creative when the Seder itself is a pretty creative event?!? As I reviewed Parashat Shemot, though, I was taken by how easy it would be to shift the focus of this shabbat's ParshahMom activities away from the slavery experience and take advantage of the opportunity to shine the spotlight on Moshe Rabbeinu, who receives none of the limelight come Pesach. Because Parashat Shemot serves as a brief biography of the greatest Jewish leader, highlighting Moshe seems to be the best approach to this shabbat. Shabbat dinner will become a "This is Your (Early) Life, Moshe" feast.
For starters, we are going to create baby Moshe in the basket hors d'oeuvres. At the suggestion of our very imaginative daughter, we are going to make baby Moshes in small twice baked potatoes. His body will be made of carrot sticks, and our kindergartner would like his eyes to be raisins or black beans. We will also serve Moshe ba'tevah, the Israeli name for what we call pigs in a blanket).
The next major episode in Moshe's life, killing and hastily burying the Egyptian task-master, will be represented by a big tray of sand-colored couscous.
For the Midian events, we will have a large well (made of matzah sheets surrounding dip and crudite). We will also serve biscuits cut in the shape of sheep. And of course, Moshe's wife will be represented by chicken (Tzipporah=Bird... I know, a stretch!).
Finally, the burning bush will be the centerpiece of the table. We are still working on a safe and "shabbati" way to use greenery, red and yellow cellophane, and illumination on the table. I think we'll make a trip to Michael's to see if they have any of those LED votive "candles" that run on batteries.
Finally, dessert will be the otot, signs, that God teaches Moshe to prove to Bnei Yisrael that he was in fact sent by God. We will have pretzel staffs and gummy snakes; finger-shaped cookies dredged in white powdered sugar and coconut flakes (a hand covered in coconut leprosy would be too much!); and blood-red cherry juice.
At dinner, we hope to discuss Moshe's leadership qualities and what each of these episodes in his life helped to shape him as a leader.
Have shabbat shalom!
Tammie Rapps
Enjoy!
A Star is Born
Originally, when I began pondering this whole blogging-the-parashah idea, I joked that reaching Shemot would be strange, because why would I want to make Pesach in January. How could I be creative when the Seder itself is a pretty creative event?!? As I reviewed Parashat Shemot, though, I was taken by how easy it would be to shift the focus of this shabbat's ParshahMom activities away from the slavery experience and take advantage of the opportunity to shine the spotlight on Moshe Rabbeinu, who receives none of the limelight come Pesach. Because Parashat Shemot serves as a brief biography of the greatest Jewish leader, highlighting Moshe seems to be the best approach to this shabbat. Shabbat dinner will become a "This is Your (Early) Life, Moshe" feast.
For starters, we are going to create baby Moshe in the basket hors d'oeuvres. At the suggestion of our very imaginative daughter, we are going to make baby Moshes in small twice baked potatoes. His body will be made of carrot sticks, and our kindergartner would like his eyes to be raisins or black beans. We will also serve Moshe ba'tevah, the Israeli name for what we call pigs in a blanket).
The next major episode in Moshe's life, killing and hastily burying the Egyptian task-master, will be represented by a big tray of sand-colored couscous.
For the Midian events, we will have a large well (made of matzah sheets surrounding dip and crudite). We will also serve biscuits cut in the shape of sheep. And of course, Moshe's wife will be represented by chicken (Tzipporah=Bird... I know, a stretch!).
Finally, the burning bush will be the centerpiece of the table. We are still working on a safe and "shabbati" way to use greenery, red and yellow cellophane, and illumination on the table. I think we'll make a trip to Michael's to see if they have any of those LED votive "candles" that run on batteries.
Finally, dessert will be the otot, signs, that God teaches Moshe to prove to Bnei Yisrael that he was in fact sent by God. We will have pretzel staffs and gummy snakes; finger-shaped cookies dredged in white powdered sugar and coconut flakes (a hand covered in coconut leprosy would be too much!); and blood-red cherry juice.
At dinner, we hope to discuss Moshe's leadership qualities and what each of these episodes in his life helped to shape him as a leader.
Have shabbat shalom!
