HANUKKAH 2014 SPECIAL ISSUE
Ryan Helton, 9, Rockwern Academy
Gilad Volovelsky, 7, Rockwern Academy
Shosahana Abes-Feldman, 6, Rockwern Academy
Addison Howard, 6, Rockwern Academy
Runner-ups of the 2014 Hanukkah Cover Coloring Contest
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
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What makes Hanukkah great in America By Dianne Ashton CHERRY HILL, N.J. (JTA) – As Hanukkah nears, let the grousing begin. Too much is made of a holiday that Judaism ranks as a minor festival – one whose rite takes no more than five minutes to complete each night – some American Jews will say. Some will complain about the season’s excessive commercialism or materialism. Yet most Jews will also participate in at least one of the many customs developed by American Jews to augment the holiday’s simple rite and express the enhanced place of Hanukkah, which this year falls on Dec. 16, on the American Jewish liturgical calendar. In addition to exchanging gifts (or giving them to children), they will decorate their homes, eat fried foods, sing songs, listen to holiday music and attend one or more of the many holiday festivities held at Jewish community centers, synagogues, Jewish-themed museums and Jewish schools. At these and other venues, they will join in more elaborate versions of the domestic customs. They will light holiday candles or watch them be kindled, sing more songs than they do at home, snack on potato pancakes or jelly donuts, chat with their friends and neighbors, watch or participate in amateur theatricals on the holiday’s theme – generally have a good time. Beneath the lighthearted celebrating, however, more serious meanings are often conveyed through the holiday’s songs. The word Hanukkah means dedication, and the holiday has always highlighted occasions when Jews overcame challenges to their continued religious commitment. Hanukkah commemorates the rededicating of the Jerusalem Temple in 165 BCE after a band of Jews led by the Maccabees retook it from the Syrians, who had conquered
Judea. Generations of Jews retold that story at Hanukkah and thanked God for helping their ancestors to prevail. American Jews found additional reasons to reaffirm their dedication at Hanukkah and often voiced those reasons in original songs. Since 1842, American Jews have been singing Hanukkah songs that expressed the complicated experience of being Jewish in the United States. That year, a new hymnal for Congregation Beth Elohim in Charleston, S.C., included a special hymn for Hanukkah that reassured congregants that the God to whom they prayed forgave their sins and continued to stand by them. The hymn countered the energetic effort by local Christian evangelicals to convince them to worship Jesus. Yet because it reassured Jews living anywhere in a largely Protestant America, the song appeared in hymnals used by both the Reform and Conservative movements as late as 1959. In the 1890s, two American Reform rabbis, in New York City and Philadelphia, wrote a new English version of “Maoz Tsur,” a song that Jews have sung at Hanukkah since the 13th century. Titled “Rock of Ages,” the new song kept the melody of its predecessor, which thanked God for saving Jews in the past, but in its shortened version substituted a homey image of domesticity bright with lights and joy and promised a future that would see “tyrants disappearing.” “Rock of Ages” offered Jews an emotional link to past traditions through its melody while reminding them of the tyranny currently besetting their coreligionists in Eastern Europe. As 2.3 million new Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe came to America over the next 30 years, the song grew popular. It became a fixture at American Hanukkah celebrations follow-
ing the rise of Nazism in 1933, when the hope for a world free of tyranny seemed even more desperate. Rewrites of older prayers or songs often appeared in the first half of the 20th century. One Hanukkah rewrite published during World War II offered a new version of an older prayer that described God’s saving power. The rewrite, offered in Hebrew as “Mi Yimalel?” and in English as “Who Can Retell?,” has a lively melody that fits its lyric, which aims to rouse Jews to act politically, militarily and philanthropically. Although a “hero or sage” always came to the aid of needy Jews in the past, it says, the current problems facing Jewry require more. Now “all Israel must arise” and “redeem itself through deed and sacrifice.” The crises facing Jews during those years influenced the ideas and emotions that they expressed in this Hanukkah song. The experience of unity and strength that is felt in group singing may have assuaged Jews’ fears during those decades of disorientation and anguish. Hanukkah provided an occasion for singing songs that voiced old and new hopes while building new communal alliances and bonds. And that, perhaps, helps explain the broad and continuing appeal of Hanukkah for American Jews. Hanukkah allows Jews to join in the national merrymaking occasioned by Christmas, but also to rededicate ourselves to Judaism. In homes, synagogues, museums, community centers and schools, it provides us with an occasion for gathering, singing, eating, lighting candles in the evenings of the shortest days of the year, exchanging gifts, voicing religious commitments and values, and enjoying being Jews.
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Hanukkah menorahs of Israel shed light on Jewish people’s past, present, future By Deborah Fineblum Schabb (JNS) – As winter arrives and the days grow shorter, outdoor lighting is needed more during the Hanukkah season than at any other time of year. This need is taken particularly seriously in Israel, where outdoor menorahs make a nocturnal stroll through city streets a treat for the eyes— and for the spirit. The outdoor Hanukkah menorah was one Israeli tradition that painters Israel Hershberg and Yael Scalia Hershberg embraced when they made aliyah from Baltimore more than three decades ago. Each year, they place nine shot glasses filled with olive oil (and each topped with a wick) in a simple box fashioned of brass and tin. The box has glass windows and little chimneys. “It’s something of a Yerushalmi (Jerusalemite) artifact since it seems they don’t make them anymore,” Yael says of the box, which was purchased from a craftsman in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim. “It’s very old world, and in its authenticity and its simplicity it has real charm.” The term menorah itself can be cause for confusion, even in Israel. The one used thousands of years ago in the Jewish Temple, which was adopted as a symbol of the nascent state of Israel, has seven branches. But the Hanukkah menorah has nine branches—one for each day the scarce oil burned in the reclaimed temple more than 2,000 years ago, as well as a “shamash” to light the rest of the candles and stand guard over them as they burn. In an effort to stem the confusion, in the late 1800s Eliezer ben Yehuda, the father of the modern Hebrew language, coined the term “hanukkiah,” which is how today’s Israelis tend to refer to Hanukkah menorahs. But not all hanukkiahs are outdoor affairs. Many of the 70-plus hanukkiahs in the home of Tel Aviv collector Bill Gross and his wife Lisa are just too gorgeous— and too valuable—to expose to the elements. Gross, however, is intent on “seeing them returned to their original use,” which is why he uses a different hanukkiah each year. The rotation includes the 1950 Israeli specimen he used growing up in Minneapolis. “I believe that as soon as you look at them as art objects, it rips them up by their roots. These are objects made for performing a mitzvah and it’s only right to let them do that,” he says. Old hanukkiahs also serve as a
Courtesy ofYael Scalia Hershberg
Yael Scalia Hershberg's Hanukkah menorah, in which nine shot glasses filled with olive oil (and each topped with a wick) are placed in a simple box fashioned of brass and tin. The box was purchased from a craftsman in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim.
