Food is a source of sustenance and pleasure. It brings us together around the table for holiday feasts and simple weekday meals. Baking challahBraided egg bread eaten on Shabbat and holidays. Reminiscent of bread eaten by Priests in the Temple, of manna in the desert, and sustenance in general. Plural: Hallot with an old family recipe reminds us how food connects us to time and tradition. Trying an international dish at a new restaurant or growing our own tomatoes can show us the complex relationship between food and place. All of this is remarkable, providing so many reasons to pause and offer a blessing.
Abbreivated grace after meals based on Brachot 40b, music by Rabbi Shefa Gold
To be inserted at the same point as one would add for Hanukkah or Purim
A modern interpretation of the three original core themes of the ancient blessings after a meal
A women’s tradition, followed largely in the Sephardic community, that provides a tasty counterpoint to the traditional male liturgy of the High Holidays. It also provides an opportunity for celebrating Jewish women’s relationship to food as a historic source of creativity and spirituality.
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