In 2001 I had the opportunity to study at The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. It was a wonderful time of learning for me, as it was the first time I really did text study. One of my favorite parts of that experience was discovering new elements to Jewish text that wasn't covered in my supplemental religious school and Jewish hebrew high experience. The parsha this week includes one of these discoveries - it's often referred to as the covenant between the parts (ברית בין הבתרים, Brit Bein HaBetarim). Avram is wondering about his legacy, since he has no sons. God reassures Avram promising
“Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them”—continuing, “So shall your offspring be.” (Bereshit 15:5). This, of course, is not the new part. Avram's descendants being as numerous as the stars is a pretty well known idea and will be highlighted in this week's menu with a side dish of star shaped pasta. You could mix it with veggies, but I plan to keep it simple to highlight the star shape.
But here's where the new part starts. God tells Avram about the land his descendants will inherit and then instructs Avram to bring a 3 year old cow, 3 year old goat, 3 year old ram, a turtle dove and young bird. Then Avram " brought all these and cut them in two, placing each half opposite the other; but he did not cut up the bird." Why didn't Avram cut the birds? There are, of course, many commentaries that try to answer this - some see it as a good thing, others as a mistake. But one struck a cord with me right now.
Other nations are compared to bulls, rams and goats, for example “The ram which thou sawest having two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia” — and Israel is compared to young doves, as it is written, (Song 2:14) ‘‘O my dove that art in the clefts of the rock” —
he therefore divided the animals indicating that other nations will gradually perish, but “the he did not split the bird”, suggesting thereby that Israel will live forever (Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer).
May it be so.
The dish to represent this whole idea will be a whole roasted chicken using smoked paprika as one of the main spices to get a smoky feel (if you have a smoker, that works too) because "a smoking oven, and a flaming torch" passed between the pieces.
Finally, for dessert I wanted to highlight the story of Hagar. After poor treatment, Hagar runs away and a messenger of God finds her by a spring and delivers a message to her to return to Avram and Sarai and tells her of the destiny of her son, Ishamel. Later in the Torah, Hagar again interacts with God through water when a well appears (or she suddenly sees it) to save her and Ishmael from dehydration. I will make a blueberry cake/crumble where the blueberries represent the water in the desert.
Here's one recipe (sub margarine or plant butter for the butter to be pareve):
Shabbat shalom and b'tayavon
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