Parsha Inspired Menus - Bo

With the last 3 of the plagues in this week's parsha you could, once again, do food that plays off of the plagues, but I am always looking for something new so I came up with two new ideas of foods inspired by something that stood out in the parsha. The first comes from the back and forth with Moshe and Pharoah. I actually first noticed this last week. When Moshe comes to Pharoah, the "ask" is to let the people go so that they may worship God in the wilderness. Pharoah refuses and so begin the plagues. After the fourth plague, Pharoah slightly gives in, saying "Go and sacrifice to your God within the land.” But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do this, for what we sacrifice to our God יהוה is untouchable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is untouchable to the Egyptians before their very eyes, will they not stone us? So we must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to יהוה as our God may command us.”

Pharoah says no to this too (we already know this pattern.) The next time, after the 8th plague, Pharoah gives in a little more and says "“Go, worship your God יהוה ! Who are the ones to go?” So, Pharoah is going to let some go, but by holding others back Pharoah believes that they will all

come back and he won't lose his slave force. Moses replied, “We will all go—regardless of social station —we will go with our sons and daughters, our flocks and herds; for we must observe יהוה’s festival.”

Now, this answer feels a little sneaky. God has made it clear that this leave is not a temporary leave to worship God and observe a specific festival. Moshe is cloaking their departure for good in the wrappings of a shorter leave. Pharoah sees through this (as translated with a little extra help for explaining by Steinsaltz, because the hebrew (particularly the "See that evil faces you") is a little less than crystal clear.

He, Pharaoh, said to them, angrily and with derision: So may the Lord be with you when I will send forth you and your children. In a mocking tone, Pharaoh makes it clear that he has no intention of allowing this to occur. See that evil faces you. You do not wish to go out to celebrate a religious holiday, but to seek trouble for yourselves.

I find this whole back and forth intriguing. Why the subterfuge? Worth a Shabbat table discussion for sure! And to get us there, how about a food that is sneaky too? Something that covers it's main focus with another layer that distracts...Our oldest son came up with this idea and so we're sharing a recipe for Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes that his Saba just shared with him (see below)

Once all this goes down, the Israelites are finally leaving and getting instructions about the Pesach offering and how to celebrate and commemorate this occasion in the future. We read about God's active involvement in the redemption, symbolized by the anthropomorphic deption of God's hand reaching out over Eygpt to take action, twice empasizing it with the term "mighty hand." This is such a key part of the liturgy of the Seder, but it caught my attention this time

because of the switch from God's passive non-interference to God's deep interference. I think it's meant to trigger a specific response in those hearing the Torah too - one of feeling clutched and held by God. In honor of this focus on hands, try making Hand Pies for dessert (sub plant butter for butter .to make pareve)

Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!

Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes Cover

My suggestion: prepare the meat just as for meatballs. A meatloaf can stand to be a bit less fluffy, so if you want to mix in an egg, that surely is OK. I also sometimes add a packet of Goodman onion soup mix (usually, we use 1 ½ lb of meat, and the meatloaf lasts for at least 2 meals for 2 people.

I like my meatloaf encased in mashed potatoes. For such a dish, I make mashed potatoes ahead of time (perhaps 2 large – not humongous potatoes).

To cook the meatloaf, place the meat in a baking dish, cover it completely (like a blanket) with the mashed potatoes, and put it in an oven (set to 350deg F) for at least an hour. The time depends on the amount of the meatloaf, whether the oven was already at temperature, how well done one likes to meatloaf, etc. However, when the tips of the mashed potato are starting to brown, it’s probably done.

Some people don’t like the potato blanket, and you can make meatloaf without it. Another variation is to pour some tomato sauce over the meat. You might want to then add some water on the side because you don’t want the liquid evaporating completely around the sides of the meatloaf.