Happy Rosh Chodesh Kislev! Sunday and Monday is Rosh Chodesh.

Wishing everyone a wonderful month ahead filled with all good things!

Happy birthday LE7 :-)!

Soup of the Week:

What a great week to make a nice pot of lentil soup!

1 cup lentils

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

2 stalks of celery, diced small

1 onion, diced small

3 Tablespoons crushed garlic

10 cups of water

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper
Place everything in the pot.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes.

Betayavon!!!

Parsha Points:

• Yitzchak was 40 years old when he married Rivka. 

• Yitzchak and Rivka pray for children.

• Rivka is pregnant with twins after 20 years of not being able to have children!

• She gave birth to twins. 

• The firstborn, Esav was red and hairy.

• Yaakov is smooth and he is holding his brother's heel (ekev) and so he is called Yaakov.

• Esav became a hunter, and Yaakov sat and learned Torah.

• Yitzchak favors Esav and Rivka favors Yaakov.

• Esav returned from hunting starving and exhausted.  He found Yaakov cooking a pot of lentil soup.

• Esav sells his birthright to Yaakov for a pot of lentil soup.

• There is a famine in Canaan.  Hashem tells Yitzchak to stay and promises him that his children will multiply into a great nation and inherit the land of Canaan.

• Yitzchak settles in Grar (Plishtim).

• Yitzchak tells Avimelech that Rivka is his sister. (Déjà vu?)

• Avimelech finds out the truth and promises to protect Yitzchak and Rivka.

• Yitzchak becomes very wealthy which leads to jealousy amongst the Plishtim.

• Yitzchak moves to Beer Sheva.

• At the age of 40 Esav married two Chitti women.

• Yitzchak becomes old and is blind.

• Yitzchak told Esav that he wants to bless him, but he should first go into the field and hunt for food.

• Rivka overheard this and told Yaakov to go get the bracha for the firstborn.

• She prepared for Yaakov goat skin since he was smooth and his brother was hairy. She placed the goat skin on Yaakov's arm and neck so Yitzchak would feel him and think it is Esav.

• Yitzchak claims "The voice is the voice of Yaakov, but the hands are the hands of Esav."

• Yitzchak blesses Yaakov with spiritual and material gain.

• Esav returns from the fields waiting to receive his bracha and then realizes it is too late.

• Yitzchak gave Esav a bracha that Yaakov's bracha will only come true if Bnei Yisrael keep the Torah and Mitzvot.

• If Bnei Yisrael do not then Esav will overrule.

• Yaakov escapes from Esav's wrath and goes to Charan where he will stay by Lavan, his mother's brother.  

• He is sent to Charan to search for a wife.

 Stay tuned next week as we find out, what happens to Yaakov........     

Parsha Puzzle:   

Yael Bracha and Racheli  had a class trip,

They were going to go to the store,

To buy candies and treats to take along with them,

And they picked up Tziporah next door.

They went to look around the shop,

They were not sure what they should buy,

Candies, cookies, pretzels, or gum,

Danishes or an apple pie.

Morah Chana said they could choose 3 different treats,

But that would be really so tough,

How can you choose only 3 items,

When you see all this really great stuff.

So they each chose 3 things, it took them some time,

And they all knew the golden rule,

Whatever you bring you share with the class,

They learned that at home and at school.

Yael Bracha was on line and she had an idea,

She ran back to the candy aisle,

She found what she wanted and got so excited,

She took almost the entire pile.

The girls looked at her and were quite surprised,

When they saw lots of small round red candy,

How do you think this is good for the trip,

How could you think this is handy?

Well I love lentil candy and this is just right,

And we are now going to go buy this whole batch,

But one thing she thought to tell all her friends,

To get some there’s only one catch.

They had to open their Chumash to this week’s parsha,

And in it they had to find,

The pasuk that states who bought what from whom,

And what was it that was on her mind…

Playing with the Parsha: 

In this week’s parsha Yitzchok calls Yaakov over and feels his skin. He says "the voice is Yaakov's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esav!"  Here is a fun game to play.  Blindfold one person who will be “it”.  It walks around the room blindfolded and tries to catch someone.  When he does, he has to “feel” the person and then try to guess who it is.  He could describe what he is feeling.  For example:  this person has a big kippa, this person has a watch etc...  Everyone could get a chance to be it.  When everyone had a turn, the first person is blindfolded again.  This time, someone tries to mimick their voice and “it” has to guess who it is.

Was it hard to guess?  How were you able to guess who it is?  If it was hard to guess someone, why was it hard.

ShABBAt  IMABBA:

Here is a great way for my father and I to learn a little bit of Parsha each week, even though we live far from each other. ( I like the play on words of Abba in the word Shabbat and Imabba meaning "with Abba" and Ima Abba written together!  Thanks Abba and Ima :-)!

This week's Parsha tells us the story of Rivka Imeinu and how  when she was pregnant, the children agitated within her.  She was nervous and worried when this happened.  The posuk continues to state, "2 nations are in your womb.... and the elder shall serve the younger."  

Rivka relaxed when she heard the news that she was pregnant with twins.  She could not understand all the commotion going on inside of her when she was pregnant with only one. Now it was clear why she was feeling this way.


We all know the story about the twins fighting inside of her.  Meforshim say that when she passed by a synagogue, Yaakov would want to come out and when she passed by an unholy place, Esav tried to come out.  The conflicts between the two brothers were already there in the womb.  

The question is, if Yaakov was learning with a malach inside the womb, why was he so desperate to come out?  This teaches us that even in a place of holiness it is difficult to be with an Eisav.  One must always try to be surrounded by good influences.

Some miforshim say that we are each born with the characteristics of a Yaakov and an Eisav. We have to work hard and try our best to be the best that we can be.

Parsha Dessert: 

This week’s Parsha welcomes twins into the world- Yaakov and Eisav.  I bought lentil candies and put it in a soup bowl.  I added pacifier candies for newborn babies. 

Another fun way to wish them a happy “birth” day is  by making them a birthday cake. 

If you have time, you can make cookies in the shape of people and attach one cookie’s hand to the heel of the other.  You can add red hands (out of licorice or sour sticks attached by marshmallow fluff) to Eisav.

Have fun and be creative with your birthday cake!

Wishing you a wonderful and fun Shabbat!  

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I would love to hear your ideas and comments.

Take care.  

Ruchie