This in short is my menu: Moshe b'tayva (pigs in blankets or wrapped hot dogs) for an appetizer/main course).
Bread bowls with onion soup covered with cheese (I have local parve cheese I will try for Friday night unless there is a revolt at home and we just go with dairy on Shabbat day). This will also resemble a basket with a blanket atop keeping the treasured contents within warm.
To represent the mortar and structures that our people were forced to build, one's mind can certainly go to Pesach and make a charoset. Over recent years, I have often created a date charoset in the shape of a pyramid. For this week, I am considering my mock chop liver that is a family favourite and packed with protein.
My dear friend, Alina Gerlovin Spaulding shared her recipe with me and I think it is the best out there. Take 1 can of green peas, 1 hard boiled egg, 1 onion sliced and sautéed on low until deeply caramelized, 1 cup of nuts (I like half walnuts and half pecans if I have both), salt and pepper and blend them all together. I use a hand blender. I could just as easily make this into a pyramid shape.
Alternatively, I have considered an old favourite-- a trifle which can be thrown together. Whenever I happen to have a cake that failed or even extra, I cut it up in cubes and stick it in the freezer for when I need a dessert. If it is dairy I add layers of pudding and whipped cream alternating with layers of fruit. If it is dairy I use parve whip and fruit and at times either lemon curd or I make a parve pudding using the alternative milks of today. I feel that the layers of cubed cakes would get to the point of building layer upon layer. So too, you could achieve this theme with any layer cake.
That said, I will most likely go for apple crisp or some other apple dessert to honour the midrash about the apple trees serving as a sanctuary and delivery unit. This will also give me the grounding to speak with my children about the idea that the midwives and rebellion. In his commentary on Exodus, Nahum Sarna states: “[The midwives’] defiance of tyranny constitutes history’s first recorded act of civil disobedience in defense of a moral imperative.” Sadly, this could provide a compare and contrast opportunity for current events and open the door for a deeper and honest discussion about political rebellion.
One last thing, after much thought, I will most likely shape my challah like the flames of the burning bush. I might strive for the logo of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America to spark a conversation of why the Rabbinical School would have chosen this and to find the hidden letter within. As well, I can focus on the verse (3:2) He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed.
וַיַּ֗רְא וְהִנֵּ֤ה הַסְּנֶה֙ בֹּעֵ֣ר בָּאֵ֔שׁ וְהַסְּנֶ֖ה אֵינֶ֥נּוּ אֻכָּֽל׃
Today, as throughout history, this verse continues to burn with possibilities of inspiration and meaning.
I pray for safety and heath, healing for this broken world. Let us ensure that we are lifting up others and that our passion burns for God's work, goodness and holiness.
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