TETZAVEH cake and games

PARSHAT TETZAVEH

PARSHA POINTS:

•    At the beginning of the parsha, Moshe is commanded to take special olive oil to light the lamps in the Menora.

• Parashat Tetzaveh continues to detail the building of the Mishkan. In this week's parsha we learn about the jobs of the Kohanim, and the special outfits that they wore during the avodah.    

• A Kohen Hedyot (regular Kohen) has four special garments to wear: the michnasayim (pants), the Ktonet (the tunic), Migba'at (the hat), and the Avnet (the belt). 

• Aharon (and future Kohanim G'dolim) wear the four garments that regular Kohanim wear, in addition to an extra four garments that they wear as well: The Tzitz, the Ephod (an apron with bells), the Choshen Hamishpat, and the Me'il (the jacket).  

• Hashem details the korbanot (sacrifices) that will be sacrificed during the Chanukat Hamishkan. Afterwards, he details the Korban Tamid that will be offered every day.  

• We learn about the Mizbeach hazahav, which is used to burn incense.

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 bat (daughter...) and Imabba meaning "with Abba" and Ima Abba written together!  Thanks Abba and Ima :-)

 The Parsha starts out by saying: "ואתה תצוה"  and you should command.  First, you should- you should take care of yourself and do what you have to do and only then can you tell others what to do.

   Moshe Rabbeinu's name is not mentioned in this week's Parsha. Moshe Rabeinu says "מחיני נא מספריך שכתבת"  
"erase me please from the book that You wrote".  We learn from here that a person should always be careful with the words that come out of his mouth.
The Shambat adds that when Hashem requested דבר נא באזני '' העם"  requesting that  the Bnei Yisrael  take the gold and silver, Moshe begged Hashem to take out the "נא", from the sefer.  Moshe realized that the gold and silver that Hashem asked to please take would end up being the gold used for the Golden calf.
 "ויקחו אליך שמן זית"  The Bnei Yisrael are compared to olive oil. When you take any liquids and mix them together, you cannot identify which one is which.  Oil though, always rises to the top.  The same is with the Bnei Yisrael. They separate themselves from the goyim and rise to the top. Just like one squeezes out the olives with difficulty to get olive oil, so to the goyim try to squeeze the Bnei Yisrael.

PARSHA PUZZLE:

The Kutonet was a woven white garment,

It was of a checkered design,

It was long from the shoulder to the ground, 

The material was very fine.

The Avnait was a colored belt,

Wrapped around the kohein’s waist,

The Michnasayim were white linen shorts,

The material was all in good taste.

The migbaat was wound around the head,

It was shaped into a pointed hat,

It was an impressive wardrobe of items

How did they manage all that?

The Aifod and the mitznefet,

Choshen mishpat, tzitz and me’il,

The Cohen was dressed in these items,

Covered from his head to his heel.

Who wore the first 4 items?

Who wore all of the rest?

If you know the answers to the riddle,

You just past this week’s Parsha test!

PLAYING WITH THE PARSHA:

Parshas Tetzaveh is the only sedra in the Torah from Moshe's birth until his death without Moshe's name in it.  Why?  Some Meforshim say it is because this Parsha is close to Moshe Rabbeinu’s yartzeit (7^th Adar), and the absence of his name is symbolic of his yarzeit.

 Others suggest that by Cheit Haegel the people sinned and Hashem was going to wipe them out and start over again. Moshe begged Hashem to save them or: "Erase me from your book that You have written!" The effect of those words, therefore, was that somewhere in the Torah, his name would be erased. Thus it is that in the week when we remember his passing, Moshe’s name is gone.

  

Since Moshe’s name is not mentioned in this Parsha, play a game that you can speak but are not allowed to say the letter M (for Moshe).  See how hard it is to communicate!

·  Have the kids prepare a paper doll and clothing to dress the doll.  Have them make a shirt, pants, belt, turban, coat, apron and strip (or help them make it).  Let them dress up the doll and explain to them the clothing of the Kohen. 

·  On top of the mizbeach was a crown.  Have your kids make a crown before Shabbat.  At the Shabbat table pass the crown around and each person can say something special about himself.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

Choshen:

 What you will need:

1.     Rectangular cake

2.     Frosting divided into 12

3.     Food coloring to color the frosting

·        Mix each frosting with a different color.

·        Frost the cake in 12 even squares.
Or you can use fondant and frost each fondant a different color and shape then into small rectangles.

Kohen Gadol Clothing:

What you will need:

1.     Cookie dough

2.     Clothing cookie shapes

3.     Sugar icing

·        Shape the cookie dough into clothing shapes.  Turban, shirt, pants, belt, coat, apron. 

·        Discuss the different garments the Kohen Gadol had to wear.

Recipe for Rectangular cake:

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups oil
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa
• 2 cups strong hot coffee

Directions:

1.     1 Preheat oven to 350degrees Fahrenheit.

2.     Beat eggs and oil together in large bowl with electric mixer.

3.     Add sugar and vanilla and beat until well-mixed.

4.     In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and cocoa together.

5.     Slowly add dry ingredients to large bowl with liquids, scraping down occasionally, until evenly moistened.

6.     Slowly add coffee, pouring over the mixture.

7.     Pour mixture into a greased, 9 x 13 pan.

8.     Bake 1 hour.

Let the cake cool.  In the meantime pour  6 ounces of chocolate chips with a teaspoon of oil in the microwave.  (You can double the recipe for a thicker chocolate layer).  Pour over the cooled cake and put in the refrigerator to harden.

For the frosting: whip a container of dessert whip and add a package of vanilla frosting. Take a small amount in a bowl and mix with desired food coloring.  You can divide each color into 12 small bowls or you can take one bowl and place one color at a time.  Shape into squares on the cooled cake.

You can also use colored fondant and shape them into squares and place them on your cake.

Thought of the week:

The sin of Adam and Chava brought many unfortunate changes to the world as detailed in Sefer Bereishit. The Shlah adds that if not for Adam and Chava's sin, there would not be specific holy places in the world because holiness would be everywhere. There would also be no need to choose specific people (Kohanim and Leviim) for Avoda and Kehuna because everyone would be worthy.

 According to the Shlah, we had our chance to rectify Adam and Chava's sin at Matan Torah but we squandered our opportunity. Through Moshe's intervention, the situation was partially salvaged, and Hashem allowed us to build the Mishkan. This ensured that there was one place on earth in which Hashem's Shechina dwelled. In the Mishkan, Aharon was chosen in place of Adam to come closer to Hashem. During his service in the Mishkan, Aharon wore bigdei kehuna which were bigdei kodesh in place of the clothes that Adam and Chava had to wear as a result of their sin. The Shlah writes that the future geula will usher in an era where the world will finally return to its original status at creation. May we speedily merit to witness that special time!

Answer to parsha puzzle:  (The ordinary Kohen (kohein Hedyot) wore the first four items and the Kohein Gadol wore the last 5.)

Enjoy!  Have a fantastic Shabbat!  Ruchie :)