reminder of those years when the act of lighting them was a risky undertaking. One hanukkiah, dating back to pre-World War II times, is on display in the Holocaust History Museum at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem, where visitors can find it in the section dealing with the Nazi rise to power. Every year, members of the family who donated it—the Mansbachs—take it home to Haifa to light it for the holiday. “The thousands of personal items in Yad Vashem’s collections help us connect with the experience of Jewish men, women, and children during the Shoah,” says Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev. Member of Knesset Rabbi Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid) and his family also use a hanukkiah that reminds them of this dark time in Jewish history—a replica of one constructed of nails in a concentration camp. “It was a gift for my bar mitzvah,” says Lipman, a Maryland native who now lives in Beit Shemesh. “As a people we have always used any means at our disposal to survive and to stay strong, and every year when we light this hanukkiah we and our children are reminded of that.” But not all menorahs have survived tough times. Many, like the one Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky used in a Soviet internment camp 34 years ago, remain only in the memory of those touched by their light. Back in 1980, Sharansky was one of a group of political prisoners and the only Jew. “But when I told them Hanukkah was coming, everyone was very enthusiastic,” he says. One friend who worked in the wood shop fashioned a crude menorah of pressed wood from a
box for Sharansky. He lit in the barracks on the first night of Hanukkah and on several subsequent nights, until a KGB collaborator turned him in and the menorah was confiscated. “The head of the camp called me in and told me, ‘This is not a synagogue; you were brought here for punishment, not for praying,’” recalls Sharansky, who promptly embarked on a hunger strike. The hunger strike made the camp leaders nervous because a commission from Moscow was expected to arrive shortly. On the last night of Hanukkah, Sharansky told the head of the camp, “You want me to stop the hunger strike? You give me back my menorah and bring me nine candles. I’ll say the prayers and you say, ‘Amen.’” Which is exactly what happened. “I prayed the day would come when we will celebrate our freedom in Jerusalem and that all our enemies will hear our prayer and say, ‘Amen,’” says Sharansky. Since the prayer was in Hebrew, the head of the camp didn’t understand a word but just kept saying “Amen.” The next day, after the commission had come and gone, Sharansky was sent back to the camp’s prison. The light from all the menorahs throughout time continues to shine down through Jewish history, says Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi in charge of the Western Wall and other Israeli holy sites. Every year, after lighting the official Western Wall hanukkiah, Rabinowitz returns home to light the small silver one his in-laws gave him for his wedding 25 years ago. “A little bit of light takes away all the darkness,” the rabbi says through a translator.
ISRAEL MENORAHS on 7
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
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Lose the chip on your shoulder during Hanukkah season By Nina Badzin MINNEAPOLIS (Kveller.com) – We Jews have two choices in our approach to the Christmas season: resent it or embrace it. I for one vote for a big, sloppy embrace. In the name of love thy neighbor and tolerance, I say we hug it out with Christmas already and teach our kids to do the same. Why? We expect our non-Jewish co-workers, friends and neighbors to show heaps of interest and concern in all things Jewish. During the High Holidays we ask our kids’ teachers not to assign big tests after those long days at shul. We offer unsolicited explanations about why Hanukkah is not, despite unfortunate evidence to the contrary, the most important event on our calendar. For the week of Passover we bore everyone we know with the reasons we’re eating matzah and other weird stuff. (Yes, gentile co-worker, that “Kosher for Passover” salad dressing seems over the top to me, too.) Tolerance is a two-way street. It would be chutzpadik and a bad example to our kids not to muster up some genuine interest in a holiday celebrated by a significant majority of our fellow citizens. So with that being said … 8 steps to lose the attitude at Christmas 1. Stop lecturing everyone who says Merry Christmas. “Merry
Christmas” doesn’t mean “We want to convert you.” It doesn’t mean “The Cossacks are coming so pack up the chickens.” More than anything it tends to replace “Have a nice day.” Realistically it also conveys, “I’ve been working this shift for nine hours and I could not care less what holiday you celebrate or don’t.” 2. Eat peppermint bark. It’s chocolaty. It’s minty. It’s joy. 3. Get yourself invited to a Christmas party. Growing up in a heavily Jewish-populated suburb of Chicago, I was unaware of the Christmas happenings sprinkled throughout the month. Now that I’m raising my family in a neighborhood where we are among the few Jews, I love that we get invited to Christmas teas, tree-decorating parties, open houses, cocktail parties and more. Show that you’re open to experiencing someone else’s traditions. It works both ways. I, for one, feel personally responsible for exposing many of my neighbors to Sukkot, or as they affectionately call it, “the holiday when you put that big fort in your yard.” 4. Appreciate Christmas break. They aren’t canceling school and days of work for Hanukkah and Kwanza, y’all. 5. Participate in the Jewiest Christmas tradition of all – the Cookie Exchange. If you’re not aware of the frenetic cookie baking and eating that happens during the
month of December, then you’re missing out. Get thee to a cookie exchange pronto. We’re talking infinite varieties of cookies and an atmosphere subtly laced with the taste of competition. This is a tradition that speaks our language. 6. Take advantage of the small and temporary changes in scenery, tastes and smells. When you’re in the routine of family life with young kids, even the slightest changes can add some pizazz to your day. Enjoy the new cup designs and festive syrups at your favorite coffee joints. (Hello eggnog latte). Appreciate the brief appearance of gingerbread offerings everywhere you go. 7. Drive around and look at Christmas lights. It’s dark at 5 o’clock. What’s not to like about added light for the month of December? Sure, some of the neighbors’ decorations are gauche. Make it a family custom to vote on the best and worst ones. 8. Find some Christmas music you can stand. The Alvin and Chipmunks Christmas song makes you want to scream? Some of your favorite artists have probably come up with Christmas albums by now. Michael Buble has one. So does the cast of “Glee.’ And you haven’t lived until you’ve heard Barbra Streisand’s rendition of “Silent Night.” Don’t judge; she does “Avinu Malkeinu” on a different album.
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How to do 8 nights of Hanukkah without creating spoiled brats By Nina Badzin MINNEAPOLIS (Kveller.com) – The Hanukkah I see in children’s books demonstrates families playing dreidel and eating latkes while the menorah shines brilliantly in the window. Then there’s the inevitable illustration of the kids’ utter elation when the parents unveil a bag of gelt night after night. The scene sounds delightful, but I can’t imagine it’s realistic in all Jewish homes. Let’s be honest: Starting in October, lots of Jewish kids obsess over the “holiday” (aka Christmas) catalogs that arrive daily in mailboxes across the country. Right or wrong, at some point this tradition of eight nights of gifts as influenced by Christmas has become part of the Hanukkah many of us know and love. And yes, yes, yes, I know that letting Hanukkah resemble Christmas undermines the main message of Hanukkah. I don’t need the lecture. My kids go to Chabad every Shabbat morning. They love Shabbat dinners, decorating the sukkah and attending ice cream parties for Shavuot. They even know that Hanukkah celebrates the war story of the Maccabees’ unlikely defeat of the Greeks (and not just the oil lasting for eight days). Nobody would accuse my husband and me of neglecting to pass on a healthy dose of serious Jewish tradition to our children.
19Nevertheless, instead of completely trying to fight this Christmas imitation during Hanukkah, I’ve come to embrace it by adding my own practical and reasonable twist to the nightly celebrations. I mean, just because I let my kids open gifts during every night of Hanukkah, it doesn’t mean that the toy section of Target needs to take up temporary residence in my living room. Trust me, you can do eight nights of gifts without creating spoiled brats, even if it seems like on a couple of the nights the only thing missing is the eggnog and the tree. Here are some ideas for a festive but practical Hanukkah: First night: Games and puzzles Use the holiday as a time to take stock of the games and puzzles it’s time to retire due to the kids’ increased skill level or their propensity to misplace essential pieces. Second night: Books Give the kids all those books you were guilted into buying at the school’s Scholastic book fair. (This is also the perfect opportunity to sign up for PJ Library to get a free Jewish book in the mail every month. For those in the New York metro area, sign up here through Kveller. For those elsewhere, visit here.) Third night: Clothes you would have bought anyway Think pajamas or fun socks and
tights. Another idea is hats and gloves that they already lost in early November. (I live in Minnesota.) Fourth night: Family party! If at any point during Hanukkah we’re having a party with members of our extended family, I do not give the kids anything from us. They seem to get their toy fix on this night. Fifth night: Replenish Construction paper running low? Markers are dry? It’s the perfect time to restock the art supplies. Sixth night: Gifts from out-oftown family Hopefully you have some grandparents or aunts and uncles that live out of town and like to send a gift to the kids. Seventh night: Creative practicality My kids are packrats. This year I’m trying to teach them the art of keeping only their favorite projects and other junk – I mean memories – which is why each of the kids will receive a plastic box with their name and the word “memories” on the cover. Eighth night: Giving back At the end of Hanukkah we discuss where we want to donate money and time as a family in the upcoming fiscal year. It’s also a great night for siblings to exchange presents and to give something to Mom and Dad (maybe using the art supplies they got earlier in the week).
