Home > News > Food Tourah: Shelach
June 18, 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. 37 parshiot down, 17 more to go!
Shelach (“Send”) opens with G-d commanding Moses to send a leader from each tribe to scout the land of Canaan, each one named individually. Moses changed the name of Hosea, son of Nun, to Joshua. (Numbers 13:16), which some commentators explain was for Joshua’s protection. This reflects a longstanding Jewish tradition of changing a person’s name to shield them from harm. (https://www.thetorah.com/article/why-was-joshua-singled-out-by-moses)
The scouts return with grapes, pomegranates, and figs, confirming that the land does “flow with milk and honey”. (Numbers 13:27) However the scouts also report that the Canaanites are powerful, and the cities are fortified. Ten of the twelve scouts conclude that the Israelites cannot conquer the land, sparking widespread fear and rebellion. Once again, the people complain that they should have stayed in Egypt.
Joshua and another scout, Caleb, urge faith in G-d, but the people continue to rebel. G-d tells Moses that he wants to wipe them out, but Moses pleads for mercy – arguing that doing so would damage G-d’s reputation among the nations and that the sins of this generation should not be visited upon their descendants. G-d relents and decrees that while this generation shall not see the Promised Land, their children – along with Joshua and Caleb – will cross over. The parsha concludes with laws about sacrifices, the story of a man who violates Shabbat, and the commandment to wear fringes (tzitzit) as a physical reminder to follow G-d’s commandments.
We’ll start off this week’s menu with a toast to the beginning of summer! Try this Festive Prosecco Sangria – made with pomegranate and grapes, this bubbly beverage calls back to the fruit the scouts brought home from Canaan. Alternatively, these Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds, featuring figs and pomegranate seeds, also echo the bounty the scouts returned with. Shelach’s listing of each scout by name led us to the age-old question: What’s in a Name? As a play on this question, we’re featuring this recipe for Vegan Dirty Rice. If you’ve never heard of Dirty Rice, you might at first be turned off by the name, but we promise it’s worth trying! Like a name that holds deeper meaning, this dish has substance beneath the surface.
And finally, we were struck by how the roles between Moses and G-d seemed to switch this week. Last week, in Beha’alotekha, Moses cried out to G-d in frustration with the whining Israelites and G-d offered support. But in Shelach, it is G-d who expresses his frustration with the people’s lack of faith – and this time, Moses advocates for a tempered response. To represent this role reversal, we’re serving Vegan Peach Upside Down Cake. The peaches begin at the bottom of the pan but end up on top – a sweet symbol of this narrative flip. Plus, juicy summer peaches are another reason to celebrate the season!
B’tayavon and Shabbat Shalom, Alison (Baraf) & Sarah (Roark)
To read past installments of Food Tourah – Click Here.
For a more in-depth look at this week’s parsha, visit Sefaria.com.
