The double portion begins with G‑d speaking to Moshe on Mount Sinai about the laws of the Sabbatical year. Rashi explains that just like these laws were explained at Sinai, so too all the general laws and details of all the commandments were explained at Sinai.

But why did the G‑d specifically choose the laws relating to the Sabbatical year – which would only be observed 47 years after the giving of the Torah – to teach us this lesson?

Not only would it be irrelevant for so long, but unlike the commandment of Hakhel during the Jubilee year – which would only be observed for the first time 90 years after the giving of the Torah – the Sabbatical year is not conceptually related to a mountain or desert. (According to Maimonides, one of the reasons for gathering the Jewish people during the Jubilee year is to remind them of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai).

It is precisely because of the Sabbatical year’s practical irrelevance that G‑d chose it to show that if these laws were given at Sinai, how much more so, all the commandments and their details were given at Sinai.

Because Behar literally means “on a mountain,” I made peanut butter cups to look like little mountains by turning them upside down. Just like humble Mount Sinai where according to Rashi, G‑d explained all the commandments, they may not be big or tall, but they are certainly very special (and delicious!).

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cup pareve chocolate chips
  • 2 ½ cup graham cracker crumbs
  • 2 ¾ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1 cup melted margarine

Directions:

  1. Melt the chocolate (I use the double boiler method since I don’t have a microwave).
  2. Spray the bottoms and sides of about 18 disposable aluminum cups (I guess cupcake holders would work just as well) and then pour the chocolate (only use about 2/3 of the chocolate now!) to cover the bottoms and sides of all the cups.
  3. Refrigerate until hard.
  4. Mix together everything else. The kids will love helping you make the graham cracker crumbs by crushing graham crackers in a Ziploc bag. You could also use a food processor of course, but that’s not as much fun.
  5. Press the peanut butter filling mixture inside each cup, leaving space for more chocolate on top. Pour the remaining chocolate over the filling and refrigerate again.
  6. Once hard, carefully invert each cup to make your very own humble Mount Sinais.

Have a good and sweet Shabbat!



Recipe adapted from the Peanut Butter Bars I recipe on The Allrecipes website.