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
Beyond latkes: Hanukkah around the world ByRuth Abusch Magder SAN FRANCISCO (MyJewishLearning) – Hanukkah is observed with joy and celebration in Jewish communities around the world. There are eight nights of lights and blessings the world over, but there are also many ways that different communities make the holiday uniquely their own. Here are eight customs and ideas to help you make your celebration just a little more global. * In Alsace, a region of France, double-decker Hanukkah menorahs were common with space for 16 lights. The two levels, each with spots for eight lights, allowed fathers and sons to join together as they each lit their own lights in one single menorah. * There is a custom of placing your menorah in a place where people will be able to view the lights burning and appreciate the miracle of the holiday. In some Jerusalem neighborhoods, spaces are cut into the sides of buildings so people can display them outside. Historically in countries like Morroco and Algeria, and even some communities in India, it was customary to hang a menorah on a hook on a wall near the doorway
ISRAEL MENORAHS from page 4 “And this year, more than ever, we need the light. As a people we need to be united and together, with no fighting or disagreement. We Jews need to connect through this light to the spirit of Hanukkah and to each other.” Rabinowitz adds, “At a time of so much darkness, we need to also connect to the power of our Jewish tradition. The light has the power to bring us back to it and to unify us.”
on the side of the door across from the mezuzah. * In Yemenite and North African Jewish communities, the seventh night of Hanukkah is set aside as a particular women’s holiday commemorating Hannah, who sacrificed seven sons rather than give in to the Greek pressure to abandon Jewish practice, and in honor of Judith, whose seduction and assassination of Holofernes, the Assyrian emperor Nebuchadnezzar’s top general, led to Jewish military victory. * Gift giving at Hanukkah time is primarily a North American custom, but it is easy to make it global by gifting Jewish items made around the world like handmade necklaces from Uganda, challah covers from Ghana or kipot from China. * In Santa Marta, Colombia, the new Jewish community Chavurah Shirat Hayyam has started its own traditional Hanukkah recipe: Instead of eating fried potato latkes, they eat Patacones, or fried plantains. * The Jewish communities in Ethiopia and parts of India split off from the larger Jewish community in ancient time before Hanukkah was established as a Jewish holiday. They only began
celebrating Hanukkah in modern times, when their communities were reunited with other Jewish communities. * In 1839, thousands of Jews fled Persia, where the Muslim authorities began forcibly converting them, and settled in Afghanistan. While some of them lived openly as Jews, others hid their Jewish identity. When Hanukkah time came around, they would not light a special menorah for fear it would attract the notice of Muslim neighbors. Instead they would fill little plates with oil and set them near each other. If neighbors stopped by, they could simply make the menorah disappear by spreading the plates around the house. * The rich culinary traditions of the Moroccan Jewish community know not of potato latkes or jelly doughnuts. Rather they favor the citrusy flavors of the Sfenj doughnut, which was made with the juice and zest of an orange. Notably, from the early days of nation building in Israel, the orange came to be associated with the holiday of Hanukkah as the famed Jaffa oranges came into season in time for the holiday celebrations.
The hanukkiah at the home of Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder and executive director of the Nefesh B’Nefesh aliyah agency, came with his wife Batsheva’s grandfather all the way to America from Germany, where he purchased it after the war. “He had lost everything but gathered whatever he could to buy a semblance of Judaism which for him was a sign of rebuilding and hope,” says Fass. “And now that it has been passed down to the fourth generation in our family, it also
reminds us that Jewish history is still being written and Israel is the homeland for tomorrow’s generations of our people.” “Each night when we add a candle and the light grows steadily stronger, we realize once again the importance of being here in Israel, the only place in the world that is truly ours,” Fass adds. “Like the miracle of Hanukkah, this mini miracle of our ability to return home to Israel is something that we want to publicize to the entire Jewish world.”
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LOS ANGELES (JTA) -What can a buck get you on Hanukkah? Maybe a gold mesh bag of chocolate coins or a lighter for your menorah. But Jewish continuity? At Hanukkah time, when we get so wrapped up in gift giving, I propose that it’s a single dollar of gelt (Yiddish for money) that has the power to keep on giving beyond eight nights. Hanukkah gelt referred originally in Europe and later America to coins given as gifts to children and adults. Today, gelt brings to mind the chocolate coins wrapped in gold and silver foil that come in a small mesh bag. But lately, gelt-wise, I’ve been thinking outside the bag and wondering why of all the Hanukkah gifts that I received as a child, it is the shiny silver dollars given by my parents that I remember best. I never even spent them. Was something more than a dollar being given? When I was a teenager, and the silver dollars stopped and were replaced by clothes and books, I was surprised by how much I missed the holiday ritual of being handed a dollar. It wasn’t until I was engaged that someone gave me one again. I had been invited to a family Hanukkah party at the home of my fiance Brenda’s Sephardic grandmother, Grace Hasson, or as everyone called her, “Vava.” Some three dozen relatives --
aunts and uncles, cousins and their spouses -- crowded into a small living room. We said blessings for the candle lighting and sang songs before moving on to dinner. The feeling was nice, warm; nothing unusual. After dinner and some bunuelos -- sugar-powdered fried balls of dough -- someone said it was time for “gelt.” Gelt? For whom? I watched as four dining room chairs were lined up at one end of the room and four uncles seated. One by one, with the oldest going first, the name of each grandchild was called, and each came forward to pass down the “gelt line.” My future mother-in-law, Shirley, knowing everyone’s birthday, kept the chronology straight, and when the time came for Brenda, I was surprised to be included with her. In my late 20s, I thought myself beyond getting gelt. But as I passed down the line, each uncle pressed a crisp $1 bill into my hand (Stanley Berko, my future father-in-law, gave me a $2 bill), and as I shook their hands and wished each a “Happy Hanukkah,” I felt like a million bucks. When Brenda reached the end of the line, her grandmother handed her a white envelope. At Hanukkah, “You got a dollar from each uncle, two from your own parents and two from Vava, plus a birthday bond,” explained Joe Hasson, my wife’s brother.
