BBG Shabbat: Shabbat and its Food
Timing: This program will take a total of 1.5-2 hours:
- Welcome – 2 minutes
- name game/icebreaker – 15-20 minutes
- Eating Shabbat dinner – 60-90 minutes
- Hand out and review statistics about Hunger – 10 minutes
- Discuss the statistics – 15 minutes
- Read Conclusion – 3 minutes
About the program:
There are multiple ways to prepare and undertake this program. Ideally, your chapter would gather to cook all the
traditional foods together. Another good option would be if smaller groups of girls gathered together to cook one or two
of the dishes you’ll be serving at your Shabbat dinner. It is likely that space, time and know-how can interfere with that
approach.
You can do a potluck and divide the meal up and assign each member a dish to make at home before the event, or if
you’re feeling like you want to invest in it, you can also get this Shabbat meal catered (preferably by a local kosher
caterer)
Goals:
help people learn about the meaning behind the stereotypical Ashkenazic Jewish food that you see at many
Shabbat dinner or lunch tables
- Through a greater understanding of where the reasons for these foods came from, the participants will have a
different perspective on the long-standing tradition of Jewish heritage while participating in a positive and
meaningful Shabbat experience.
- By contextualizing these foods within their historical backgrounds and comparing them with where the Jewish
community is today, teens will gain perspective on Jews in the past and hunger in America today
- Learn about hunger in America today
- Have a compilation of Shabbat family recipes
Materials:
Table tents (make two of each for each table)
- Document with statistics about Hunger found in Appendix 1(bring enough copies for each person, or at least
one for every two people)
Set-up:
- Before the program, ask all participants to bring in a family recipe; collect when everyone sits down for the
program/meal
- This program should be done at a Shabbat meal in which you do Kiddush (the blessing over grape juice) and
Hamotzi (blessing over Challah) and has at least three courses (appetizer, entrée and dessert).
- Set the table as you normally would
- There should be 7-14 place settings
- At each place setting you should put one or two table tents (depending on the number of people at the meal).
Please randomly distribute the tents:
o On the outside of the table tents, they should read:
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
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Kiddush 1
Kiddush 2
Hamotzi 1
Hamotzi 2
Soup 1
Soup 2
Appetizer 1



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


appetizer 2
Entrée 1 A
Entrée 1 B
Entrée 2 A
Entrée 2 B
Side dish 1
Side dish 2
on the inside of Kiddush 1 table tent write:
 The word Kiddush means “sanctification.” The process of saying Kiddush separates chol (the
normal) with Shabbat (the holy)
on the inside of Kiddush 2 table tent write:
 Interestingly, at the time of the Talmud (200-500 CE), wine was considered an everyday
beverage. The act of saying Kiddush over it was necessary to make an indication that Shabbat
had started and that it was different than the rest of the week.
on the inside of the Hamotzi 1 table tent write:
 According to Jewish tradition, Shabbat and holiday meals begin with two complete loaves of
bread. This "double loaf" (in Hebrew: lechem mishneh) commemorates the manna that fell from
the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. But, the
manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day
before so the Israelites would have to take the double portion to make sure they had enough for
Shabbat too.
On the inside of the Hamotzi 2 table tent write:
 Mizrahi Jews, Jews from Middle Eastern countries, instead of the Ashkenazic Jews from Eastern
Europe or Sephardi Jews from Spain have no tradition of using a braided loaf. Instead, they use a
flat bread resembling pita. In some traditions twelve pita breads are used, to represent the
twelve loaves of bread in the Temple.
On the inside of the soup 1 table tent write:
 When we think of a Shabbat soup, chicken soup with matza balls immediately comes to mind.
The 12th-century rabbi and physician Maimonides touted the benefits of chicken soup to one's
health; even until today it is known as ‘Jewish Penicilin.’ Matza balls are particularly popular
during Passover, when matza meal is often used in observant Ashkenazi Jewish households as
flour may not be used.
On the inside of the soup 2 table tent write:
 Chicken soup became a Jewish staple because the Ashkenazi Jews living in shtetls were often
very poor, but chicken-raising required few resources. Most Jewish families would try to acquire
at least one chicken for Shabbat and try to make the most of it, like making chicken soup, which
makes it into a larger and more substantial meal.
On the appetizer 1 table tent write:
 Gefilte fish is poached fish patties or balls made from a mixture of ground deboned fish eggs and
other fillers. It is popular in the Ashkenazic Jewish community and has become a traditional food
due to the fact that it allows observant Jews an opportunity to eat fish and avoid borer
("selection/choosing"), which is one of the 39 activities prohibited on Shabbat. Borer could occur
when one picks the bones out of the fish, taking the bad from the good.
On the appetizer 2 table tent write:

