Challah for Parashat Vayetze
Jacob's sheep.
Every week, Julie Seltzer, artist and Torah scribe, bakes a challah depicting an aspect of the week's Torah portion.
And an angel of God said to me in the dream: Jacob; and I said: Here am I.
And he said: Lift up your eyes, and see, all the sheep which leap upon the flock are streaked, dotted, and speckled. (Genesis 31:11-12)
וַיּאמֶר אֵלַי מַלְאַךְ הָאֱלהִים, בַּחֲלוֹם--יַעֲקב; וָאמַר, הִנֵּנִי.
וַיּאמֶר, שָׂא-נָא עֵינֶיךָ וּרְאֵה כָּל-הָעַתֻּדִים הָעֹלִים עַל-הַצֹּאן, עֲקֻדִּים נְקֻדִּים, וּבְרֻדִּים
Jacob strikes a deal with his father-in-law Laban to take ownership over some of the flock, and Jacob figures out a clever (if mysterious!) way to make the animals breed in a manner that insures that the strong ones go to him.
Julie Seltzer is a scribe, baker, and artist. She began creating challah art at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Connecticut, where she lived until recently. Julie now resides in the Bay Area, where she is writing a torah scroll at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.