Hasson recalls using the $7 to buy record albums or gas for his car. “We also used the bills to play liar’s poker,” he added. “I would bring girlfriends, and they would get a big kick out of it. It made you feel good to continue the tradition,” said Hasson, who is married and has two children who also went through the line. He remembers the line as a kind of roll call. “It was the only time you would see all the cousins,” he said. However, I soon realized, one didn’t even need to be present to be counted. If for some reason you couldn’t make it, someone would be designated to go through the line for you. One of the uncles, Lou Hasson, remembers the tradition beginning in the mid-1960s. “There are four branches of our family. It was wonderful to have them together,” he said. Another of the uncles, Gene Levey, said that “before we gave gelt, each family would pick another family and give them gifts, but it was hard to know what to buy.” As the cousins married and had children, the number of gelt getters doubled to approximately 40. Berko, who remembers going to the bank to get about $75, recalled that his first gelt line was also the year he married into the family. GELT on page 17
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
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Thoughts of Hanukkah applesauce and a bygone era By Hillel Kuttler BALTIMORE (JTA) – Beyond the rusty orange leaves, the sky hugging the orchard flourished in pastel blue – a hue that surprisingly didn’t define my mood while stretched out upon the grass, head nestled in interlocked palms that sweet October day. Surprisingly because the Sunday afternoon outing marked a jarring wrinkle in a cherished autumnal tradition. With one son serving in the Israeli army and another participating in a post-high-school one-year program in Jerusalem, this applepicking foray would be my first as an empty nester. I’d dreaded it – and even with Hanukkah seemingly way off, holiday implications would surely be felt. Every apple-picking venture, after all, concluded thus: Having driven us the 45 minutes home, I’d promptly lay the three bulging bags of Granny Smiths on the kitchen floor; peel, core and slice most of the apples; and drop the bounty into a pot until the brew of fruit, water, sugar and cinnamon reached a pungent boil. With a serving fork, I’d trap apple solids against the pot’s side until the crushed remnants descended and dissolved into the thickening goo. Then, even before the beige-yellow yumminess cooled, I’d spoon it into just-washed jars that had previously held tomato sauce or salsa. Before twisting the lids tight, I’d stretch plastic wrap across the jar mouths to preserve the contents. By Hanukkah, we’d be rewarded. When it comes to latkes, we are an applesauce family. In the decades since graduating college, I’ve become ever-more proficient in the kitchen, creating an expanding array of soups, main courses, breads and desserts. My family has always eaten well, as have Shabbat and holiday guests. The apple-picking outings leading to applesauce eatings were different, though. No Kuttler had harvested, slaughtered and picked the wheat, meat and produce that became meals – but our own hands had plucked each green apple. And cooking up 25 pounds of the fruit every October proved surprisingly easy and eminently, edibly popular, as our Ratner’s cookbook with the tattered cover attests. Up to 10 jars of applesauce resulted from an outing, which doesn’t seem like much, considering the quantity of fruit with which we began. But vacuum-packed, they last surprisingly long. Each Hanukkah, a few jars would be consumed with homemade latkes. We’d also bring a jar here or there to lunch hosts; anyone
wishes everyone a
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Hillel Kuttler is flanked by sons Yossi, left, and Gil in one of their apple-picking adventures years ago at a Maryland orchard.
can present a bottle of wine or a loaf of challah (and I have), but applesauce is different, special. The rest of our picking bounty went for fruit munching and pies. Eventually the supply ran out; we’d have to bide our time for the next autumn harvest. Autumn Sundays are best lived with country drives, small-town lingering and apple picking. But on this drive west, I felt a pit in my stomach. My sons had left home each of the past two Labor Days. Each transition hurt, but defense mechanisms readily kicked in: Yossi’s bed sat unmade because he’d return in a few months to visit; the history books on Gil’s floor still remain where he’d prefer them. I convinced myself I could adjust to their long-term absence because for so many years, they had spent part of each week at their mother’s, anyway. Going to Larriland Farm this time would be different because the two hours we used to spend at the Howard County orchard were so wonderful. The open fields always beckoned with football-catch opportunities. One son would snag a rotted apple to heave at a tree to see how gross the splattering might be; the other offered an apple distancethrowing challenge. We’d chomp on Granny Smiths while meandering down a line of the low-hanging, vine-like branches, juice dripping down mouths and onto sweatshirts. We’d pose for pictures, one year’s portrait evolving into the next, and we could still match each image with the football game that had been broadcast on the car radio driving home. Now there was no catch, no splatters, no portraits. The family’s moments in that place and time had passed. More than 15 years – vanished. It’d be painful to return.
This time, there weren’t even Granny Smiths, the boys’ favorite – they wouldn’t be ripe for another week, the woman at the cash register said. So I snagged some reddish Staymans, a tart alternative, and ate my way down the 300-yard-long row. On this first day following Sukkot, the harvest holiday, my plastic bag gradually filled and bulged with apples. This year the one bag sufficed. APPLESAUCE on page 13
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Music hath charms to soothe December Dilemma By Hillel Kuttler PHILADELPHIA (JTA) – In text accompanying a new exhibition at this city’s National Museum of American Jewish History, Sammy Davis Jr. is quoted on why he converted to Judaism. “I became a Jew because I was ready and willing to understand the plight of a people who fought for thousands of years for a homeland,” the late entertainer said. What immediately follows is a curator’s observation: “Davis knew that becoming a Jew also meant recording Christmas songs.” The comment, while somewhat facetious, has a ring of truth to it: Some of the most popular Christmas tunes were written and/or sung by American Jews – notably the children of immigrants, like Irving Berlin, who composed the iconic “White Christmas,” or in Davis’ case, new to Judaism. It also encapsulates the theme of the exhibition, which carries the provocative title of “ ‘Twas the Night Before Hanukkah.” The exhibition, which highlights the music of Hanukkah and Christmas, and the people behind some of the holidays’ songs, is auditory rather than visual, homey rather than museumy. No documents or objects are displayed. Words are mostly absent from the walls. Standing is implicitly discouraged. The atmosphere in the small exhibition area better resembles one’s family room: comfy couches, upholstered chairs, carpeting and floor-to-ceiling windows; shelves containing books about the holidays (like on how Jewish teenagers can cope with Christmas pressures); record players for adults and children along with holiday albums; Legos from a hanukkiyah kit. It’s more of an experience than a traditional museum exhibit that’s artifact-heavy,” co-curator Ivy Weingram said. “I like to think of the songs as the artifacts.” Indeed, the main attractions are the iPads resting on the blue plastic-block end tables. Visitors can get cozy on the sofas and select a song to lose themselves in through the provided earphones. Enjoying the music while watching snow fall on Independence Hall this winter – all a visitor would seem to lack to complete the indoor Americana ideal is a mug of hot cocoa.
Courtesy of Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation
A CD set of Christmas and Hanukkah music provided the inspiration and title for the new exhibition at Philadelphia's National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.
