Parsha Recipes

This week's Torah reading mentions "bikkurim" -- first fruits. Ask your kids to talk about their favorite fruit, and try to have a sampling at your table. Also, let them take a sample of this week's Torah Treat (fruit shaped candy!).

We’re recreating a famous Torah scene! Moses is commanded to speak to the rock in order to draw water. Instead, he hits it. Moses is punished for his actions. We’re using chocolate rocks and a pretzel rod for Moses’ stick and the rocks! This is a great opportunity to talk to your kids about the importance of following directions, listening to instructions, and above all, the value of patience.  

In this week’s Torah reading, Parshat Korach, God commands each tribe to provide a rod and only the tribe chosen to become the priests would miraculously sprout overnight. Only Aaron’s rod, representing the tribe of Levi, “put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds.” (Bamidbar 17:8). (According to this Torah Treat, some rods remained simple while the others sprouted different colors!) 

This week's Torah portion talks about the spies who scouted out the Land of Israel. Upon their return, the spies reported that the grapes were so big that they required two people to carry them.  

In this week's Torah reading, the rabble rousers in Bnai Yisrael complain about their lack of nourishment. They cry out for meat and fish and even reminisce about the watermelon they had back in Egypt.

In this week's Torah’s reading, we are asked not to glean the corners of our fields -- including our vineyards. For this week's treat, we will glean/collect fallen (dusty!) grapes. This is a great opportunity to talk to your kids about different ways you can help those who have fallen on hard times. If you haven't tried to participate in a gleaning project, look into opportunities in your local community. It can be fun (and important!) for whole family!

In this week's Torah reading, Parshat Shmini, we are told which fish are acceptable to eat: only those with fins and scales.

This week's Torah reading is all about burning sacrifices until nothing is left but smoke.

This week's Torah reading finds the Israelites panicking because "Moses was late coming down from the mountain." Indeed, Moses went up to Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments -- but the Israelites demanded Aaron "make us gods". Aaron, sensing that rebellion was imminent, instructs the Israelites to "remove the golden earrings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them [those earrings] to me." Instead, the people removed their own jewelry and Aaron creates the Golden Calf.

This week's parsha gives some pretty specific guidelines on how to build the ark that the Children of Israel had carried in the desert: wood, golden rings and golden poles as handles. We've made our own version for this week's Torah treat!

This week’s Torah reading, Parshat Mishpatim is full of all kinds of laws and their consequences. One example: If someone lights a fire, and it burns down thorns or grain, or destroys a field, the one who lit the fire is the one who is responsible.
 

Making a Har Sinai cake is a fun and easy (and delicious!) activity for this week’s Torah reading.

This week's Torah reading is full of drama with the Children of Israel finally leaving Egypt! As they reach the water’s edge, God tells Moses to stretch out his arm and splits the Red Sea. There is definite cause for celebration as the Children of Israel are finally truly free. As part of that celebration, Miriam pulls out a tambourine, draws out the women and they all break out into dance.

In this week's Torah portion, the Egyptians are afflicted with the plague of darkness. The Israelites, however, were exempt from this plague, and so were able to see freely despite being surrounded by darkness. In this week's Torah Treats, the marshmallow represents the Israelites, who shine through and maintain their light, despite being completely encompassed by the midnight chocolate cookie.

Pharoah’s Hardened-Heart Cookies

In this week's Torah reading, Parshat VaiEra, we read about seven of the Ten plagues and Pharoah's back-and-forth between promising the Jews permission to leave Egypt, and his subsequent “change of heart,” forbidding them from leaving. God promises Moses that although He will “harden Pharoah’s heart,” eventually the Jewish People will be freed from Pharoah’s rule.

In this week's Torah reading, Moses and Aaron beseech Pharoah to free the Israelites from slavery and to let them leave Egypt. God tells Moses to tell Aaron to take his staff, cast it before Pharaoh and watch it turn into a serpent. Sure enough, Aaron throws down his staff and it transformed itself into a serpent. Pharaoh then summoned his wise men and magicians to perform the same "trick." But when their staffs were transformed into serpents, a miracle happened and Aaron's serpent swallowed the Egyptians' staffs/serpents.

The plagues aren't often turned into baked goods, but this week we've got frog cookies!

In this week's parsha, the Egyptians enslave the Children of Israel with back breaking work. Their lives were embittered by all the hard labor and all of the heavy lifting of the clay and bricks. It was back breaking!

In this week's Torah reading, blessings abound. Yisrael (formerly known as Jacob) blesses Ephraim and Menashe by laying his hands upon their heads. This week's Torah Treats features a pair of candy adorned (well manicured might I add!) hands.

This Shabbat, you can bring your own "money" to your table. All you'll need are these delicious chocolate coins (we’re sure you have a few lying around after Chanukah!) to re-enact the story of Joseph and Pharaoh!

In this week's Torah reading, Pharaoh is haunted by mysterious dreams. In one dream, he sees seven sheaves of wheat, thin and beaten looking. These seven poor looking sheaves of wheat swallow up seven healthy, robust sheaves of wheat, and presumably, remain unchanged. Pharaoh awakens, quite frightened and summons his interpreters.

A special Shabbat treat for your child (or for your own inner child!)

In this week's Parsha, Jacob bestows his son Joseph with the wondrous striped coat. As the story goes, this gift caused an immense amount of jealousy between Joseph's other brothers -- so much so, that at the end of this story, Jacob's other sons sell Joseph into slavery. For our Torah Treat this week, we will be making our own coat of many colors. But don't worry -- let's plan to make enough so that everyone has one, no one gets jealous, and we all live happily ever after.

In this week's reading, Vayishlach, our Torah Treat tells the tale of Jacob crossing the river with his wives, his children and all of their belongings. Jacob crosses the river and is met by his brother Esau. There were a lot of characters involved, and the "little hands" in this house had a great time re-enacting this story.

Rocking with the Parsha

In this week’s Torah reading, stones are prominently featured.

Jacob leaves Beer Sheba to go to Haran. As the sun sets, he finds a place to rest. In lieu of a pillow, Jacob collects some of the stones nearby and places them under his head. After a night of dreams, Jacob wakes and continues to travel to the “land of the people of the East.” It is during that part of his journey, that Jacob encounters a well. There are flocks of sheep that are laying near the well. However, no one can get to the water of the well because of the huge rock that is covering the opening of the well. It is Jacob who removes the rock from the well enabling the sheep to drink.
 

Esau’s Stew

Esau and Jacob are prominently featured in this week's Torah portion. Upon returning from his hunting grounds, Esau, who is completely famished, storms into his home and demands from Jacob the “red, red stew” that Jacob is cooking. Jacob agrees on condition that Esau exchanges the red stew for his birthright. And so Esau sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of red stew.

This week's parsha food is a NO BRAINER! Breisheet makes it easy for us by painting such vivid stories for us that they often already include recipes, or at least food mentions. This week Esav trades his birthright to his brother, Jacob, for some red lentil soup (See Genesis 25:29-34). It seems that Red Lentil Soup can be very persuasive.

This week's parsha describes in great detail the Priest's required garments. Among them, "a tunic of checker work." Here's our version. All the cool kids will want a tunic like this!