Illustration coming soon

The Shabbos Soup Surprise

Ages 6-9 | Story and 9 activities

On Friday afternoon, the whole house smells like onions and chicken.

Mommy is cooking for Shabbos. The pot of soup bubbles on the stove. The kugel is in the oven. Flour covers the counter, and Mommy is up to her elbows in challah dough.

Dassi comes home from school and drops her bag by the door. She wants to tell Mommy about her day. She wants to show her the drawing she's made.

"Mommy, look!"

"One second, Dassi," says Mommy, not turning around. "I'm just checking the soup."

Dassi waits. She hops from foot to foot. Mommy tastes the soup, then stirs it, then reaches for the salt.

"Mommy, look!"

"In a minute, sweetie," says Mommy. She sounds tired, and a little bit short. Her forehead is shiny from the steam.

Dassi's face falls. She opens her mouth to say, "You never listen." But she looks at Mommy's hands. They are shaking just a little, and there is a streak of flour on her cheek.

Hmm, thinks Dassi. She's very busy. She looks tired.

She puts her drawing on the table. Then she looks around the kitchen. The floor has crumbs. The table is bare, with no tablecloth. The candlesticks are still in the cabinet.

Maybe I can help, she thinks.

She washes her hands and pulls the white tablecloth out of the drawer. She spreads it across the table, smoothing out the wrinkles. She sets out the plates, the cups, and the forks, one by one. She counts carefully: seven places.

She finds the broom and sweeps the crumbs into a neat pile. Then she takes the candlesticks out of the cabinet and polishes them with a dry cloth until they shine.

By the time she finishes, the sun is low and golden in the window.

Mommy turns around to get the challah out of the oven. Then she stops.

"Dassi," she says. "Did you do all this?"

"Yes."

Mommy looks at the table, set up and shining. She looks at the clean floor. Her eyes fill up. "Oh, Dassi. I was so worried I wouldn't finish on time. And you just did it."

"You looked tired," says Dassi.

Mommy wipes her hands on her apron and crouches down. She opens her arms. Dassi runs into them, and flour gets all over her sweater, and neither of them cares.

"I'm sorry I said 'one second' three times," says Mommy. "I wasn't ignoring you. My head was full of the soup and the challah and the clock."

"I know," says Dassi. "I almost got mad, but then I saw the flour on your face."

Mommy laughs and wipes her cheek. "Is it still there?"

"A little."

"Now, show me that drawing," says Mommy.

Dassi brings it over. It is a picture of their house, with a little plume of smoke from the chimney, and four stick figures standing out front. Over the door, in wobbly letters, it says Good Shabbos.

"It is the nicest thing anyone's shown me all day," says Mommy, and she hangs it on the fridge with a magnet.

At candle lighting, Dassi stands next to her mother as the flames flicker. Mommy covers her eyes, then whispers something very quietly. When she opens them, she squeezes Dassi's hand.

At the Shabbos table, after the soup is served, Totty tastes a spoonful. "Best soup ever," he says. Then he looks around. "And who did the table? It looks like a restaurant."

Dassi grins. "That was me."