Posts Tagged "recipes"
Festive Shavuot Sutlage (Rice Pudding)
Shavuot is like sealing the deal on a marriage contract. It is the celebration of G-d’s giving of the Torah to the Jews at Mount Sinai. This is the moment when the Jews became a nation, when they accepted G-d’s commandments and pledged to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” (Exodus 19:6). Like any other wedding, the most important question is, “What did they eat?” In Exodus 33:3, G-d tells Moses to go to the land which had been promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “Unto a land flowing with milk and honey.” It is said that when G-d gave the Torah, there was no time to perform...
Read MoreLag B’Omer: Dinner From The Embers
How are Passover and Shavuot linked? Passover is when we remember the Exodus, and Shavuot is when we remember the giving of the Torah. We build up our anticipation for receiving the Torah by counting down the days from Passover to Shavuot. This period is called the counting of the Omer. What is an Omer? The Omer was a unit of measure of barley that was offered in the Temple on the second day of Passover. The counting of the Omer is a somber time, when Rabbi Akiva is commemorated. Rabbi Akiva took part in Bar Kokba revolt. He defied the Roman emperor Hadrian’s edicts not to practice or teach Judaism. Rabbi Akiva taught thousands of...
Read MoreCakes and Miracles : A Purim Tale
One of the most moving Purim stories is Cakes and Miracles : A Purim Tale, by Barbara Diamond Goldin. This is a story about a blind boy named Hershel who does all he can to help his widowed mother. When Purim arrives, he discovers that he has a special gift: the ability to sculpt his dreams with dough. At the end of the story, Hershel shares his hamentaschen recipe. The readers may bake and sample what they have been reading...
Read MorePut Haman In Jail, And Eat Him Too!
Published in The Philadelphia Jewish Voice Have you ever wanted to arrest Haman and put him in jail? There is a Purim specialty from the Iberian Peninsula whose preparation acts out imprisoning Haman. This Purim treat is called a folar. According to the Rhodes Jewish Museum, folares arrived with Jewish refugees who settled in Greece and Turkey, following their expulsion from Spain in 1492. The descendants of these families have preserved some of their historic foods to the present day. The traditional recipe calls for a yeast dough, which is constructed in the shape of a cage around a huevo haminado (slowly roasted egg). The egg represents Haman, and the...
Read MoreHoni The Circle Maker’s Carob Delicacies
Published in The Philadelphia Jewish Voice One of the most beloved stories told during Tu B’Shevat is that of Honi The Circle Maker (Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit, 23a). Honi was a great teacher who lived in Ancient Israel. He was known for drawing a circle on the ground and then praying inside it. He would not leave the circle until he was done. One day, he came upon an old man holding a shovel and a tiny sapling. Honi asked the old man, “Why are you planting this small tree? How long will it be before it can bear fruit for you to eat?” The old man responded, “This is a carob tree. It will take seventy years for it to give...
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