Honey-Ricotta Cheese Cake

The language of God was sweet indeed to the very young boys beginning cheder (religious elementary school). On their first day of classes, little students were presented with a slate on which the Hebrew alphabet was smeared with honey. After the teacher recited the letters, the child licked them off, tasting for the first time the sweetness of learning.

This lovely custom took place in many European communities on Shavuot, which marks the time when God gave the Torah, the written wo