During
this crazy time of the year as we’re caught up with Chanukah and Thanksgiving,
it’s easy to forget that we actually get to celebrate a holiday every week:
Shabbat! I love that our tradition gives us this weekly opportunity to press
the pause button on our hectic lives and encourages us to spend time with our
families. For those of us with young children, though, this can seem more
daunting than enjoyable. In my work with families, I try to help them see that
there are so many things they are already doing from day to day that are
Jewish.
One of
these family rituals is Shabbat dinner. There is overwhelming evidence showing
the benefits
of eating together as a family, from better long-term academic performance to
improved health for all involved, and most importantly the relationship
building that happens when we eat with the people we love, spend time together
and talk about what’s really important to us.
I know that at the end of a busy work week, putting
together a nice dinner for your family can seem especially challenging. Many of
us have in our minds that Shabbat Dinner = Roast Chicken. Now, don’t get me
wrong, I love a leisurely chicken dinner, but with 2 working parents, a 1 year
old and 3 year old, we don’t always have the time and energy for that. More
often than not these days, Friday night dinner at our house is homemade pizza.
It’s a great way to use up the leftovers in your fridge, and even if you live
with picky eaters, if it’s on a pizza, it seems to be more palatable. Some tips
on getting this meal on the table:
- If I make pasta with tomato sauce earlier in the week, I reserve about half a cup for the pizza.
- Keep some frozen pizza dough in the fridge, it’s just as easy to double or triple the recipe.
- Trader Joe’s has some GREAT prepared pizza dough, whole wheat, spinach, etc.
- Involve our kids in preparing dinner, they can help roll out the dough, place the topping on the pizza, sprinkle the cheese, etc.
- Whatever leftover veggies you have in your fridge will work great, throw some cheese on top and bake away, don’t over think it!
- Serve with a simple salad, if you have a salad spinner this is another great way to involve young kids in helping to prepare dinner.
Once
you sit down to dinner with your family, make a point to mark this meal as
something different, something sacred. By saying the Shabbat
blessings over the candles, bread and wine, we have the chance to show that
Shabbat is different from the rest of the week, and that the time we have to
spend together over the next day is special. I love the tradition of
incorporating a blessing
over our children into our Shabbat dinner ritual. It doesn’t need to be
formal, just a moment to reinforce how much we love them and how important
family is.
Sometimes Friday night
just won’t work for your family, and that’s OK! Find another time during the
week to be together, there’s nothing special about dinner, breakfast works too,
or a Saturday lunch. Just making the point to be together is what truly
matters.
Here are some of my
favorite resources for making Shabbat dinner a little easier for all of us:
The Family Dinner Project- Great
information on why it’s so important to eat together. Helpful hints on
conversation starters and easy recipes as well.
100 Days of Real Food- Suggestions
for meal planning with HEALTHY food. Terrific recipes.
French
Food Rules- A fabulous jumping off point for thinking about what’s
important when it comes to eating in your family
Real
Simple Magazine- A great all around recipe resource,
especially this easy to follow month of meals
Sarah
Ruderman Wilensky is an experienced Jewish educator and founder of JewFood. She specializes in teaching about
Jewish identity, holidays and culture through food, and has worked with every
age group, from toddlers and preschoolers to elementary-school students, teens,
adults and families. Sarah is a Jewish Educator at the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston and
runs the families with young children program at Congregation Beth El of the Sudbury River Valley.
She lives in Newton
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