inside Currants in the Charoset … 3 and Passover all around the world Passover in Africa, revisited 4 Matzah and pitahaya: 5 Memories of Passover in Guatemala Ugandan rabbi spreads word about 6-7 the Abayudaya, the Jews of Uganda ‘I would carry the matzah in an unlabeled 8 carton’ - Memories of Jewish life in USSR Acclaimed for Passover story and more, 9 Jane Yolen speaks on books, poetry Sylvia Bub’s South African-Lithuanian 10 Stuffed Kneydlakh Miracles and sacrifices: 11 Allentown woman recalls narrow escape
ADAR/NISAN 5773 | MARCH 2013
CURRANTS IN THE CHAROSET … and Passover all around the world By Sara Vigneri Special to HAKOL
A Haggadah for French Jews from Algeria that the Lehigh Valley’s own Alice Level's family has been using for generations.
On March 25, Jews around the world will be sitting down to a seder, practicing Passover traditions that stretch so far into history that their origins have often been forgotten. Although new traditions still crop up from time to time, Passover would not be the same without certain key ingredients, whether food or something else. In 2009, the very first seder led by a president was conducted in the White House. Or, as one White House staffer acknowledged, it was “the first time in history that gefilte fish had been placed on White House dishware.” President Obama began the seder by discussing Passover’s themes of struggle and liberation. Daughters Malia and Sasha quickly found the hidden matzah and then hid it again (they hid it so well, in fact, that a staffer took 45 minutes to locate it). They opened the door for Elijah and ate traditional seder foods, including matzah ball soup. In addition to making delicious food, the seder is often an excuse to buy new festive clothes. However, many Yemenite Jews also sprinkle their clothing with incense so that they will smell their very best as they “return” to the Holy Land. According to Benjamin Blech, author of “The Book of Passover,” Russian Jews from Dagestan dress in militarytype clothing (including daggers) and sit in formations like soldiers resting after battle to show they are strong and mighty. Evoking the Biblical Passover celebration, Blech
writes, Ethiopian Jews gather at the synagogue and offer a sacrificial paschal lamb and then eat the meat with matzah. And while the rest of us sit comfortably during the long storytelling section of magid, Ronald H. Isaacs writes in “Every Person’s Guide to Passover” that Bukhuran Jews walk around the table, bent over, to reenact the plight of slaves. In Afghanistan, the leader of the seder raises the zeroa (bone) during the reading on the exodus to symbolize God’s outstretched arm. When it comes to food, traditions and recipes vary from table to table. Take charoset -- some people make it chunky, others blend it like a puree, but most recipes include some form of nuts and fruits. In Gibralter, charoset is made with dates, apples, nuts, almonds, bananas, wine, sugar and cinammon (and a sprinkle of actual brick dust). Moroccan Jews grind dates, walnuts and red wine to form balls of charoset while Iraqi Jews serve charoset as a syrup made of dates. In Turkey, they use dates, figs, apricots, walnuts and apples while Greeks use currants, raisins, almonds, dates, honey and red wine. During the seder, Turkish and Greek Jews eat celery leaves as karpas and use the stalks to make apio -- a cooked celery dish made with lemon juice and oil that is often served as an appetizer. According to the “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food” by Gil Marks, some Turkish Jews garnish apio with fresh dill, others make it with carrots to add color. Polish Jews have a custom of
using onion skins to dye eggs brown, called valetshovnes, so that they look roasted. Macaroons have long signaled the end of many a seder -- their flourless paste makes them a tasty Passover dessert. Marks writes that their appearance in Italian Jewish culture dates back to the mid-16th century before eventually showing up in an American Jewish cookbook in 1871. Of course, most of us are now more familiar with the mass-produced macaroons that come in the can -- a far cry from their Italian ancestors. Finally, once Passover comes to a close, many Jews in Morrocco celebrate Mimouna, when they open their doors and set a festive table. While a Moroccan seder is more of a family service, Mimouna is a communal festivity during which people visit from house to house or meet for large public picnics. A popular Mimouna delicacy is mufleta -- a dough made of flour and yeast, fried in butter and served with honey. As the first taste of chametz after the Passover restriction, Mufleta is a welcome treat.
HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | MARCH 2013 3
REVISITED
PASSOVER IN AFRICA,
revisited
By Edwin Kay Special to HAKOL
IT’S PASSOVER AT WEGMANS! THURSDAY, MARCH 14 | 4 to 7 p.m. SUNDAY, MARCH 17 | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. THURSDAY, MARCH 21 | 9 to 11 a.m. Free tastings of Charoset from around the world Matzah, matzah, matzah Enter to win your own Passover seder package Free and open to everyone Sponsored by the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley
Stop by while you shop
4 MARCH 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER
My wife, Jannie, and I lived in Cameroon, West Africa, as Peace Corps volunteers from June 1995 to June 1997, and subsequently in Ghana, West Africa, from August 2010 to June 2011. In both countries, we made efforts to celebrate Passover, as well as other Jewish holidays. When we were living in Cameroon, if you scoured the whole country of 15 million people for Jews, you would barely scrape up a minyan. Indeed, the only association Cameroonians had with Jews was with Israel (although one member of our host family-intraining had the notion that Jews are pretty smart). We did come close to obtaining a minyan when we celebrated Rosh Hashanah at the Israeli Embassy in Yaounde. Jannie developed a close relationship with Atey Patricia, who lived in our village and worked with Jannie at OIC, a vocational training program for adults that was founded in Philadelphia by Reverend Leon Sullivan. We invited Atey Patricia to our house for Purim. At our request she brought along her Bible so that we could read the Story of Esther. Seven weeks later, we invited Atey Patricia back to our house for Passover. Aside from the various substitutions for impossibleto-obtain items, such as the shank bone -- we did have matzah, thanks to our daughter, Natalia, who had visited during spring break -- we had a fairly complete seder, which Atey Patricia graciously claimed to enjoy. Towards the end of the evening, I explained to her that we were not Christians, which she vaguely understood about Jews, but somehow this understanding did not include Jews’ lack of
Jannie (center) at a Shabbat meal with two NYU in Ghana program participants and with David Orenstein, a UK-born Israeli. belief in Jesus Christ. I have the impression that Christian Cameroonians do not comprehend a religion without a belief in Christ, although I don’t know how their thinking about their Moslem neighbors fits into all of this. Whereas in Cameroon we lived in a small village (Buea), in Ghana we lived in the capital city, Accra, which has a population of two million people. Before going to Ghana, our Googling of “Jews in Ghana” produced only a reference to Sefwi Wiawso, a community of Ghanian, self-proclaimed Jews. After we arrived in Ghana, we quickly discovered that, while we could find no Jewish congregation, there is a permanent Israeli community in Accra, of perhaps 200 people. It turns out that the Israelis have been doing business in Ghana for at least the last 50 years. Israelis have built many roads and have had a substantial hand in building and maintaining Accra’s water system. Most of these Israelis are secular, but the community celebrates all of the Jewish holidays with large community meals. During Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur and Passover, Chabad -whose only permanent location in West Africa is in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, of all places -- sends in two or three of
their people from Brooklyn to conduct services. They also kashered the kitchen where they stayed and served strictly kosher meals. Because Accra is the capital of Ghana, as well as the economic center of West Africa, there are numerous foreign agencies headquartered there; for example, the U.S. Embassy, USAID and CARE. A number of Jews work at these agencies and have their families with them. For both nights of Passover, we attended seders indistinguishable from the ones we have attended over the years in the U.S., except that the homes were larger and more luxurious. Another exception was the composition of the assembled group. None of us were with an extended family; rather, we all were new found friends, in some cases very newly found. We had all three of the people from Google’s Accra office. We had two exchange students from New York University. We had the director of a large CARE project and his family. We had the military attaché from the U.S. Embassy and his family. Finally, we did not lack for any of the traditional foods. People who worked at the U.S. Embassy were able to have all the necessary ingredients shipped in, thanks to U.S. taxpayers.
MATZAH AND PITAHAYA: Memories of Passover in Guatemala FAR LEFT, Roberto Fischmann (right) and his father. CENTER, a Passover Haggadah sponsored by Roberto Fischmann that was translated into Spanish and published in 2010. RIGHT, the dedication area of the Haggadah where Fischmann thanks his family and friends for past Passover memories and expresses his hopes for new seder memories in the future.