Tammie Rapps
Friday, December 10, 2010
Parashat Vayigash
The Big Reveal
A reprint this week:
Parashat Vayigash recalls Yosef's dramatic revelation of his true identity to his brothers after Yehudah gives an impassioned plea to release Binyamin from servitude. Yosef then lavishes gifts on his family and requests/suggests/demands(?) that the brothers return to Canaan, talk to Yaakov, pack up their households, and return with their father and families to Egypt so they can live out the harsh famine in a fertile land. This invitation is, of course, the beginning of the exile in Egypt, although G-d appears to Yaakov and promises him that G-d will not forsake Bnei Yisrael when they are in Egypt.
The episode in which Yaakov learns that Yosef is still alive captures my imagination. The midrashim offer a fascinating narrative for how Yaakov learns that his favorite child is alive and well and prospering in Egypt. The midrashim indicate a point later in the parashah, when the Torah delineates the seventy souls that descended to Egypt, to explain how Yaakov was intentionally prepared for the startling news of Yosef that his sons brought him. In the list of names one woman in mentioned, Serach, the daughter of Asher. To provide a rationale for singling her out, the midrash in Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer teaches that Serach was assigned by her uncles and father the task of preparing Yaakov for the big revelation. She was a singer and musician (harpist?) who sang and played for her aging grandfather. Embedded in the lyrics of her songs were the almost unintelligible words that Yosef was alive in Egypt, the father to two young boys. Serach's song was a rhyming triplet that she sang while Yaakov davened. Although Yaakov was focused on his tefillah, he subconsciously integrated the words of Serach's song into his thinking and was thus ultimately able to accept the report about Yosef as true--without dying. For her part in caring for and preparing her grandfather emotionally, Serach was rewarded with a long life that ended without death. More midrashim explain how she functioned at the times of Moshe and King David , and how she ultimately went to Gan Eden alive!
I am intrigued by this figure of Serach and her subliminal messages she sends to Yaakov. For Shabbat, I am devising ways to hide messages about Yosef in the decor at the table. I plan to use items that might allude to Yosef's name (cups of coffee, or Joe, baby kangaroos, yo-yos, for example) to build a centerpiece. I have place-cards with intricate borders that I made: fancy curlicues and decorations that read, somewhat obscurely, "Yosef is alive and living in Egypt." I welcome suggestions for menu items that emphasize the same ideas and maybe even one that can give tribute to Serach as a musician.
On a different topic, my husband and I were talking about how we could impress on our kids the idea of seventy individuals who went to Egypt. We made a set of index cards to help the kids build a family tree for Yaakov with all the names mentioned in the parashah of those seventy souls who descended to Egypt. We made a similar set with our own family names listed on them, so they can get a sense of how much seventy is and how closely related the seventy souls were.
SHabbat Shalom!
Tammie Rapps
A reprint this week:
Parashat Vayigash recalls Yosef's dramatic revelation of his true identity to his brothers after Yehudah gives an impassioned plea to release Binyamin from servitude. Yosef then lavishes gifts on his family and requests/suggests/demands(?) that the brothers return to Canaan, talk to Yaakov, pack up their households, and return with their father and families to Egypt so they can live out the harsh famine in a fertile land. This invitation is, of course, the beginning of the exile in Egypt, although G-d appears to Yaakov and promises him that G-d will not forsake Bnei Yisrael when they are in Egypt.
The episode in which Yaakov learns that Yosef is still alive captures my imagination. The midrashim offer a fascinating narrative for how Yaakov learns that his favorite child is alive and well and prospering in Egypt. The midrashim indicate a point later in the parashah, when the Torah delineates the seventy souls that descended to Egypt, to explain how Yaakov was intentionally prepared for the startling news of Yosef that his sons brought him. In the list of names one woman in mentioned, Serach, the daughter of Asher. To provide a rationale for singling her out, the midrash in Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer teaches that Serach was assigned by her uncles and father the task of preparing Yaakov for the big revelation. She was a singer and musician (harpist?) who sang and played for her aging grandfather. Embedded in the lyrics of her songs were the almost unintelligible words that Yosef was alive in Egypt, the father to two young boys. Serach's song was a rhyming triplet that she sang while Yaakov davened. Although Yaakov was focused on his tefillah, he subconsciously integrated the words of Serach's song into his thinking and was thus ultimately able to accept the report about Yosef as true--without dying. For her part in caring for and preparing her grandfather emotionally, Serach was rewarded with a long life that ended without death. More midrashim explain how she functioned at the times of Moshe and King David , and how she ultimately went to Gan Eden alive!
