Shabbat Hanukah - Miracles Happening

Hanukah isn’t a big deal in our house. Even when the kids were little, it took its rightful place in the calendar year as the least important holiday, although still a lot of fun. One year, before Keren was born, with a pile of presents from us, grandparents, uncles, and extended family, Jesse kept asking if he could “open just one more present?” After reminding him that if he opened everything now there’d be nothing left for the rest of the holiday, a flurry of wrapping paper filled our living room. We never looked back. Gifts were opened the first night and the rest of the 8 days could be focused simply on enjoying the candles and spending time together. We sing. We talk about the Maccabees and the Hasmonean corruption. We eat way too much fried food, sufganiyot, and chocolate. 

This year, our latke fest was pre-Hanukah so Keren could participate before returning to university. There has been schnitzel, stir-fry, fried fish, and fritters of different vegetables. This Shabbat I am away at a retreat, but I still baked challah for the family. The ring started as a star, but you never really know how the rise is going to go. Corners are hard in bread without a mold. Gavi said the dreydel looked like a pomegranate and the hanukiyah like a beach. It’s become a tradition that he misinterprets the shapes.

Hanukah is the holiday the Sages tried to suppress, but who doesn’t like an underdog comeback victory story. So they made it about a miracle. Did it happen? Doesn’t matter. Miracles are all around us. Perhaps a message for Hanukah is to open our eyes and look for them. My miracle this Hanukah can be found in the smiling faces of kids getting their covid vaccine and the relieved, grateful look in their parents’ eyes.  Hanukah is the holiday the Sages tried to suppress, but who doesn’t like an underdog comeback victory story. So they made it about a miracle. Did it happen? Doesn’t matter. Miracles are all around us. Perhaps a message for Hanukah is to open our eyes and look for them. My miracle this Hanukah can be found in the smiling faces of kids getting their covid vaccine and the relieved, grateful look in their parents’ eyes.  

Shabbat shalom. Hag Urim sameach. May we all emerge soon into the light.

Vayeshev - I Dreamed I Saw Eleven Stars...

 I dreamed I saw eleven stars, the sun and moon and sky...

Oh, Joseph. You don't need to tell your parents and brothers everything. Joseph shared his dreams with his family making the next steps along the path to Israelite slavery and redemption.

This week I made a moon wrapped around a sun, a separate sun, and a small round challah to represent the brothers. The sun is on top since everyone else must bow.

No time to write with my family home for Thanksgiving. Shabbat shalom.

Vayishlach - So Many Inappropriate Challah Shapes

 Some of the best parshiyot to drash, those filled with material, simply don't lend themselves to great challah shapes. Thursday night dinner led to some interesting discussions of detached limbs and foreskins. Nope!

But there are also some beautiful moments. Devorah, Rivka's nurse is buried under an oak tree. In just a verse we have a named woman whose burial is marked. Reading between the lines, moments like these tell me there's a whole tradition of women's stories lost to the canon. For her, I made a braid ending in oak leaves. 

        

       

The big story in Vayishlach is Jacob returning home. Worried about meeting Esav again, he divides his family and flocks on either side of the Jabbok River. Our cupcake challah is divided by a river and accompanied by fluffy sheep. (Yes, it's hard to see in the dough. My sheep clearly needs shearing.

With these, chicken soup has been simmering all day (at least 6 hours) for dipping. Stuffed peppers, pot roast and kale salad with roasted sweet potatoes. Yum to all.

Next week is my favourite secular holiday - American Thanksgiving. With the holiday on Thursday, we get chol hamoed Thanksgiving complete with Shabbat chol hamoed Thanksgiving. Traditional food - there will have to be bread baking.

Wishing you all a Shabbat shalom!

Vayetze - Challot & Ladders to Heaven

I wrote a sermon this week. Not for my health. I am speaking at a local synagogue. A drash I can write quickly. Sermonizing requires research. In doing that research, I discovered the "ladder" of Jacob's dream may have been an ancient ziggurat, a stepped pyramid. These, and sacred groves, were used to have a meeting with God, maybe in one's sleep. Of course, Jacob meets God in a mundane place, for God speaks to us, not only through miracles but through the everyday. Without a mold, I doubt I could make this, but I began with a rounded version (which promptly collapsed). But fate intervened, giving me a sectioned loaf with a rounded top. Is this, perhaps, a ladder to the sky.

Then I went traditional. A modern ladder with rungs. Two artistic angels (with sesame seeds) ascending and descending. 

The final two are my regular challot. It would not be Shabbat without a cupcake challah (named by Gavi for its shape). Shabbat shalom.

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Challot for Toldot 5782

My friend Mikael told me I need a place for all my challah pictures. So I will try to find the time to create the posts here each week. Perhaps the Shabbat before we turn clocks back is not the best timing for adding new activities to Friday afternoon, but why make a seemingly wise decision, when there's a good idea on the table. Always aim high.

This week the Jewish community celebrated Sigd, a holiday brought to us by the Beta Yisrael community from Ethiopia. It is a spiritual gathering to strengthen our roots and culture and is a national holiday in Israel. In honour of Sigd, I made Dabo bread. The roll on the right is made of 3 linked circles representing our connections as a people.

With the Dabo bread, I am making Doro Wat and Mesir Wat, salad, and roasted vegetables from our weekly CSA. This is the final month of deliveries, and I will miss it terribly. I could happily live each week only on these deliveries.

This week is parasha Toldot (Gen 25:19-28:9). Isaac's blessing for Jacob promises abundance, especially grain and wine. Jacob also flees, having taken his brother's blessing. The Mesir Wat is made with red lentils and an amazing spice mixture called Berbere that contains everything good in one tasty package. Perhaps the "red stuff" Esau bought with his birthright was a precursor of this dish. We have a family tradition of marking Toldot with a red lentil stew.

 The challot are cornucopia (2 photos) and a celebration harvest bread shaped like tied sheaves of wheat. 

The final one, made with a little extra dough, represents the two brothers, attached at the start, but ending in very different places.

Though we may be like Esau and Jacob, warring with each other, I pray that, in the not too far future, we find ways to stay connected as human beings even as we travel disparate paths.

Shabbat shalom.