By Ginny Cohen Special to HAKOL Roberto Fischmann was born and raised in Guatemala, and has fond memories of celebrating Passover with his family in Central America. “During the seder, we would recite the entire Haggadah in a special, particular melody, called a trope. My father sang the entire thing, and eventually so did I. I still sing the Haggadah to this melody, and now my own children know it, and so do my friends. The tune acts as an icebreaker. People around the seder table can sing it in any language they want -English, Hebrew, Spanish.” Fischmann’s Guatemalan family roots date back to 1894. His mother’s family is from Germany and his father’s family from Slovakia/Hungary. By the time Fischmann was born, four families of relatives lived near each other in Guatemala and they had to use their ingenuity to get around the lack of kosher food options in Central America. “We kept a kosher home,” Fischmann said, “and my
mother spent a great deal of time preparing and, [at Passover], cleaning the house for the seder. It wasn’t easy, because the only things we could import from the United States were matzah, matzah meal, Manischewitz, pickles and Carmel wine.” Three times a year, Fischmann’s family would hire a shochet -- a religious Jew licensed and trained to perform the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary law -- to travel to Guatemala. One of the shochet’s visits would always coincide with Passover. “Our family would buy 100 chickens, and about 10 cows, to be delivered the day before the kill. The shochet was then scheduled to go to each of the four families,” Fischmann said. “[Beginning] promptly at 5 a.m., the shochet would kill the 100 chickens. When I was seven or eight years old, I learned how to properly pluck chickens. Today, there are kosher supermarkets in Guatemala. Nobody has to pluck the chickens anymore.” Obtaining the meat for Passover certainly required
careful planning and consideration. Yet, purchasing fruits and vegetables was another story. Fischmann explained that there was always an abundance of fruits and vegetables available year round in Guatemala. “We would go to the central market and buy the freshest selections for our seder and for use during the rest of the year. My favorites were mamey sapote and pitahaya.” Both of these are fruits indigenous to the region. There were other foods that Fischmann delighted in while in Guatemala, and he continues to share these with his family in Allentown. He said, “My mother made great gefilte fish, and [she made] delicious nut cakes from scratch.” His wife, Eileen, an Allentown native, learned to
make these cakes from his aunts and she still makes the nut cakes for the family to eat. Fischmann’s family also made their matzah balls very hard, instead of the light and fluffy ones that many strive to make. Family members would ask one another,“How are your windows?” the day after the seder, because the matzah balls should have been made hard enough to break a window. “Matzah coffee” was another family favorite. The drink consists of hot coffee with milk, sugar and matzah crunched up into a cup. “I liked matzah coffee growing up and now my children love it, too,” Roberto said. With the help of the ArtScroll Mesorah Series, Fischmann
sponsored a Passover Haggadah that was published in 2010. The Haggadah, which is translated into Spanish, is entitled “La Hagada para la Familia,”and includes the full text, plus an introduction, instructions and notes. In the dedication area of the Haggadah, Fischmann thanks his family and friends for past Passover memories and expresses his hopes for new seder memories in the future. The Fischmann family has made lasting memories by singing together the timeless trope, both in Guatemala and in Pennsylvania. From stories of the plucking of the chickens to the making of delicious nut cakes, Fischmann has passed on traditions that will continue to inspire family and friends.
HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | MARCH 2013 5
Ugandan rabbi spreads word about the ‘IT HAPPENED ON THE 14TH OF NISAN’
Ugandan Jews survive years of oppression By Jennifer Lader Editor, HAKOL In 1926, two men named Moshe and Josef walked into a synagogue in Uganda, in East Africa. The congregation responded with outrage and expelled them from the synagogue with the words, “You’re not Jewish!” Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, present-day spiritual leader of that congregation, visited Bethlehem in November of last year and described what happened next. Moshe and Josef replied, “But we are Jewish!” They showed the congregation the books they carried, all written in Hebrew. The congregants responded, “Then why did you wear shoes into our synagogue?” The congregation was Uganda’s Abayudaya, or “people of Israel.” In visits to Lehigh University’s Hillel organization and Congregation Brith Sholom, Sizomu described the history, lifestyle and hopes of his people. Semei Kakungulu was the founding rabbi. He had already achieved fame throughout Uganda as a warrior. However, Sizomu said that in 1919, Kakungulu completed a spiritual quest that led him to Torah, which he found by reading the Bible brought by Christian missionaries. Kakungulu could accept only the portion known as the Old Testament. He circumcised himself and all those who decided to
join him in forming a congregation that would, in the decades that followed, keep the mitzvot as described in the Torah, without reference to or knowledge of Talmud or rabbinic teachings. The Abayudaya kept kosher; they kept Shabbat, Passover and Sukkot -- only those holidays described in the Bible. It was also their custom to remove their shoes before entering the synagogue because, as near the burning bush, it was “holy ground.” The Abayudaya eventually accepted their visitors, Moshe and Josef, and learned what they could from them. In the years that followed, the Abayudaya experienced many difficulties that made survival difficult, Sizomu said. For example, they had decided to forego the education and medical resources being provided by missionaries because these things came at the price of conversion to Christianity. So when Kakungulu came down with pneumonia in 1928 and died, it was a major blow to the community and, at that time, many abandoned Judaism in favor of education and medicine. In the late 1930s, Sizomu’s grandfather, who had been Kakungulu’s “right hand man,” agreed to become the rabbi. Thus, the small Jewish community survived with leadership and subsistence farming. Years went by in this manner. Sizomu recalled what happened next: “In 1962, came the Israelis with the opening of their embassy.