I am intrigued by this figure of Serach and her subliminal messages she sends to Yaakov. For Shabbat, I am devising ways to hide messages about Yosef in the decor at the table. I plan to use items that might allude to Yosef's name (cups of coffee, or Joe, baby kangaroos, yo-yos, for example) to build a centerpiece. I have place-cards with intricate borders that I made: fancy curlicues and decorations that read, somewhat obscurely, "Yosef is alive and living in Egypt." I welcome suggestions for menu items that emphasize the same ideas and maybe even one that can give tribute to Serach as a musician.
On a different topic, my husband and I were talking about how we could impress on our kids the idea of seventy individuals who went to Egypt. We made a set of index cards to help the kids build a family tree for Yaakov with all the names mentioned in the parashah of those seventy souls who descended to Egypt. We made a similar set with our own family names listed on them, so they can get a sense of how much seventy is and how closely related the seventy souls were.
SHabbat Shalom!
Tammie Rapps
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Parashat Mikeitz
Dreams, Dreams, Dreams
Because this week is Shabbat Chanukkah, we will start our Shabbat dinner with a candle salad at each place setting: a round pineapple slice with a banana topped with a grape flame in the center. We will also have latke taste test at Shabbat dinner, with pancakes made from a variety of vegetables.
As for Parashat Mikeitz, the beginning of the parashah casts Yosef as the interpreter of dreams once again when he is called to Pharaoh’s court to explain the strange nightmares that have been plaguing the king. Those dreams will be the basis of our meals this Shabbat. For dinner, we will enjoy a lot of courses, lavish table settings, and a variety of “stuffed” dishes (vegetables, meats, etc.) to represent the fat (or stuffed) cows in Pharaoh’s dream; our table will overflow with abundance and plenty.
Before dessert on Friday night, we will distribute a small Chanukkah “goody bag” to each person at the table. In one bag, we will hide a small cup, reminiscent of the goblet that Yosef hid in Binyamin’s sack, and thereby launch a parashat hashavua discussion.
In contrast to Shabbat dinner, we will start our Shabbat lunch with a hunger banquet, symbolizing the skinny cows and shrunken sheaves of wheat in Pharaoh’s dream. Other than two small challah rolls and one cup of grape juice, the table will be empty and I will hide all the food that we will eventually eat. We will talk about what it means not to have any food, how famine could impact a nation, and what Yosef advised Pharaoh to do to prepare for this eventuality. We will search our store houses (aka pantry closet) for the provisions, which will, luckily, be well stocked with a filling, but more modest meal than the previous night’s. I will make lunch dairy so we can enjoy the aptly named “Skinny Cow” brand dessert.
Shabbat Shalom and Chanukkah Sameach!
Because this week is Shabbat Chanukkah, we will start our Shabbat dinner with a candle salad at each place setting: a round pineapple slice with a banana topped with a grape flame in the center. We will also have latke taste test at Shabbat dinner, with pancakes made from a variety of vegetables.
As for Parashat Mikeitz, the beginning of the parashah casts Yosef as the interpreter of dreams once again when he is called to Pharaoh’s court to explain the strange nightmares that have been plaguing the king. Those dreams will be the basis of our meals this Shabbat. For dinner, we will enjoy a lot of courses, lavish table settings, and a variety of “stuffed” dishes (vegetables, meats, etc.) to represent the fat (or stuffed) cows in Pharaoh’s dream; our table will overflow with abundance and plenty.
Before dessert on Friday night, we will distribute a small Chanukkah “goody bag” to each person at the table. In one bag, we will hide a small cup, reminiscent of the goblet that Yosef hid in Binyamin’s sack, and thereby launch a parashat hashavua discussion.
In contrast to Shabbat dinner, we will start our Shabbat lunch with a hunger banquet, symbolizing the skinny cows and shrunken sheaves of wheat in Pharaoh’s dream. Other than two small challah rolls and one cup of grape juice, the table will be empty and I will hide all the food that we will eventually eat. We will talk about what it means not to have any food, how famine could impact a nation, and what Yosef advised Pharaoh to do to prepare for this eventuality. We will search our store houses (aka pantry closet) for the provisions, which will, luckily, be well stocked with a filling, but more modest meal than the previous night’s. I will make lunch dairy so we can enjoy the aptly named “Skinny Cow” brand dessert.
Shabbat Shalom and Chanukkah Sameach!
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