In this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Lech Lecha, Gd commands Avram to leave his homeland, the land of his fathers, to go to a land that Gd will show him, which we later learn is the Land of Israel. As a reward, Avram is promised that he will become the father of a great nation. Avram went on this journey with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. Once he arrives in Canaan (modern day Israel), Avram is promised that the land will be given to his future children. Avram travels all over the land until a famine forces him to go to Egypt. Worried that the Egyptians would kill him in order to take Sarai if they knew they were married, he asks her to say she is his sister. After being taken to the house of Pharoah because of her beauty, a plague struck everyone in the house. Once he realized that Sarai was Avram’s wife, Pharoah gives them many riches and allows them to go to back to Canaan. Once back, the shepherds of Lot and Avram began to fight and Lot left to settle in Sodom. Then came the famous war of the Four Kings vs. the Five Kings in Canaan in which Lot was captured. Avram rushed to save him and the others that were captured and refused to accept the spoils of war. In this week’s Parsha, Avram is repeatedly promised that his children with be as innumerable as the dust of the earth and the stars in the sky. But Avram then asks how it this could be possible as he and Sarai are elderly and they have yet to have children and asks for a sign that his children would inherit Israel. This led to the Covenant Between the Parts, in which it is foretold that the Jews would be slaves in a foreign land for 400 years but would return to Israel as a free and wealthy nation, while their slave-masters would be punished. After this covenant, Sarai suggests that Avram have a child with her maidservant, Hagar, as she was barren. Hagar then gave birth to a son, Yishma’el. Gd changes the names of Avram and Sarai to Avraham and Sarah in this week’s Parsha and signs the covenant with the mitzvah of brit milah, circumcision, which is performed on every Jewish baby boy on his eighth day of life. Gd also promised to give a son to Sarah. At the conclusion of this Parsha, at the age of 99, Avraham circumcised himself, his son Yishma’el and the members of his household.
This week’s Parsha is full of symbolic sweets and treats! Feet-shaped lollipops symbolize the journey Avram is told to take in the first line of the Parsha, as well as the other travels such as the travels to and from Egypt, Lot’s departure, and the Jewish people’s eventual journey to and from Egypt that is foretold in this week’s Parsha. The blue and white chocolates symbolize the Land of Israel that Avram travels to and is promised to the People of Israel. The star candies and yellow rock candy symbolize the stars and sand that are compared to the vast numbers of descendants Avram is promised. The blue pacifier candies symbolize the birth of Yishma’el and the promise that Sarah would have a son. They could also symbolize the mitzvah of brit milah that is performed on all Jewish baby boys on the eighth day as described in this week’s Parsha. Finally, the ring pops could symbolize the wedding ring that Sarai “takes off” when she enters Egypt, the riches that Avram and Sarai left with from Egypt, the signet ring of Pharoah and the those of the four and five warring kings, the spoils of war that Avram refuses from the King of Sodom and the riches that the Jews will leave Egypt with after their enslavement. Have other Parsha inspired treat ideas? Share them in the comments below!
Shabbat Shalom,
Shayna Levine-Hefetz
Mrs. S.
says:Nice ideas. Some healthy alternatives: sandwiches- for being as numerous as the sand and starfruit-for being as numerous as the stars