As a result of worldwide interest in the Abayudaya, they now have the Tobin Center, which provides healthcare to Jews and non-Jews alike. The head of the embassy came to our village at Passover and the people were getting ready for Passover. How do you think they were getting ready, based on Torah?”
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6 MARCH 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER
e Abayudaya, the Jews of Uganda
Rabbi Gershom Sizomu (above, at far left) with his family and (right) at his ordination. Sizomu smiled as he answered his own question: “They were making a sacrifice.” The head of the embassy was shocked and told the Abayudaya that sacrifices were no longer done since the destruction of the temple. The Abayudaya immediately updated their ways. They obtained books and, for the first time, rabbinic teachings. Two representatives from the community were invited to go to study in Israel. However, in 1971, before the two could leave, Idi Amin took power and became a dictator, appointing himself life president of Uganda. “He hated the Jews,” Sizomu said. “He said we could no longer practice Judaism. I grew up during those years and I did not grow up familiar with the service or with the synagogue. We prayed in our bedrooms, very quietly.” Amin did open the Christian schools to Muslims and Jews, so Sizomu was able to get an education, which for him had already started with the teachings of his father, who was also a rabbi. “I am not the oldest in my family,” Sizomu said, “but my brothers and family all agreed that I had what was needed … They called me ‘Rabbi’ and that became my name. It was how I registered at school.” In the school, the Jewish children experienced anti-Semitism and felt very clearly in the minority. Then, in 1976, a planeload of hijacked Jewish passengers landed at the Ugandan airport and was saved in a dramatic Israeli rescue at Entebbe. In 1979, following the Uganda-Tanzania War, Amin was overthrown by a military coup backed by Tanzanian forces. “It happened on the 14th of Nisan,” Sizomu said. “I thought it was a miracle. I was seeing God rescue us from Egypt!” It had been many years since the Abayudaya had been able to hold a seder. “The next day, we had the second seder,” Sizomu said, “and we drank more than four cups of wine, let me tell you!” Sizomu went on to complete his rabbinic education in the U.S. and return to Uganda, where he works to implement improvements to the standard of living and spur economic development that benefits both the Abayudaya and their neighbors.
The Shalom School of the Abayudaya.
Above and below, scenes from the village life of the Abayudaya in Uganda.
How you can help the Abayudaya Malaria is part of day-to-day life in Africa. Rabbi Sizomu, leader of the Ugandan Jewish community notes that facilitating economic development depends on a healthy population, and that deaths due to malaria spread by mosquitoes have been common throughout time and into the present-day in Africa. In the past two years, use of mosquito netting has virtually eliminated deaths from malaria in the Abayudaya Jewish community in Uganda. Mosquito netting has a lifespan of just six months and needs to be replaced regularly to maintain its effectiveness, so the need for
netting is ongoing. Congregation Brith Sholom of Bethlehem invites the entire Lehigh Valley to join in an effort to buy mosquito netting for the Abayudaya community. Brith Sholom is working with Be’chol Lashon (meaning “In Every Tongue”) an organization whose mission is to grow and strengthen the Jewish people through ethnic, cultural and racial inclusiveness, to provide these life-saving nets to the Abayudaya, Rabbi Sizomu’s people. The cost of one treated net is $10. All donations are tax deductible. Donations can be
made at the Brith Sholom link being set up on the Be’chol Lashon website, www.bechollashon.org, or checks for the nets can be made out to Be’chol Lashon and sent to 3198 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94118. “Abayudaya mosquito nets” must be noted in the memo line. Individuals can also make donations using a credit card by calling Be’chol Lashon at 415386-2604. On behalf of the Abayudaya community, Congregation Brith Sholom thanks you for your generosity.
HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | MARCH 2013 7
‘I WOULD CARRY THE MATZAH IN AN UNLABELED CARTON’
Memories of Jewish life in USSR By Monica Friess Special to HAKOL As the community begins to prepare for Passover, many will draw on treasured memories of seders past. Grandma’s brisket recipe will be prepared, Mom’s seder plate will adorn the table and the matzot will be covered with a cloth the children decorated in Hebrew school. When Inna Vishnevetsky and her family came to the United States from the Ukraine in 1992, this was not the case. Speaking recently of her life while growing up in the Ukraine, she said, “I don’t remember how we even knew when it was Passover. We somehow learned about it through the grapevine of relatives and then we celebrated.” The observance may or may not have been on the actual day; there were no haggadot to read from, and the seder table was devoid of any of the traditional symbols. But Vishnevetsky knew it was Passover, even if she wasn’t quite clear on all the specifics of the holiday. “My grandmother used to make matzah and gefilte fish from scratch,” she said. “It was a huge amount of work. After she died, we tried to continue to celebrate.” Her mother did not have the time to bake the matzah and grind and cook the fish herself, but she prepared a festive meal. They were able to buy matzah “through a friend of a friend of a relative” and, if there was enough, her mother would grind some into meal to make matzah balls for the chicken soup.
