The story of Balak and Balaam has been a perpetual favorite among our kids. At first, they loved the talking donkey (I mean, that's something fun and unusual for the Torah....and had a great reference in Shrek!) Then they got a kick out of the fact that the chumash described it as an "ass." You can understand how pre-teen boys thought that was a hoot! But just as this
#parshainspiredmenus project is all about finding ways to connect to the parsha, I'm happy for anything that caught my kids' attention, so I have a soft spot for the donkey of this parsha. I was thinking about how to honor this poor donkey, who is beaten 3 times by Balaam when she stops upon seeing the angel of God blocking the path (which Balaam doesn't see.) When searching
around for a food that references donkeys I was particularly excited to find a recipe that the author says is Hungarian in origin because I just traveled in Hungary for the first time. I learned so much about Hungary's history and how it was tossed around and controlled by so many other empires and nations. It's amazing how much of their own culture they were able to maintain. So, in honor of the donkey and Hungary, I would recommend these Donkey Ear Cookies for Shabbat dinner (they are written as dairy, so you can either make the whole meal dairy or sub for pareve sour cream and margarine or plant butter.)
Worth noting, the donkey sees the messenger of God (and gets hit) 3 times. I mention that because as the parsha progresses Balaam is asked by Balak to curse the nation of Israel and when he is actually in position to do so, he blesses them instead. As you can imagine, this upsets Balak who has called for him specifically to come curse the nation of Israel. However, Balaam is onl able to say the words that God wants him to say, and that is a blessing instead of a curse. After the first blessing, Balak moves Balaam to another spot and again Balaam blesses the nation. There is a 3rd attempt that ends the same and our Torah tells us "Enraged at Balaam, Balak struck his hands together. “I called you,” Balak said to Balaam, “to damn my enemies, and instead you have blessed them these three times!"
I thought a fun way to call this to mind is to make something that's in 3's. There's a lot of ways to do that, but one fun way is to make one food 3 different ways, reflecting the 3 different blessings Balaam gives (including one that includes the well known "Mah Tovu"). I like the idea of these 3 different preparation styles for carrots. They can each be put in a different bowl or maybe you have a cool 3 part serving dish.
Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!
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