Jane’s Kitchen: Chickpea and Baby Beet Salad with Pickled Red Onions

Servings: 8 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard 1 (5-ounce) package mixed baby greens 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 (8-ounce) package refrigerated cooked whole baby beets, halved or quartered 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh chives or other fresh herbs Cracked black […]

Jane’s Kitchen: Mushroom Barley Soup

2 tablespoons vegetable oil  2 medium onions, coarsely chopped  2 large celery ribs, diced small  3/4 cup pearl barley 1/2 ounce imported dried mushrooms (Porcini or other variety), rinsed and coarsely chopped 4 cups packed escarole, coarsely chopped  1 can (16 oz.) Italian peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped, juice reserved  2 large carrots, sliced 1/4″ […]

A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: VAYISHLACH (GENESIS 32:4-36:9)

By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant   In last week’s parsha, Vayetzei, we read the convoluted and multifarious twenty years which Jacob experienced while living with his Uncle Laban. In parsha Vayishlach, with immense trepidation, Jacob follows God’s orders to return to his birthplace in Canaan. He is terrified of the inevitable encounter with his […]

A ‘ Bissel’ of Torah: VAYEITZEI (GENESIS 28:10-32:3)

By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant   This week’s parsha, Vayetzei, begins with Jacob on the run from his family and home. Although he leaves with his father, Isaac’s birthright and blessing, these were obtained under false pretenses. His mother, Rebecca, heard his brother, Esau, mutter that he intended to kill Jacob for this deception. […]

A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: TOLDOT (GENESIS 25:17-28:9)

By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant   This week’s parsha presents an ancestral tale, which haunts us with its theme of cunning and deception. As the narrative proceeds, we realize that each of the characters presented in Toldot is caught in a web of relationships, a web of words, true and false, from which they […]

A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: CHAYEI SARAH (GENESIS 23:1-24:67)

By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant   The translation of this week’s Torah parsha, Chayei Sarah, is ‘The Life of Sarah’. Ironically, only the first two lines of the parsha pertain to the death of Sarah and no other aspect of her life is even mentioned again. Rashi wrote that the death of Sarah is […]

A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: VAYEIRA (GENESIS 18:1-22:4)

By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant   Towards the end of last week’s parsha, Lech Lecha, we read of the supernatural birth of Isaac to Sarah and Abraham. At the time, Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was in her nineties, well beyond child-bearing age. God made a covenant with Isaac, circumcising him eight […]

A ‘Bissel’ of Torah: LECH LECHA (GENESIS 12:1-17:27)

By Joy Scott, Am Haskalah Congregant   This week’s Torah parsha, Lech Lecha, begins with God’s words to Abram: “Go forth from your birthplace to the land which I will show you; and I will make you into a great nation, bless you and aggrandize your name”(1). The writers of the Midrash had many obvious […]

Jane’s Kitchen: Sweet Potato & Green Bean Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing

Servings: 4    4 small sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced  1 tsp cinnamon  2 T olive oil  1 tsp sea salt  1 tsp thyme  8 oz haricot verts or cut green beans  1 large handful dried cranberries  1 large handful toasted walnuts, pecans or hickory nuts  5 oz baby lettuces or spring mix (about […]