Food Tourah – Acharei Mot – Kedoshim

May 7, 2025 in Food Tourah

Because life so often happens around food, we’re spending the year exploring the weekly parshiot and finding connections to each week’s Shabbat menu. Once again we have a double portion which results in the 29th and 30th parshiot down, 24 more to go!

Acharei Mot opens after the death of Aaron’s two sons who died when they came too close to the presence of G-d. The parsha goes on to detail the Yom Kippur ritual service, which involves two goats: one to be sacrificed and one to be sent out into the wilderness, symbolically carrying away the community’s sins. This ritual provides the origin of the term “scapegoat”. The parsha also prohibits offering sacrifices outside of the Tabernacle and ends with a list of forbidden sexual relations.

Kedoshim begins with the powerful directive: “You shall be holy.” It details a long list of laws that shape a just and ethical society. One such law provides instructions to leave the edges of one’s fields for the poor and the stranger to gather along with additional rules about how to treat others. It is in this portion that the concept of loving one’s neighbor derives.

The first parsha focuses on the dual themes of sin and purification. With that in mind, we found this Master Cleanse Chicken. The lemon, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup will purify you from the inside out. And how could we not include goat cheese? The vegetarians among us are sure to love these Roasted Portobello Pepper Caps with Goat Cheese. They are sinfully delicious. Speaking of sins…we couldn’t resist this recipe for Sin Bars. And because there is no such thing as too much dessert, we’ll throw in this New Neighbor Cake as a sweet nod to the message in Kedoshim. What better way is there to love your neighbor than by sharing this charming concoction? (Those opting for the Master Cleanse Chicken can sub in non-dairy butter and milk options in the two desserts, and let us know how that goes!)

B’tayavon and Shabbat Shalom,

Alison (Baraf) & Sarah (Roark)

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To read past installments of Food Tourah – Click Here.

For a more in-depth look at this week’s parsha, visit Sefaria.com.