o
o
o
o
o
o
Gefilte fish is normally made from carp, pike, mullet or whitefish. Most of us have probably
never tried these types of fish because they are unfortunately, not known for their flavor. But
these fish were kosher, easily accessible for Jews in Eastern Europe and, most importantly,
inexpensive. Again, this delicacy came to be out of poverty-stricken necessity.
On the Entrée 1A table tent write:
 Beef or Chicken is normally included in the typical Shabbat menu. Shabbat is supposed to be a
festive time, oneg, and meat and poultry were considered the most celebratory of food
On the Entrée 1B table tent write:
 Nowadays, we get to eat whole chicken breasts or hunks of meat. But, back in the day, Jewish
families would eat dishes such as chopped liver, helzel (stuffed chicken neck), gribenes (crackling
made from fat and skin), pupik (roasted gizzards), p'tcha (chicken feet) to use even more parts
of the chicken. Recipes that were born of poverty-driven necessity.
On the Entrée 2A table tent write:
 A typical dish at the meals of observant Jewish families, specifically for lunch was called
“cholent”. Cholent was developed over the centuries to conform to Jewish religious laws that
prohibit cooking on the Shabbat. The pot is brought to boil on Friday before the Sabbath begins,
and kept on a flame/in the oven over night. Cholent is served at lunch, and its cooking process
ensured a hot meal when cooking was prohibited.
On the Entrée 2B table tent write:
 Cholent made out of chunks of meat, marrow bones, beans, barley, potatoes and other
ingredients. Due to a lack of money, our ancestors used these traditional ingredients in their
cholents due to their accessibility and low cost.
On the side dish 1 table tent write:
 Potato, noodle, broccoli, carrot, butternut, spinach, the options go on and on, but however you
make it, kugel is a great side dish to any Shabbat or Jewish holiday meal. Kugel actually became
an integral part to the typical Shabbat meal because, like cholent, it can cook for hours and
come out still tasting delicious.
On the side dish 2 table tent write:
 With all the different options for kugels nowadays, it’s hard to recall that potato and noodle
kugels are the traditional ones. These are traditional main ingredients because both of them
were readily available and inexpensive for our ancestors who had little.
Activity:
- Welcome everyone to the meal with an introduction
- Collect all recipes
- Play 2 icebreakers
o go around the table and have everyone introduce themselves and then tell their favorite food and
favorite Shabbat food
o Everyone shares their recipe and a story that relates to that recipe
- Go through the normal order of the Shabbat meal (Kiddush, hamotzi, soup/appetizer, entrée and side dish) and
before each part of the meal that corresponds to one of the topics on the table tents, have those people who
have the appropriate table tent read it out loud to everyone.
o You are supposed to eat the meal during the process of going through the reading of table tents.
- Once you have finished eating the meal and before dessert, hand out copies of a document that details statistics
about Hunger; take a few minutes to reflect
- Discuss the statistics
-
Give Conclusion
Compile all the recipes and send it out as a follow up to the program as a cook book
Introduction to the meal:
“Challah
Gefilte fish
Chicken soup
Matzo balls
Cholent
Roasted chicken
Potato kugel
Noodle kugel
Chopped liver
“You’ve already mentioned quite a few of these items as some of your favorite foods only minutes ago. Hopefully, our
dinner and activity tonight will give you some perspective on the cuisine that we identify with Shabbat, and on our
access to food, in general. Let’s begin with Kiddush. Whoever has the Kiddush cards, please read them in order.”
(The person who has the first Kiddush table tent reads his/her first before Kiddush.)
(Kiddush is said… Continue on with the parts of the meal but introduce each with the table tents about that course)
Introduction to the Hunger statistics:
“Before you glance over the statistics on this piece of paper I just gave you, I want to tell you a little bit about our shared
