Vayikra + Purim!
This week, we begin the third book of the Torah, Vayikra or Leviticus. This week’s reading includes many details about the various sacrificial offerings. However, there’s one element that might be especially interesting to share at your Shabbat table: the commandment to offer salt with the sacrifices.
Have you ever wondered why we dip the challah in salt before eating it on Friday nights? Admittedly, salty challah is delicious, but there is a deeper reason here. In the Torah this week, God instructs:
You shall season your every offering of meal with salt; you shall not omit from your meal offering the salt of your covenant with God; with all your offerings you must offer salt. (Lev. 2:13)
It has been a long time since Jews have made sacrificial offerings in a Temple, but the Talmud suggests that when there is no temple, our table is like an altar (b. Berakhot 55a). As a result, we salt our challah just as the priests used to salt the offerings in the Temple.
I love this teaching, and the way it honors the table as an important part of our religious lives. Talking about the roots behind this tradition of eating challah with salt also offers us chance to connect with our kids more broadly about different family practices and the reasons behind them. Maybe your family has a special recipe that your grandma always made on a certain holiday, or you have a special lullaby that you always sing to your children at bedtime. Sharing the reasons behind those practices can help your children build a sense of connection with people who are far away, or who they may never have had the chance to meet. And sharing the reasons behind specific Jewish traditions may help them feel at home when they visit new Jewish spaces and are able to recognize shared rituals, like eating the challah with salt.
Since this week’s Torah portion invites us to engage with a food that is likely already on your table - challah - I’ve decided to devote our recipe of the week to Purim instead. This week, Purim will start as soon as Shabbat ends, and since it involves dressing up, making noise, and eating cookies, this is a great holiday to celebrate with your kids!
If you want to read together about Purim practices, Sammy Spider’s First Purim will give kids a sense of what to expect at home and at synagogue in a fun and relatable way. For a different take on the Purim story, I also highly recommend checking out Queen Vashti’s Comfy Pants. While it doesn’t retell the story of Purim itself, Vashti was always a bit of a feminist hero in my house growing up, and this is fun book that my children ask for over and over again. As a reminder, though, while we often think of Purim as a kids-friendly holiday, the themes of the story are very adult (sex, and a lot of people trying to kill each other). If you want to tell your children the story of Queen Esther, Haman, and Mordechai, think carefully about how you want to approach it, and which details you want to include or exclude, as this story contains elements that are not appropriate for all ages.
Bubbe’s Hamentaschen
Makes 4 dozen
Hamantaschen are the quintessential Purim food. They are also notoriously difficult to make. The dough has an infuriating tendency to open up on the oven, leaving you with cookies that look like pancakes instead of the iconic triangle. They are also delightfully flexible: find the right dough, and you can fill them with anything your heart desires. I’m a traditionalist and love jam (preferably raspberry or apricot); this year, my kids opted for Nutella or chocolate chips.
I have experimented with many different recipes, but in the end, my husband’s grandmother (whom we all call Bubbe) had the winner. I should not have been surprised. The woman is a masterful baker, who always came armed to any family gathering with cookies of innumerable varieties, and these are some of my favorites. The dough is delicate and delightfully scented with orange. Most importantly, they do. not. open. in. the. oven. Seriously, I just baked a batch of these, and not a single one opened up in the oven - not even the ones my kids helped me shape. I’m so excited to share this foolproof recipe with you.
And don’t forget that one of the mitzvot of purim is mishloach manot, sending gifts. These hamantaschen make a great Purim treat for friends. We like to add other fun little goodies, like clementines, granola bars, little toys or pencils, and put together little gift bags. One of my favorite Purim activities is leaving these gifts for friends and neighbors.
A few general hamentaschen tips before we get started:
Plan ahead. This dough works best if you make it the day before and chill overnight.
Think about when and how to involve your kids. There are many steps in the recipe where kids can help out: rolling out dough, cutting out circles, adding fillings, shaping the cookies. Think about how old your kids are (and their temperaments) and plan ahead to add them at the stage(s) that make sense for your family. My 2 year old loved cutting circles out of the dough, while my four year old had a great time adding fillings and helping me pinch the triangle shape.
Don’t overfill your hamantaschen. You want a good portion of just dough, with no filling, to pinch closed to make the corners. This will help to ensure they don’t open up when baked.
Ingredients
4 eggs, plus one to brush
4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 cup oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 orange
Fillings of your choice (jam, Nutella, etc. - Bubbe’s original recipe suggests a mix of chopped prunes and raisins)
Note: this recipe is pareve unless your chosen fillings contain dairy.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, and oil. Add the vanilla and mix well.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Zest and juice the orange. Take 1/4 cup of the juice, and mix with some of the zest.* This is all you will use for the recipe; enjoy the rest of your fresh squeezed orange juice as a refreshing drink, or save for another recipe.
Add the flour to the wet ingredients a little bit at a time, alternating with the orange juice, until all the flour and 1/4 cup of orange juice have been added. The dough will be sticky, but do not add extra flour.
Chill in the fridge overnight.
When you are ready to make the hamantaschen, flour a rolling pin roll the dough out on a well-floured surface. (You may need to add quite a bit of flour to your rolling pin and board at this point, as the dough is quite sticky.) Cut out circles with a cutter or juice glass. Fill with the filling of your choice, taking care not to overfill, and pinch together to form a triangle.
Brush top with beaten egg for shiny surface.** Bake at 350 for about 18 minutes or until nicely browned.
*Did I accidentally add the juice from an entire orange instead of just 1/4 cup because Bubbe’s instructions were ::ahem:: a bit sparse? Indeed, I did. Thankfully, we were able to add some extra flour to create a workable dough. I think the resulting cookies are a bit drier as a result, but no one seems to mind.
**Did I completely forget this step while preoccupied baking with kids? Why yes, yes I did. I’m sure they would be prettier with the egg wash, but it is not essential.