Hakol 4x4_March_Russell_Layout 1 2/6/2013 2:00 PM Page 1
Spend an evening with one of the great wits of our time.
“Because I had to take public transportation to get back home, I would carry the matzah in an unlabeled carton,” Vishnevetsky said. “It wasn’t a good idea to advertise that you were Jewish.” Alex Linderman, who came to Allentown from Leningrad in 1990, echoes the sentiment. “It was never officially forbidden to practice Judaism openly,” he said, “but neither was it recommended.” Linderman said he, too, has trouble remembering the specifics of how Passover was celebrated, except that the family came together for a festive dinner. It was when Vishnevetsky and her husband Yvgeny (Eugene) and their two daughters, Julia and Anna, came to Allentown that their innate Judaism began to blossom and evolve. Jewish Family Service sponsored their move, and it was they who enrolled Julia (Anna was still a baby) in the Jewish Day School. “We came to the States not knowing much about Jewish observance or traditions,” said Vishnevetsky. “When our kids went to the JDS, they learned and they taught us.” As the years passed, both Inna and Eugene’s knowledge grew and the customs that were once new to them became commonplace in everyday life. “The girls are out of the house now, but we still celebrate the way they taught us,” Vishnevetsky said. They’ll all be together for the seder this year, savoring the beauty of Jewish tradition and creating memories for generations to come.
IF TOO MUCH MATZAH IS ALL YOU HAVE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS PASSOVER, THEN YOU’RE ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES. You know the feeling. It’s mid-Passover and it seems like there’s nothing to eat but matzah. Take a moment to think about the countless people at home, in Israel and around the world who will go hungry this Passover. You can help—with your donation, we can care for the most vulnerable in our community, and reach out to Jews in more than 70 countries with food aid and lifesaving assistance.
Donate. Volunteer. Make a difference.
A Conversation with
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453 Northampton St., Easton, PA 1-800-999-STATE . 610-252-3132
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8 MARCH 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER
THE STRENGTH OF A PEOPLE. THE POWER OF COMMUNITY.
ACCLAIMED FOR PASSOVER STORY AND MORE,
Jane Yolen speaks on books, poetry
By Ruth Knafo Setton Director of the Berman Center for Jewish Studies
Jane Yolen is one of my heroes. She’s also one of the world’s most successful children’s book writers, with over 300 books, numerous awards, six honorary degrees and fans across the globe. An inspiration to other authors, she writes daily, fights censorship, lectures constantly and at age 74, shows no signs of slowing down. I’ve wanted to bring her to Lehigh University for a long time, and am delighted that she’ll be a Berman Center speaker on March 19 at 4:15 p.m. at Lehigh University’s Zoellner Arts Center. Recently, I asked her a few questions about writing, fairy tales and the importance of storytelling. A passionate spokesperson for the importance of folktales and fairy tales in our culture, she has found brilliant ways to interweave myths and tales with grim reality. For example, in her National Book Award-winning novella, “The Devil’s Arithmetic,” a girl opens the door for Elijah at her family’s seder and finds herself back in a shtetl, and is taken from there to a death camp in Poland; and in her provocative, haunting novel, “Briar Rose,” she re-envisions the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty during the Holocaust.
It was my second Holocaust novel, so I already had a base of knowledge and a library of my own. But as I was working on it, I needed to step back and give myself a barrier between what I was researching again and my emotions. And then, when I discovered (it just happened, I hadn’t planned on it) that one of my main characters was a gay man who had been imprisoned in a pink triangle camp, I had new research that needed to be done.
Q. What led you to write children’s literature, rather than adult?
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Q. What are your thoughts about the directions children’s and YA literature are taking? Are there any contemporary writers or books you admire? We are in a kind of second golden age of children’s books in the U.S., or maybe a kind of silver age, not quite gold, but it is all very exciting. People of every gender persuasion, faith and cultural background are bringing out stories reflecting their own sensibilities and sensitivities.
Q. What is the best writing advice you ever received?
An editor early on said to me, “You have great facility. Do not be beguiled by it.” Which is why a recent editor of my adult poetry bemoaned, “When are you going to stop rewriting?” And I answered, “When you take the poems away from me!”
Q. You’ve said, “Writers and storytellers are the memory of a civilization.” Can you please discuss what you mean by that?
Q. You’ve called “Briar Rose” one of the hardest books you ever wrote. Can you discuss the experience of researching and writing this book?
A happy accident, really. I began as a poet and journalist -- poetry for the soul and journalism for the pocketbook -- and I fell into children’s books and short fiction, which
suited me very well. Oh, and by the way, I have also had concurrently a career in adult short stories, five or six novels (all fantasy/science fiction), a bunch of adult poetry collections and also collections of folktales, plus several adult pedagogical books/nonfiction as well.
When Elie Wiesel was asked what he thought about people writing fiction about the Holocaust, he answered something to the effect that very soon no one who had been in the Holocaust would be left, and we needed all the poems and stories to be written and told so we would still remember.
Q. Is there anything in particular you want to accomplish that you haven’t yet?
I have so many stories and poems in my head that I know, at 74, I will never have the opportunity to write them all. Like Isaac Asimov who, when asked what he would do if he knew he had only five minutes left to live, answered, “Type faster!,” I know my time is limited. I just want to get better at what I do in every new story or poem.
Q. Do you still write a poem a day? What do you think a fiction writer can learn from writing poetry?
I have been writing a poem a day for two years and just started my third year on Jan. 1. The discipline is good for me and occasionally I get a solid poem out of it. Here is a recent poem:
The Trochenbrod Miracle
“The little girl wasn’t more than 3 years old . . . very very sick, and she died . . . we left the little girl under a pile of leaves, and we figured . . . we’ll go and bury her. When we came back to bury her, she was breathing! Just barely.” -- Avro BendavidVal from “ The Heavens Are Empty, Discovering the Lost Town of Trochenbrod” The trees hid the miracle, bless them. Their heavy trunks, limbs twisted as an old man’s fingers, made a wall. The bunker nursed the miracle, bless it. Dug deep into the earth, it made a nest, a sanctuary, a hospice, a home. The leaves blanketed the miracle, bless them. They hid her small body, not dead, not quite dead yet, till she was ready. The village mothers fed the miracle, bless them. They opened beaks like frantic birds, dripping water into her mouth. The village fathers held her close, bless them. They gave her warmth pulled slowly from the burning of their hearts. The world gave her back life, bless it, so she could bless G-d with her living, her goodness, after the war. ©January 3, 2013 Jane Yolen, all rights reserved
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Scrambled eggs with ricotta and chives INGREDIENTS: 4 extra large eggs 1 T. chopped fresh chives 1/4 t. kosher salt 1 1/2 T. butter 1/2 c. fresh ricotta cheese 2 matzos spread with unsalted butter TECHNIQUE: Mix eggs, chives and salt together. Melt butter in By Sandi Teplitz frying pan. Add egg mixture till almost cooked; remove from heat. Add ricotta and stir until mixed through, with pieces showing. Place on top of matzos and enjoy immediately!
Asparagus-leek frittata INGREDIENTS: 1 c. chopped leeks (white part only) 1 bunch of pencil thin asparagus cut into 1” pieces 1 c. sliced shiitake mushrooms 8 large eggs 3/4 c. fontina cheese 1/4 c. fontina cheese 1/4 c. parmesan cheese salt and pepper to taste 2 1/2 T. butter TECHNIQUE: Preheat broiler. Melt butter in copper ovenproof pan. Add leeks and saute until almost soft. Add asparagus and mushrooms and saute until very soft. In a bowl, mix eggs with 3/4 c. fontina. Add to copper pan ; mix, then cook until almost done. Sprinkle rest of fontina and parmesan over this. Broil until puffy and cheese is golden. Serve with matzos and whipped cream cheese.
SYLVIA BUB’S
South African-Lithuanian Stuffed Kneydlakh (Matzah Balls)
Sylvia Bub first shared this recipe with cookbook writer Joan Nathan, who published the recipe in The New York Times and wrote about it in one of her books. Sylvia said that anyone not comfortable making matzoh balls from scratch, or who likes matzoh balls to be light and fluffy, may substitute a mix. Makes 8 to 10
MEAT FILLING
¼ lb. ground beef 1 T. vegetable oil, kosher for Passover 2 large egg yolks 2 T. softened chicken fat 2 T. matzah meal, approximately Pinch of salt ¼ t. cinnamon
MATZAH BALLS
2 large eggs 2 c. water 10 t. chicken fat plus fat for greasing pan 1 ¼ c. matzah meal, approximately 1 t. salt, or to taste 3 qt. rapidly boiling salted water 2 t. cinnamon 1. To prepare the filling, sauté the meat in the oil in a skillet until brown. Drain and cool and combine with the egg yolks, chicken fat, matzah meal, salt, and cinnamon. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
2. Meanwhile, to prepare matzah balls, begin by beating eggs well in a bowl. Add the 2 cups water and 6 teaspoons of chicken fat and mix well. Add enough matzah meal and salt to make a soft mass. Refrigerate for at least one hour. 3. Divide the matzah meal mixture into 8-10 balls of equal size. Flatten them and place one teaspoon of meat filling in the center of each. Enclose the filling, pinch the edges together and form balls. 4. Place the matzah balls into the 3 quarts of rapidly boiling salted water. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. 5. Preheat the oven to 400º. Drain the matzah balls and place in a pan greased with chicken fat, cover with remaining 4 teaspoons chicken fat and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly browned. Serve each matzah ball in a soup bowl with chicken soup ladled over it.