The iPads offer the Jewishly numerically significant 18 Hanukkah songs and 18 Christmas songs; nearly all the singers and songwriters featured were Jews. Debbie Friedman’s “The Latke Song” and Sol Zim’s “Maoz Tsur” are among the 36, but far more fascinating are the crossovers. Eddie Cantor (born Edward Israel Iskowitz) sings “The Only Thing I Want for Christmas.” Benny Goodman performs “Santa Claus Came in the Spring.” Opera great Richard Tucker, trained as a cantor at a Brooklyn synagogue, has “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” And the non-Jews doing Hanukkah? Try Woody Guthrie (“Hanukkah Dance”), The Indigo Girls (“Happy Joyous Hanukkah”) and Don McLean (“Dreidel”). What in the name of assimilation is going on here? “All holidays, in many ways, are cultural constructions,” explained Josh Kun, a University of Southern California professor and cocurator of the exhibition with Weingram. The exhibition grew out of the 2012 release by the Jewish organization Kun cofounded, the Idelsohn Society for Musical Preservation, of a two-CD set from which the museum exhibition takes its name. The CD is subtitled “The Musical Battle Between Christmas and the Festival of Lights.” As if to underscore the point, the society’s website describes the CD set as the first effort at presenting 20th-century American music that’s most closely identified with the two holidays’ dual role. The CD’s cover, also displayed on an exhibition wall,
shows a circa-1940s photograph of a teenage girl lighting a hanukkiyah while her presumed sister and mother exchange wrapped gifts beside a Christmas tree topped by a star – a Star of David. The exhibition’s goal is “to raise the big questions of Jewish American pop culture: questions of identity and of assimilation,” Kun said by telephone from Los Angeles. “Hanukkah grew in power alongside the dominance of Christmas.” To Kun, the Jews putting their musical talents to work in this manner were neither surrendering to nor fighting America’s overwhelming Christmas tide but rather riding it. In so doing, he said, they were embracing their new American identities. To them, Christmas was a national holiday, not a Christian one. That’s why, Kun said, their songs tended to celebrate the seasonal nature of Christmas: the chestnuts, reindeer and snow, but not the manger. That approach echoed Hollywood’s Jewish moguls churning out films high on mainstream and not ethnic – and certainly not Jewish – America. “One of the great Jewish tactics in American life,” Kun said, “is that Jews do America better than anyone: ‘You want Christmas? We’ll give you Christmas.’ “ Along with the musical offerings and the CDs’ liner notes, from whence the Davis quotation comes, the iPads provide holiday-centric YouTube clips like Adam Sandler performing “The”Hanukkah Song,” Joel Fleischman bringing home a Christmas tree in the television series “Northern Exposure” and the Ramones onstage belting out “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight).” Not that the museum’s traditional offerings are ignored in the exhibition, which runs until March 1. Printed pamphlets and the iPads offer a guided tour of all Hanukkah-related artifacts elsewhere in the building, like a hanukkiyah brought to America in 1881 by an immigrant from Lodz, Poland; a 1948 photograph showing Rabbi Chaim Lipschitz teaching Philadelphia children the Hanukkah blessings; a 1962 letter explaining Saks Fifth Avenue’s lack of Hanukkah decorations. Naturally, too, visitors can see Irving Berlin’s piano – and the sheet music for “White Christmas.”
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
HANUKKAH • B11
What the shmita year can teach us about Hanukkah By Dasee Berkowitz JERUSALEM (JTA) – When the Maccabees climbed the stairs of the Temple in Jerusalem, they lit the menorah with the knowledge that there was only enough oil to last for one day. Only a miracle could turn oil into a renewable resource. And the future of the planet urges us not to depend on miracles. The faith and initiative shown by the Maccabees can inspire us this year to take greater action, especially during a Hanukkah that falls during the shmita year. Shmita is the biblically ordained law that has roots in agriculture and building a just society. It’s a call for the land of Israel to rest every seventh year, for debts to be forgiven and for slaves to be released. Jewish environmental activists, communal leaders and educators (from Hazon, Siah, Teva Ivri among others) have created robust platforms (conferences, papers, websites and synagogue task forces) to help us consider what shmita can mean for us today living in a mainly non-agrarian society. They have confronted us to think about our mission as a people and how caring for God’s earth is central to that mission. They have developed practical ideas that range from the personal and communal to the national. On the personal and communal levels, they encourage us to create more energy-efficient homes and institutions, to place recycling centers at the entrance to our institutions that serve as eco-mezuzahs, and to get outside more (even in winter) to appreciate the majesty of the natural world. On a national level in Israel, Knesset member Ruth Calderon and the minister for social welfare have created a financial recovery program to help needy families settle their debts, and others have created online time banks that give volunteers an opportunity to contribute their time and skill to the needy in our community. All of these are a part of an initiative to infuse new life into an
ancient (and sometimes seemingly antiquated) law. How can a shmita consciousness this Hanukkah help open up another dimension of the holiday? Here are some ideas: 1. Use less electricity: Different from Shabbat candles, we are not meant to use the light of the Hanukkah candles for practical purposes. Encouraged to “l’rotam b’lvad” (literally, “only see them”), we slow down and are fully present to remind ourselves of the miracle of the oil that lasted longer than it naturally should. While the Hanukkah candles are burning, turn off all the lights in your home and think about renewable energy sources as you view the small flame. Save electricity for those 30 minutes, and when the candles burn down and you turn on the artificial lights, have a greater consciousness about the kinds of energy you use and think about switching to the miracle of solar power. 2. Consume less and celebrate more: Many analysts agree that one of the major problems with our ecological crisis is overconsumption. Americans make up only 5 percent of the population of the world but consume 20 percent of its resources (food, water and energy.) In the Jewish community, our affluence contributes to this trend. Instead of placing our emphasis on the material – presents and more presents -- let’s think about how we can celebrate in a more creative way. Songs, games, gestures of love and friendship are free. Make these things the center of your Hanukkah celebration this year; it can be a model for moderation in consumption that we exercise for the rest of the year. 3. Forgive debts: Whether you have actually lent money to someone in the last three months, this is the year to forgive these debts. But on a more spiritual level, consider how you can be more forgiving this Hanukkah. If there is anyone you hold a grudge against or think you are owed something from, forgive them. 4. Appreciate nature more:
Especially in the winter, it is harder to appreciate nature when we are cooped up inside. This Hanukkah, make a point to go for a walk (just dress warmly), breathe the air, take delight in a small part of your garden or a tree on the street. 5. Buy fair trade chocolate gelt: A shmita consciousness considers what “releasing slaves” can mean for us in our day-to-day lives. And while we might have a Pavlovian reaction to those golden coins in a mesh yellow bag, the chocolate industry is known to use child labor in their production of chocolate. This year, think about purchasing fair trade chocolate. 6. Rest: The shmita year calls for the land to rest and can inspire us to think about what rest means for us on a personal level. Consider the difference between how we spend the holiday – rushing from party to party while balancing work/family/friends/volunteer commitments. At the end of the day, all we want to do is “tune out” (with Facebook, email and TV). Think about “tuning in” to the kind of rest that will replenish you as shmita will replenish the earth. At candle-lighting, offer a short meditation that reflects on your day and sets an intention for the hours ahead, eat healthier food (bake your latkes, don’t fry them!), read and sleep. 7. Share: When land lies fallow during the shmita year, the fields are open for the needy to partake. This mitzvah is as countercultural as it gets for westerners living in a capitalist society as it confronts us with the notion that nothing really belongs to us. This Hanukkah, share with others who really need it. Cut down on your gift budget by half and increase your tzedakah budget by the same. 8. Publicize: One of the Hanukkah mitzvot is “persumei d’nisa,” to make the miracle of Hanukkah public by placing your hanukkiyah in your window (or even outside your home.) This Hanukkah, take your environmental awareness to SHMITA on page 13
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Celebrating Eric Kimmel’s Hershel, meeting new characters By Penny Schwartz BOSTON (JTA) – Back in 1984, when Eric Kimmel was an up-and-coming children’s book author, he tried his hand at a Hanukkah story, one featuring goblins. Overly cautious Jewish editors rejected the manuscript, not knowing what to make of it, Kimmel recalled. “It was strange. It didn’t look like any other Hanukkah books and didn’t fit into any neat category. It wasn’t a folk tale and it was kind of creepy,” he told JTA with his signature sense of humor and tell-it-like-it-is manner. Kimmel tucked the story away in a drawer for a while. Years later, some keen-eyed editors, first at Cricket magazine and later at Holiday House, took a chance on Kimmel’s offbeat tale, “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins,” illustrated by the late acclaimed artist Trina Schart Hyman. The book was recognized with a 1989 Caldecott Honor and went on to win a place in the hearts and homes of Jewish and non-Jewish families, schoolteachers and librarians across the country. “Hershel” has been in print ever since. Now, in time for Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights that begins this year on the evening of Dec. 16, Holiday
The 25th anniversary edition of “Hershel and Hanukkah Goblins” features a new afterword by author Eric Kimmel and Holiday House publisher John Briggs, who brought the book to light.
House has issued its 25th anniversary edition of “Hershel and Hanukkah Goblins,” with a new afterword by Kimmel and Holiday House publisher John Briggs, who brought the book to light. And Kimmel has a new Hanukkah tale out this year, “Simon and the Bear.” As “Hershel and Hanukkah Goblins” opens, a wandering poor Jewish man named Hershel arrives in a Jewish village on a snowy day at the start of the holiday. For years, the townsfolk have been scared off by goblins from celebrating Hanukkah, they tell him. The evil doers blow out the Hanukkah candles, break the dreidels and throw the latkes on the floor, they bemoan. But Hershel tells the rabbi he is not afraid. “If I can’t outwit a few goblins, then my name isn’t Hershel of Ostropol,” Hershel says. Each of the eight Hanukkah nights, Hershel outwits the goblins, one more menacing than the next. In the end, with clever maneuvers and quick thinking, he breaks their evil spell and returns the Festival of Lights back to the townsfolk with a triumph to match the holiday’s own miracle. Growing up, Kimmel enjoyed hearing stories of Hershel of Ostropol from his storytelling grandmother. He sees the folk character as a hero among the people, the opposite of the fools of Chelm. Hershel has street smarts, is practical and takes on the mighty and powerful. “He’s surviving day to day and using his wits,” Kimmel says. The book was hailed as a perfect match between the master storyteller and Schart Hyman, whose vibrant paintings set the tone with darkened scenes illuminated by the golden glow of the
Hanukkah candles and shiny gelt coins. In addition to the strong pairing between art and story, “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins” is considered a classic because of Kimmel’s ability to tell a mesmerizing story, says Anita Silvey, the author of “100 Best Books for Children” and “Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Children’s Book.” “Readers from different backgrounds learn about Jewish culture, but what pulls them along is a story,” Silvey wrote in an email. Kimmel, 68, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., has gone on to win two National Jewish Book Awards and the Sydney Taylor Award for Jewish children’s books. He recalls a letter from a young reader with a Latino background who said Hershel was his favorite Halloween story. Kimmel says he receives many requests for permission to turn the story into theatrical productions. “I am always flattered,” he says. Kimmel says “Simon and the Bear” (Disney Hyperion; ages 36) may be his best work. It’s a charming, witty, feel-good adventure based on a sad story that Kimmel read about the sinking of the Titanic. The book was illustrated by Matthew Trueman. Here are some other new Hanukkah books for children: Beautiful Yetta’s Hanukkah Kitten Daniel Pinkwater, illustrated by Jill Pinkwater Macmillan , ages 3-8 A fun-filled collaboration between the Pinkwaters – the humorist Daniel and his artist wife, Jill – will enliven Hanukkah in this new Yetta the Yiddishspeaking chicken tale. Yetta’s flown the coop from a Brooklyn poultry market and takes up with a cast of nest mates who jest in English and Yiddish translations. A lost kitten in need of care leads them to celebrate Hanukkah with a warmhearted grandmother. The large-format pages sparkle with brilliant and entertaining color illustrations. The Dreidel That Wouldn’t Spin Martha Seif Simpson; illustrated by Durga Yael Benhard Wisdom Tales ; ages 5 and up In this beautifully illustrated tale set in the old world, the keeper of a toy shop offers a mysterious dreidel to a young boy from a poor family. The boy’s humility emits a small miracle from the special dreidel. An author’s note explains the holiday, dreidels and how to play the dreidel game.
HANUKKAH • B13
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
Chocolatiers raising the bar when it comes to Hanukkah gelt By Deborah R. Prinz NEW YORK (JTA) – Sharing their favorite Jewish chocolate experiences recently, a group of about 60 chocolate lovers didn’t even mention Hanukkah gelt. That is, until one woman at the New Jersey get-together shared her thoughts on the subject. “It is sucky,” she said, meaning that the chocolate is waxy, flavorless and should remain wrapped in its foil on the holiday table. Francine Segan, an author and chocolate maven, echoed the feeling when she told me recently that her children, who were accustomed to high-quality chocolate, suggested that the Hanukkah gelt they sampled be recycled or given to younger children. Several chocolate makers, however, are bringing finer, tastier and richer dark chocolate to gelt. Cookbook author Leah Koenig, who has done several gelt tastings, wrote in Saveur that artisan chocolatiers from all over the world have started creating top-notch chocolate coins. Segan explains that “good chocolate needs to contain 100 percent cocoa product, without cheap substitutes or additives, along with quality sugar and flavorings. Just as we want to be feeding our children real food, we should be giving them real choco-
late.” Koenig also looks for a high ratio of cocoa solids to the other products. For her, that means “more flavor than sweet.” Heather Johnston started making her “Kosher Gelt for Grown-Ups” just two years ago at her Chicagobased Veruca Chocolates when she and some friends bemoaned the horrible quality of gelt. She felt called to remedy that by using a great tasting chocolate made by the Californiabased Guittard, which sources and selects its own beans to create an artisanal, luxury chocolate. For sophisticated palates, she offers two dark chocolate versions: with sea salt or with cocoa nibs. Johnston also searched for the right design for her mold. “I wanted the coins to look old, so I explored ancient coinage,” she said
SHMITA from page 11
APPLESAUCE from page 9
the streets and share what you are doing with others to have a shmita consciousness. So as the days get shorter and the nights grow longer, as we spend more time huddled indoors disconnected from the natural world that surrounds us, and as artificial light masks the darkness, let’s not forget about the majesty of the created world. When we strike the match to light our Hanukkah candles this year, we are inspired by the spirit of the Maccabees to renew our energy to create positive change for our planet.
I photographed some hanging clusters of Staymans. At row’s end, the comforting sun couldn’t be ignored. There, at the property’s fence, I lay down and stared up, reveling in nature’s glorious setting. The branches above rustled loudly, and an acorn fell nearby. I smiled and, after 10 minutes, arose comforted. The orchard’s row remained devoid of people, as if the agricultural ghost town were all mine. I turned a corner to follow another row out. Two young women held hands, stretched out
Courtesy of Mark Hurvitz
The wraps are coming off a finer, more chocolatey gelt for Hanukkah.
in a recent phone conversation. Johnston selected an ancient Maccabean coin embossed with the Jerusalem Temple menorah similar to that issued by Mattathias Antigonus, a descendant of the Maccabees. Her coins are elegantly airbrushed with gold or silver. Lake Champlain Chocolates in Burlington, Vt., packages its fine milk chocolate coins in festive Hanukkah boxes. Rich and enticing squares of chocolate-covered toffee and almonds or almonds with sea salt nestle in its “Be Kind, Be Fair, Be Conscious, Be Well” A Gift of Goodness box. They are fair trade, organic and kosher. Divine Chocolate’s online store offers dark chocolate and milk chocolate coins produced through the farmer cooperative Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana. The phrase “Freedom and Justice” encircles the foil-embossed cocoa tree. A collaboration among Fair Trade Judaica, T’ruah and Divine offers easy ordering and supports the two nonprofits. “The gelt we eat on Hanukkah is a reminder of the freedom our people won many years ago,” Ilana Schatz wrote at the Fair Trade Judaica website. “Young children are trafficked and forced into working on cocoa farms with no pay and in unsafe conditions in the Ivory Coast.”
on the lawn beside their bags of pickings, basking in the warmth I’d just devoured. “A day doesn’t get more perfect than this,” I said. “That is so true,” one woman responded, wishing me a pleasant day. The orchard felt far less lonely and ghostly, less bittersweet – just sweet. A hay ride filled with children rolled on nearby. On the drive home, my Ravens were demolishing the Falcons.
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Mimosas without menorahs: Brunch jazzes up ho-hum Hanukkah By Shannon Sarna
Happy Hanukkah!
Wishing All Our Family & Friends a Happy Hanukkah Barry & Patsy Kohn Chase, Michelle, Gabriel & Ari Kohn Jonathan, Debra, Jordyn, Jakob & Morgan Kohn Paul, Lauryn, Max & Sydney Schuman
NEW YORK (JTA) – One of my favorite ways to celebrate Hanukkah is over brunch. Yes, it’s nontraditional – and you can’t enjoy the experience of lighting the menorah together or singing. But it’s a great way to change up the routine, especially if you have young kids and want to work around nap and bedtime schedules. Serve Dill Potato Latkes with Caper and Lemon Creme Fraiche and a seasonal winter Blood Orange and Goat Cheese Salad, and add tradition with sufganiyot. Sufganiyot are much more popular in Israel, where an array of flavors is featured at bakeries beginning as early as October. In the United States, the flavors are more limited to jam and perhaps chocolate. But these round, fried doughnuts aren’t so difficult to make and lend themselves to any combination of flavors that you fancy. I love peanut butter and jelly with baked goods, and so I decided to combine an Israeli-style sufganiya with the classic American pairing of PB&J. Whether it’s Hanukkah or not, doughnuts really are a perfect brunch food. So are the latkes when they are topped with lox. Serve these dishes with mimosas and a strong pot of coffee. You might miss the sparkling lights of the menorah, but you won’t think twice about that applesauce or sour cream. BLOOD ORANGE AND GOAT CHEESE SALAD Ingredients: 3 blood oranges, peel removed and cut into sections 1 naval orange, peel removed and cut into sections 1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts 2 ounces crumbled goat cheese 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon honey 1/2 lemon, zest and juice Salt and pepper to taste
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Preparation: Alternate the blood orange and naval orange slices decoratively on a platter. Sprinkle chopped pecans or walnuts and goat cheese on top. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, honey, lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and serve. Makes 4 to 6 servings. DILL POTATO LATKES WITH CAPER & LEMON CREME FRAICHE Can’t find creme fraiche? Substitute sour cream or Greek yogurt for an easy fix. Ingredients: 6 medium-large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks 2 small onions, or 1 medium-large onion, cut into large chunks 2 garlic cloves, peeled and left
Courtesy of Shannon Sarna
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sufganiyot: Israeli-style doughnuts with the classic American pairing.
whole 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour 2 eggs, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon pepper Vegetable oil for frying 8 to 10 ounces fresh smoked salmon 1 cup creme fraiche 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped capers 1/2 lemon, juice and zest Pinch salt Preparation: Using the shredding attachment of a food processor or a hand grater, coarsely great potatoes, onions and garlic. Place in a large bowl. Add flour, eggs, dill, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly until completely combined. Allow to sit 5 to 10 minutes. Drain excess liquid. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Using your hands, make a small latke patty and squeeze out excess liquid. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove from pan and place on wire cooling rack placed on a baking sheet, which you can place in a warm oven until ready to serve. Mix together the creme fraiche, capers, lemon juice, lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Place piece of smoked salmon on each latke. Add approximately 1 teaspoon of creme fraiche mixture on top of salmon. Garnish with more dill, if desired. Makes 2 dozen latkes. PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY SUFGANIYOT Have a peanut allergy? Swap out the peanut butter in the glaze for cashew or almond butter. Substitute the peanuts for the corresponding nuts, or exclude them completely if you prefer. Ingredients: For the sufganiyot: 1 1/2 tablespoons dry yeast 1 teaspoon sugar 1/2 cup lukewarm water 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup sugar 2 large eggs 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 teaspoons salt Vegetable oil for frying For the glaze: 2 tablespoons milk 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter 1 cup powdered sugar 1/4 cup chopped, salted peanuts For the filling: 1 1/2 cups raspberry jam Preparation: Combine yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar and water in a small bowl. Mix gently and allow to sit until top gets foamy, around 5 to 10 minutes. In a stand mixer fitted with dough hook, add flour, sugar, eggs, butter, nutmeg and salt. Add yeast mixture and mix on low for 2 minutes. Increase speed and mix another 5 minutes. You can also do this by hand with a wooden spoon, which will take slightly longer. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel and allow to rise 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a round biscuit cutter or drinking glass, cut rounds. Place on a large plate, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise another 20 minutes. While doughnuts are rising again, whisk the milk, peanut butter, powdered sugar and chopped peanuts together to make the glaze. In a large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium heat until a thermometer reads about 370 degrees. Fry each round for 30 to 40 seconds on each side. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Immediately spoon peanut butter glaze over the top. Fill a pastry bag with jam and cut tip. Using a wooden skewer or toothpick, make a hole in the side of each doughnut. Wiggle the toothpick around a bit to open up the inside of the doughnut. Fit the pastry bag into the hole, pipe about 2 teaspoons jam into doughnut. Repeat with remaining doughnuts. Add an extra dot of jam on top if desired. Makes 10-12 sufganiyot.
HANUKKAH • B15
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
Top your own’party gives latkes a lift By Shannon Sarna NEW YORK (JTA) – There’s nothing quite like that first night of Hanukkah: a platter full of hot, crispy latkes and the accompanying applesauce and sour cream. It’s classic, delicious and a beloved comfort food for so many American Jews. But by the third or fourth night, I need a change of pace for my latkes. Or to be more specific, I crave some other toppings. While I love dipping my latkes into a healthy serving of rich sour cream, I also relish serving meat with latkes, specifically pulled brisket. You can use any beloved recipe of choice. After the brisket has finished cooking and cooled, shred it with two forks. Throw a “top your own” latkes party and make an array of creative toppings – like the brisket or spicy cranberry applesauce recipes offered below – or tell your guests to bring their favorites. It’s fun to see how creative people can get. Some other potential latke toppings: grilled pastrami and mustard, sauerkraut, salsa, pickled jalapenos, beef chili and caramelized onions. The sky’s the limit. CLASSIC POTATO LATKES Ingredients: 12 medium-large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks 4 small onions, or 1 mediumlarge onion, cut into large chunks 4 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole 3/4 to 1 cup flour 4 eggs, lightly beaten 1 1/2 tablespoons salt 1/2 tablespoon pepper Vegetable oil for frying Preparation: Using the shredding attachment of a food processor or a hand grater, coarsely great potatoes, onions and garlic. Place in a large bowl. Add flour, eggs, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly until completely combined. Allow to sit 5 to 10 minutes. Drain excess liquid. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Using your hands, make a small latke patty and squeeze out excess liquid again. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove from pan and place on wire cooling rack placed on a baking sheet, which you can place in a warm oven until ready to serve. Makes 4 dozen latkes. PULLED BRISKET This pulled brisket also makes for an amazing sandwich on a challah roll. You can cut the proportions in half, too.
Courtesy of Shannon Sarna
Brisket-topped latkes: not your ordinary meat and potatoes.
Ingredients: 2- to 3-pound brisket 1 tablespoon salt 1/2 tablespoon freshly grated black pepper 2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 teaspoons onion powder 1 teaspoon dried parsley 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil 1 can beer 1 can ginger ale 1 bottle red wine 4 ounces tomato paste 4 medium carrots, cut into medium size pieces 2 onions, cut into quarters Preparation: In a small bowl combine salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and parsley. Spread dry rub on both sides of brisket evenly. Preheat the oven to 300F degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large dutch oven or pot on medium high
heat. Sear the brisket on both sides “until the smoke detector goes off.” Remove meat and set aside. Using the remaining oil and “good bits” on the bottom of the pan, sauté carrots and onions, scraping the bottom until the veggies are soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir until thoroughly mixed. Put the brisket back in the pan, and cover with the bottle of red wine, beer and ginger ale. Place the entire pot with brisket into the oven, and cook for at least 3 to 4 hours, until meat is completely tender. When the meat is fork tender, remove the meat and set aside on a large cutting board. Let the sludge rise to the top of the pot liquid and skim it off. Strain out the carrots and onions and using a food processor, blend them with 1-2 cups of the cooking liquid, then return the blended mixture to the rest of the liquid and simmer to reduce slightly. On the cutting board using two forks, carefully shred the brisket into small strands. Add 1 to 2 cups of the pureed cooking liquid to the pulled brisket for additional moisture and flavor. Serve in a large bowl and allow guests to top latkes, or spoon small amounts of brisket on each latke for a more elegant presentation.
B16 • HANUKKAH
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How to eat Hanukkah sufganiyot without guilt By Jaime Geller
Happy Hanukkah Ronald Rose, CLU, ChFC 644 Linn Street, Suite 1100, Cincinnati, Ohio 45203! 513.842.0706 rrose@americaninsurnet.com
(JNS) – The average Hanukkah sufganiya (jelly donut) has between 300 and 400 calories of nearly pure oil and fat. In honor of the miracle God bestowed on the Maccabees, making oil meant for just a day last eight days, the delicious donut and other traditionally oily Hanukkah foods become annual killers for your diet. For those who are health conscious but do not want to be deprived of the annual treat, here are three healthier recipes selected from Joyofkosher.com. Consider substituting or reducing ingredients further as needed for your diet. BAKED WHOLE WHEAT CRANBERRY ORANGE DONUTS These baked donuts taste more like cake since they are not fried, but they are still very tasty. In addition, they use the healthier option of whole-wheat flour. Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Ready Time: 30 minutes Servings: 12 mini donuts Ingredients: 1 cup white whole wheat flour 3 tablespoons corn meal 1 teaspoon orange zest 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons liquid coconut oil 6 tablespoons coconut milk mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon or vinegar 1 egg white 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cups Chopped Fresh Cranberries For the Glaze 1/4 cup fresh cranberries 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 3/4 cup powdered sugar Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a nonstick mini donut pan with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, orange zest, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. In a small bowl whisk the coconut oil, the coconut milk mixture, egg white, and vanilla together. Add the wet and dry ingredients and fold in until just mixed, and add chopped cranberries. Stir until just mixed. Spoon into donut pan. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Make glaze. While donuts cool, in a small saucepan heat the cranberries and orange juice until they burst about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, mash berries with fork, add powdered sugar and vanilla stir well. Dip donut
Baked whole wheat cranberry orange donuts.
Courtesy of Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller
Baked sufganiyot.
into glaze and serve. BAKED “SUFGANIYOT” JELLY DONUTS Another recipe that forgoes frying in oil. Prep Time: approximately 2 hours Cook Time: 10-12 minutes Ready Time: approximately 23 hours Servings: 24 doughnuts Ingredients: 1 (1/4-ounce) package rapid rise dry yeast 1 tablespoon sugar 1/4 cup warm water 1 egg yolk 1 egg 1/4 cup sugar 1 cup 1% milk, warmed 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour Pinch of salt 3 tablespoons margarine or butter, cut into 9 pieces Cooking spray 3/4 -1 cup strawberry jam Confectioners’ sugar for dusting Directions: Dissolve the yeast with the 1 tablespoon of the sugar in 1/4 cup warm water. In a standing mixer with a paddle, beat egg yolk, egg, yeast mixture, 1/4 cup of sugar, and milk. With paddle going, add flour
Courtesy of Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller
and salt. Add margarine one piece at a time. Dough should be sticky but elastic. Turn out dough onto floured surface. Knead once or twice. Shape into ball. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and place in a warm area for at least an hour or until dough is doubled. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Divide dough in half. With lightly oiled hands, take approximately 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into ball. Place on greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough placing balls 2 inches apart (about 12 balls per baking sheet). Cover with a kitchen or tea towel and let rise 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake at 375 degrees F for 1012 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and let cool. Place jam in a pastry bag fitted with a medium pastry tip or use a small ziplock type of bag fitted with a medium pastry tip. Pastry tips are available at most craft stores. Press tip into donut and squeeze at least 1 teaspoon of jam into donut, or more if desired. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve. Tips: If you don’t have a standing mixer, use a hand mixer for Step 2 and beat the egg yolk, egg, yeast mixture, sugar, and milk for about 1 minute. Knead the rest of the ingredients together by hand: first the flour, then the salt and margarine, one piece at a time, then proceed with Step 5. APPLE ZEPPOLE WITH JELLY DIPPING SAUCE Try these apple zeppole as a change over for doughnuts. The recipe itself is not low-fat, but the portions are bite-sized. Prep Time: 8 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Ready Time: 28 minutes Servings: 12
CONTINUED on next page
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2013
HANUKKAH • B17
CONTINUED from previous page Ingredients: 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1/2 cup Water 1/4 cup Granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt 1 cup all purpose flour 4 large eggs 1 granny smith apple (about 1 cup), peeled and diced Vegetable oil for frying 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam 1 tablespoon orange juice Directions: In a medium saucepan, heat butter, water, sugar, cinnamon, and salt, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add flour. Return to low heat and stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and forms a ball. Continue to cook for 1 minute. Transfer dough to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low speed with a paddle attachment for 1 minute or until cooled slightly.
GELTfrom page 8 “I didn’t even know everyone’s name, but I wanted to be part of it, too,” he said, as did the next generation. “It didn’t matter to me if it was $100 bill or a dollar, I really wouldn’t have cared,” wrote Beau Karabel, one of the great-grandchildren, in a text. “I just loved these guys and wanted to be them one day.” Rachel Petruzzi, another greatgrandchild, said she remembers “get-
Apple zeppole with jelly dipping sauce.
Courtesy of Joy of Kosher with Jamie Geller
Add eggs one at a time. Add apple and mix until just combined. In a heavy medium sized pan, heat oil to 350 degrees F on a candy or deep-fry thermometer. Using a 1-teaspoon scoop, carefully drop batter into hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 5
minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining dough and dust with powdered sugar. In a small bowl, whisk together jam and orange juice and serve with zeppole.
ting together as this humungous unit” at Hanukkah. “Going through the gelt line, you would get a special moment with each uncle and my grandfather,” she said. After some 40 years, however, when she was 25, those moments stopped with Vava’s passing in 2008 at 104. “I miss it so much,” Petruzzi said. For Rachel’s mother, Ellen Petruzzi, the line was a means of
family continuity. Even with the untimely deaths of several of the aunts and uncles, including her mother’s, she noted that the family carried on with its Hanukkah tradition. “We have strong feelings for each other,” Ellen Petruzzi said of her extended family, who continue to get together at Passover and Rosh Hashanah – a dinner that Brenda and I now host that is flavored with a dish from each family. “We are strongly connected.”
Happy Hanukkah! from all of us at
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