Parsha Inspired Menus - Toldot

This learning is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Sharon Decter Brendzel, whose 19th yarzheit will begin motzei shabbat.

The soup that started it all.....Those readers who've been following along with this Parsha Inspired Menus journey may recall that there were about 20 years when the only parsha that I made a special food in honor of was this one - Toldot. For those of you who are newer, here's the brief story - in 2001 I was studying at The Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. In the week of Parshat Toldot our Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb, shared a drash about the parsha where he talked about Jacob and Esau and the selling of the birthright for a bowl of the "red red stuff." Rabbi Goldfarb then shared a recipe so we could make our own "red red stuff". It was the recipe for

Jenny Fish's (his grandmother) Red Lentil Soup. I have been making it almost every year since. One year after making it, one of our sons asked me why I only did the special recipe in honor of the parsha for this parsha. In the words of Barney Stinson "Challenge Accepted" and so this project was born. While most weeks I try to do something different than the year before, I will always do this soup for this parsha. Recipe below.

For the second dish, my attention was drawn to the description of the meal that Isaac asks Esau to prepare. It's not simply "prepare me a meal", but the more specific and emotionally charged

וַעֲשֵׂה־לִ֨י מַטְעַמִּ֜ים כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר אָהַ֛בְתִּי וְהָבִ֥יאָה לִּ֖י וְאֹכֵ֑לָה בַּעֲב֛וּר תְּבָרֶכְךָ֥ נַפְשִׁ֖י בְּטֶ֥רֶם אָמֽוּת׃

Then prepare a dish for me such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may give you my innermost blessing before I die.”

Isaac is expressing his tastes, knowing that Esau can make him a food he will enjoy. This is a level of emotional detail or preference that's unusual for the Torah. In few other cases do we hear food described with flavor and preference. Generally the rabbis don't like Esau, and this is another occasion where they find a way to use the text to show that Esau isn't good. From the Ramban "Yitzchok knew that Eisov was not worthy of the blessing that he wished to confer upon him. For this reason he instructed him to perform an act of honor towards him to give him merit." Meaning, that by making a dish that was especially pleasing to Isaac, he was doing a something good and therefore would deserve the blessing.

Rabbenu Bachyu had a different take and one that I connect to better. "“and prepare them for me as a tasty dish,...in order that my soul may bless you.” When Yitzchak appeared to emphasize the taste of the food he asked Esau to prepare for him he did not allude to the physical enjoyment he would derive from this as an objective in itself. He meant that the pleasant frame of mind he would be in after eating such a meal would result in his enjoying a degree of holy spirit so that his blessing of his son would become effective.....This is the reason Yitzchak was careful to speak of his נפש, “his soul” enjoying the food; he did not want Esau to think that he wanted his body to enjoy this food."

So, this week we are making a dish that the father of our family, Jeff, really likes. When I asked him what his favorite meat dish I make was he chose Yapchik, so here's the recipe for that:

(for a main deal I'd modify this with having more flanken or you can sub in stew meat for easier distribution)

Recipe for Jenny Fish's Lentil Soup

1 package red lentils

8c water

large carrot, cut in big pieces

large onion, cut in half

3-4 stalks of celery, cut in big pieces

1 T ketchup

Salt and pepper

for Carnivores - salami or hotdogs cut into small pieces (the more the better)

Boil water in a large pot. Add lentils, carrots, onion, and celery. Simmer vegetables 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. When veggies are tender, puree with immersion blender. Add ketchup, salt & pepper and meat and let cook a little while longer. Tastes best if cooked a day or two ahead, especially if fleishig.

**Note: this is the exact recipe from Jenny. I would also add that you can include other spices as you see fit.

Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon.