The Edible Torah

Courtesy of Julie Seltzer and MyJewishLearning.com

The portion this week continues the instruction on building the Mishkan, the Priesthood and by extension the Israelite community as a whole. We are told about the Ner Tamid – the light which should burn continually (or perhaps eternally, although that’s a subject of discussion). There’s also a mention of the Jewish version of the “Magic Eightball” – The Urim and Thumim – which were said to light up in response to direct questions, so that the High Priest could understand God’s will in times of great national need.

The authors of the “Etz Chaim” translation of Torah make a comment that light is a favorite symbol of God:

“…Perhaps because light itself cannot be seen. We become aware of its presence when it enables us to see other things. Similarly, we cannot see God, but we become aware of God’s presence when we … experience love and the goodness of our fellow human beings.”

SO… limited only by your creativity and the category of food assigned, please bring a “light” food.

Not sure what this Torah portion is about? You can find a brief summary in The Edible Torah’s “Condensed Guide to the Weekly Torah Readings”. For more information on what The Edible Torah is all about, along with insight on how to set up a pot-luck Shabbat experience, check out “The Edible Torah”.

Courtesy of Julie Seltzer and MyJewishLearning.com

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,

- Shaker song, penned by Elder Joseph Bracket in 1848

Terumah means “gifts”, and talks about the building of the Mishkan (Tent of Meeting where the Ark will be kept). God tells Moses to tell the Israelites to bring gifts to use to build the Mishkan, and then goes into detailed instructions on what the ark of the covenant and all the trappings of the tent are supposed to look like. The information doesn’t become important until years later when Stephen Speilberg needs them for “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, but it was pretty spiffy of God to include the info in advance.

SO… limited only by your creativity and the category of food assigned, please bring “foods that are gifts”.

Not sure what this Torah portion is about? You can find a brief summary in The Edible Torah’s “Condensed Guide to the Weekly Torah Readings”. For more information on what The Edible Torah is all about, along with insight on how to set up a pot-luck Shabbat experience, check out “The Edible Torah”.

Courtesy of Julie Seltzer and MyJewishLearning.com

Parasha Mishpatim continues the idea of forging a moral people out of the slaves who have left Egypt. Laws concerning slaves (who’da thunk? The slaves gots slaves?), what to do with misbehaving oxen, kosher laws and (as a parent) my all time favorite:

“And he that insults his father or his mother, is to be put-to-death, yes, death.”

As mentioned, this portion has the first appearance of the statement “you should not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” (it shows up 3 times in the whole Torah).

So…. Limited only by the category of food assigned, please bring something with the Kosher laws “in mind”.

This is NOT a trick question, but neither is it a request for kosher food. I want you to make a choice about the kosher laws – how you feel about them, their relevance (or your opinion about their relevance) etc. What you bring and/or how it was prepared should reflect that view.

Not sure what this Torah portion is about? You can find a brief summary in The Edible Torah’s “Condensed Guide to the Weekly Torah Readings”. For more information on what The Edible Torah is all about, along with insight on how to set up a pot-luck Shabbat experience, check out “The Edible Torah”.

Courtesy of Julie Seltzer and MyJewishLearning.com

The Torah continues it’s high drama and suspenseful storytelling this week, giving us the direct communication of the 10 commandments (literally “utterances”) from God to the whole House if Israel. The Children of Israel fall on their faces, overwhelmed and terrified even as they say “all that you speak, we will do”. They ask Moses never to let the big scary voice talk to them, to be their intermediary.

In that one element, we find two huge departures from previous Torah narratives. Up until now, God has spoken to individuals only, who then had to repeat it to others. And up until now, the Children of Israel had asked for God’s help based on the merit of their ancestors. In this moment God spoke to each person directly and individually, and on the basis of their merit and nobody else’s.

SO… limited only by your creativity and the category of food assigned, please bring a food which stands on it’s own merit.

Not sure what this Torah portion is about? You can find a brief summary in The Edible Torah’s “Condensed Guide to the Weekly Torah Readings”. For more information on what The Edible Torah is all about, along with insight on how to set up a pot-luck Shabbat experience, check out “The Edible Torah”.

Courtesy of Julie Seltzer and MyJewishLearning.com

EVERYTHING happens in this portion – Pharaoh changes his heart (or does God change it for him?), the Israelites depart without taking time for the bread to rise, the get to the Red Sea, the waters part, Miriam sings the Song of the Sea (or the Song of Miriam, depending on your perspective), God travels with them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, manna falls from the heavens each day, the bitter waters at Mareh are sweetened by a tree… Like I said, everything happens here.

On another level, there are neat things like the fact that (at least some scholars believe) the Song of Miriam is the oldest part of the entire Torah. There are themes like personal choice, faith, fate, and the mindset of slavery. And oh so much more.

So, limited only by your creativity and the category of food assigned, please bring something which represents ANY of those themes (or others which you can find and deem interesting). And come prepared to discuss WHY you chose that particular theme.

Not sure what this Torah portion is about? You can find a brief summary in The Edible Torah’s “Condensed Guide to the Weekly Torah Readings”. For more information on what The Edible Torah is all about, along with insight on how to set up a pot-luck Shabbat experience, check out “The Edible Torah”.