10 MARCH 2013 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER
MIRACLES AND SACRIFICES: Allentown woman recalls narrow escape By Alice Level Special to HAKOL I first met Regina Brenner when I came to the Lehigh Valley about eight years ago. We instantly clicked and discovered we had a lot in common: Like me, she speaks French (she was born in Belgium), loves cooking and is very passionate about Judaism and Jewish history. But what I like the most about her is her sunny disposition, her optimism and good attitude about everything. It was only natural that I immediately thought of her as I was looking for people to interview about good Jewish recipes and their stories. As I explained to her what kind of recipe I was looking for, she immediately said, “My mom wasn’t a great cook, but she had a few very good recipes that I learned from her. She made a great brisket for the holidays, for example, that I would love to share.” “OK,” I said, ”what is so special about the recipe ?” “Well,” she said, “the recipe is very good, but the reason I’d like to share the recipe is that if I had to choose one person I want to give a recipe from, it would absolutely be my mother.” I asked Regina why and she told me her story: “My mother was the strongest person I ever knew. She went through a lot of hardships in her life, but always found the strength not only to fight for herself, but for her family, too. And for that I’ve always admired her and always tried to be as strong as her. “I told you I was from Belgium, but my parents weren’t born in Belgium at all. They were from Poland. They got married in Warsaw in 1923, but decided to leave Poland because of the anti-Semitism. They had some family in Belgium, so my Dad left and worked in Brussels for a year to save some money
before my mother and brother, who was born in 1923, could come and join him. My parents opened an atelier where my Dad designed purses and my Mom sewed them. I was born in Brussels a few years later and we would have stayed there forever, had the Germans not invaded Europe. “My parents decided to leave for Paris in May 1940, [because it] looked safer at the time. When we left Brussels, the Germans were already advancing. War had begun. We took a train for Paris, but the Germans had just invaded France, and the train couldn’t make it to Paris. It ended up in a small town near Toulouse, which was very lucky for us, because it was in the south of France, which wasn’t under German occupation. It was the first miracle in our story because, had the train headed to Paris or anywhere else in Northern France, we would have been sent to concentration camps right away. “Our story doesn’t end here. The south of France wasn’t under German occupation, but the Regime de Vichy started promulgating anti-Jewish laws as strict as the German ones, and it became only worse from then on. One day, the French police rounded up all the Jews in our town, and we were sent to a detention camp in Agde, [France]. We stayed there for eight months, where we lived in small barracks, and my mom tried to cook the little food we could get. She had siblings in the United States, fortunately, that were able to go to Washington D.C., and get the promise of a visa for us. As soon as we got the letter, it was my mom who came to see the director of the camp and begged him to let her family leave the camp. And, miraculously, he agreed! That was the second miracle, because a few weeks after we left Agde, the people still there was sent to
Brisket
Wash and dry meat. Make a paste with minced garlic mixed with kosher salt and paprika. Rub paste on all sides of meat. Dredge in potato starch if at Passover, flour at all other times, shaking off excess. Put fat in a pot big enough to hold meat. Braise on all sides. Remove. Slice onions and brown slightly in same pot. Return meat to the pot. Add bay leaves and pepper to taste, as well as the boiling broth or water. Cover tightly and cook on top of the stove on fairly low flame until meat is tender, about three hours or more. Add more stock or water as necessary.
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Regina Brenner Rivesaltes, a concentration camp in France, and then to Auschwitz where they were killed.” “We still hadn’t [received] the visa. We ended up in a small city in France where nobody except the priest knew we were Jewish. He helped us rent an apartment, though, and never told anybody. We pretended not to be Jewish, but my mom still secretly lit the Shabbat candles every Friday. And even though we had very little to eat and she insisted that we kids ate whatever food (even non-kosher) that could help us get stronger, she and my Dad never ate any non-kosher food. “It took several months for the visa to come, because at the time, the U.S.A. still wasn’t at war with Germany and they did everything they could to not let the Jews get into the United States. But, at last the visa arrived and we boarded a train to Portugal to take a ship for the U.S. We arrived at Ellis Island a mere few days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, and finally started our new lives. My brother enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 and died in the Battle of Okinawa in 1945; we received his Purple Heart. My mother was never the same after that ...”
Passoidveaes r2013
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For great holiday meal recipes and ideas—pick up a FREE Passover Meal Guide Browse it online at wegmans.com
Regina Brenner shares her mother’s recipe Ingredients: 3 lbs. beef brisket 6 cloves garlic 3 T. kosher salt 4 T. paprika Warm water, enough to make a paste 2 onions flour 2 T. fat or oil pepper, to taste 1 c. boiling broth or water 2 bay leaves
make a statement.
Savory Matzo Brei with Nova
Look for Gluten-Free e items insid
(in our Kosher Deli or Catering Dept.)
Kosher Deli Dinners Our fully prepared, complete holiday dinners are a convenient way to enjoy traditional favorites with family and friends. All of our dinner components are sealed and double wrapped by our manufacturers to meet Kosher-for-Passover requirements. Kosher-for-Passover item availability varies by store location.
Three wayS you can enjoy effortless holiday entertaining:
Order Complete Dinner
Fully cooked, ready-to-reheat meals; choose Brisket or Turkey, includes 8 side dishes.
Purchase just the entrée Choose Brisket or Turkey.
Purchase just the sides
Sealed and double-wrapped side dishes; 3lb Club Pack size serves up to 8.
Three wayS TO order Visit wegmans.com/parties NEW option— Order and pay online! • Call 1-800-914-GIFT • Stop by the Catering Department • Dinners sell fast!
HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | MARCH 2013 11
Pick up your
Wishing you and your family a
Happy Passover Kedem Grape Juice Streit’s or Manischewitz Matzos 5 lb. box
5
$ 99
SAVE with coupon in circular
with your BONUSCARD
5 lb. pkg.
SAVE with coupon in circular
4
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Kedem Apple Juice
4
2/$ 00 with your BONUSCARD
Manischewitz Egg Matzos 12 oz. pkg.
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3
1
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6.4 oz. pkg.
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4
2/$ 00 with your BONUSCARD
Season Sardines
4
2/$ 00
8 oz. pkg.
2/$ 00
2/$ 00 with your BONUSCARD
Kedem Sparkling Grape Juice
All Varieties, 25.4 fl. oz. btl.
6
2/$ 00 with your BONUSCARD
2/$ 00 with your BONUSCARD
Gold’s Borscht
24–32 oz. jar
5
5
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Premium Baby Red or Gold Potatoes Great for Roasting, US #1, 1.5 lb. bag
5
2/$ 00
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Lilly’s Passover Assorted Cookies 12 oz. pkg.
7
$ 99
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2
$ 99
/lb.
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Use your card and save on items on this page. We sell both kosher and non-kosher foods. Some items not available in some stores. While supplies last. Prices good March 1– March 25, 2013.
6
2/$ 00
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or Marshmallow Twists, Select Varieties, 9 oz. pkg.
6
2/$ 00
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Ungar’s Gefilte Fish 22 oz. pkg.
4
$ 99
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3
2/$ 00
Empire Kosher Fresh Whole Cut Up Chicken
/ea.
All Varieties, 12–13.5 oz. pkg.
Assorted Varieties, 67.6 fl oz. btl., Plus Deposit Where Applicable
19 oz. can
99¢
2/$ 00
Dr. Praeger’s Potato Pancake
Dr. Brown’s Soda 2 Liter
Osem Cucumbers in Brine
Assorted Varieties, 3.75 oz. can
2/$ 00
Located in the Kosher Section
Joyva Ring Jells
4.5 oz. pkg.
Holiday Fruit Slices
1 ct. pkg.
with your BONUSCARD
Manischewitz Matzo Ball Mix or Matzo Ball Soup Mix
6
$ 99
Rokeach Glass Candle
Tabatchnick Frozen Soup
Osem Passover Roll Mix
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Chocolate, Almond, Chocolate Chip or Coconut, 10 oz. pkg.
2
5
2/$ 00
2/$ 00
Streit’s Macaroons
64 fl. oz. btl.
Assorted Varieties, 15 oz. pkg.
Assorted Varieties, 24 oz. jar
5
$ 99
Passover Brochure
Mrs. Adler’s Gefilte Fish
Select Varieties, 64 fl. oz. btl.
Yehuda or Aviv Matzos
FREE Celebrate
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Acme Nova Smoked Salmon
Previously Frozen, 4 oz. pkg.
5
$ 99 /ea.
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