history:
“In spite of the comfortable place that Jews occupy today, especially in North America, our history is one of hardship and
persecution. This persecution of Jews in Europe begins in the Middle Ages in the context of the Crusades, which were a
series of military campaigns endorsed by the Church to root out infidels, like Jews. The Crusades utterly destroyed or
brought frequent massacres to Jewish communities. The Crusades were then followed by expulsions, in which Jews had
to run from their homes for fear of death.
“Then, as the Black Death epidemics devastated Europe in the mid-14th century, Jews were not infected in similar
numbers to their non-Jewish companions, due to their better nutrition and cleanliness. Non-Jews targeted the Jews as
scapegoats, and then destroyed hundreds of Jewish communities by violence. For example, in an effort to prevent the
disease from hitting their city, the people of Strasbourg burned 900 Jews alive.
“Barring the violence perpetuated against the Jews, our ancestors were still hated. Few non-Jews were willing to help
their Jewish associates or even do business with them. Jews were poor and indigent. If you think back to the reasons
behind certain traditional Jewish foods, they came to be because of the lack of money for our ancestors.”
(Hand out the document with the statistics).
“Please take a few moments to look over these statistics. They are data about hunger in America today.
“What are the statistics that jump out at you?
“What do you think about these numbers?”
Conclusion:
“As you reflect on our meal today, I hope you remember that the recipes that are delicious today were born out of
necessity for our ancestors; they did not have the money and the luxury we have to have the same quality of food, or
even all these different types of food at the same meal. Your families have taken the traditional recipes and handed
them down or gave them a modern twist to make them even better.
“We are pretty lucky – we have a strong connection to our past, good food, good friends, and the freedom to celebrate
Shabbat and eat all this wonderful food. There are many in America who are not as lucky as we are. It is hard to
conceptualize the statistics on hunger. We have a tough time conceiving of the 6 million Jewish killed in the Holocaust.
“But, in the name of those Jews who did not have enough food, try to imagine the 49 million people in America starving
and think about what we all can do to help feed at least one of those numbers.“
Appendix 1
Hunger: Problems finding access to food.
 For your reference: the term Food security refers to the availability of food and one's access to it. A household is
considered food-insecure when its occupants live in hunger or fear of starvation.

49.1 million People in America lived in food-insecure households in 2008, including 32.4 million adults and 16.7
million children.

17.3 million People lived in households that were considered to have very low food security, up from 11.9
million in 2007 and 8.5 million in 2000.
o
Of these individuals, 12.1 million adults and 5.2 million children lived in households with very low food
insecurity.

14.6 percent (17 million) of households were food insecure, up from 11.1 percent (13 million) of households in
2007.

One-third of these food insecure households (6.7 million households, or 5.7 percent of all U.S. households) had
very low food security, up from 4.7 million (4.1 percent) in 2007.

In about 8,335,000 households with children (21 percent) lived with low or very low food security, up from 15.8
percent in 2007.

Prevalence of very low food security among children was up from 0.8 percent of households with children in
2007 to 1.3 percent in 2008. In about 506,000 households (1.3 percent of households with children), one or
more children were subject to reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns.

Black (25.7 percent) and Hispanic (26.9 percent) households experienced food insecurity at far higher rates than
the national average.
(Statistics courtesy of Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger)