HAKOL - Passover 2015 by Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley

PASSOVER MARCH 2015 | ADAR/NISAN 5775

The Lehigh Valley Jewish Clergy Group present the

17th Annual Community Passover Seders PLEASE JOIN US AT OUR TABLE THIS PASSOVER. ALL ARE WELCOME. OR CALL TO ARRANGE TO SHARE IN A SEDER IN SOMEONE’S HOME.

Call any of the synagogues listed below if you are interested in sharing in a Passover seder with congregants having seders in their homes: AM HASKALAH, Allentown 610-435-3775 Student Rabbi Leiah Moser

BNAI ABRAHAM SYNAGOGUE, Easton 610-258-5343 Rabbi Daniel Stein

CONGREGATION BRITH SHOLOM, Bethlehem 610-866-8009 Rabbi Michael Singer

CONGREGATION SONS OF ISRAEL, Allentown 610-433-6089 Rabbi David Wilensky

TEMPLE COVENANT OF PEACE, Easton 610-253-2031 Rabbi Melody Davis Cantor Jill Pakman

BETH AVRAHAM, Palmer 610-905-2166 Rabbi Yitzchak Yagod

CHABAD OF LEHIGH VALLEY, Allentown 610-336-6603 Rabbi Yaakov Halperin

CONGREGATION KENESETH ISRAEL, Allentown 610-435-9074 Rabbi Seth Phillips Cantor Jennifer Duretz Peled

TEMPLE BETH EL, Allentown 610-435-3521 Rabbi Moshe Re’em Cantor Kevin Wartell

TEMPLE SHIRAT SHALOM, Allentown 610-706-4595 Cantor Ellen Sussman

Chabad of the Lehigh Valley FRIDAY, APRIL 3 | 7:30 PM $30 per person Enjoy a meaningful seder with traditional songs, stories and lively discussions. For reservations, more information or to make special financial arrangements, contact Chabad of Lehigh Valley, 610-351-6511. Congregation Beth Avraham FRIDAY, APRIL 3 | 7:15 PM $20 per person/ $12 for children and students under 20 Enjoy a meaningful seder with traditional songs, stories and lively discussion. For reservations, more information or to make special financial arrangements, contact Rabbi Yagod at rabbiyagod1@gmail.com.

Easton Community Seder SATURDAY, APRIL 4 | 6:00 PM Bnai Abraham Synagogue $20 per adult/$10 per child/maximum per nuclear family $60 Songs, fun, interactive. No one moans “when do we eat!” Led with joy and ru’ach (spirit!) by Rabbi Daniel Stein, Cantor Bob Weiner, Rabbi Melody Davis and Cantor Jill Pakman. All food will be gourmet kosher for Passover. RSVP by March 20. This program has been generously supported by the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley’s Easton Leadership Council and the Rabbis’ Discretionary Funds.

Rosh Chodesh Women’s Seedr SUNDAY, MARCH 29 | 5:00 PM Temple Covenant of Peace Invite your mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, neighbors and any men folk who you think might like to join us. Dairy/vegetarian potluck. RSVP 610-253-2031. Congregation Keneseth Israel FRIDAY, APRIL 3 | 6:00 PM Super Shabbat Seder. $18 per adult ($25 per non member)/$12 per child ($15 per non member)/under 6 free RSVPs must be secured with payment; pay by check or online at www.kilv.org. Must RSVP by Monday, March 30. Limited seating available. Questions? Call the KI office at 610-435-9074.

The Jewish Community Seder Project is partially funded by a grant from the JEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY

WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG TO EAT? WHY DO WE HAVE TO HAVE MATZAH THE WHOLE WEEK?

WHY DO I HAVE TO SIT AT THE KIDS’ TABLE?

WHY DO I HAVE TO SING?

WHY AM I ALWAYS THE YOUNGEST?

On Passover, the four questions aren’t the only ones that get asked. And this year we’re asking a question, too. Will you help us make a difference in the lives of Jewish children, here at home and around the world? By giving to Federation you feed hungry children. You connect children to Judaism— through after-school programs, Jewish summer camp and Birthright. You provide counseling to troubled teens. You help children with special needs. And more. So this Passover, our fifth question is, “Will you help make a difference in the lives of Jewish children?” Please answer “yes” and give as generously as you can. Visit www.jewishlehighvalley.org and donate today.

WHY CAN’T WE JUST HELP PEOPLE?

History and current events By Monica Friess Special to HAKOL For the past 35 years, Jane Levine of New Tripoli has made it a Passover tradition to celebrate the foods and cultures of the Diaspora. 2013’s “Southern Fried Seder” was inspired by the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation and featured creole matzo balls and bourbon barbecue chicken. “Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean” included spinner dumplings, or jerk matzo balls, and Haitian sweet potato cake. This Passover, the focus will be on Europe, with emphasis on France and Sweden in particular. With the recent events in Paris and anti-Semitism on the rise, as well as the fact that her daughter will be temporarily relocating to Malmo, Sweden —a city which has been labeled a hub of anti-Semitism in Europe — Levine feels the story of the Exodus will feel quite relevant. “At each seder,” said Levine, “we discuss how our theme and the Passover story connect.” This seder will give rise to discussions about Jews leaving these regions to make Aliyah. Levine says she and her husband Lee, a history buff, find great satisfaction in researching the myriad Jewish communities and local cooking. They learned, for example, that a good number of merchants along the Spice Route were Jewish and that

a certain Turkish meat stew may have actually begun as a variation of cholent. Fascinated to learn there were Jewish pirates, their research led them to discover that there has been a Jewish presence in the Caribbean since the 1400s; Jews who fled the Inquisition were only too happy to loot Spanish ships. From their extensive and diverse Haggadah collection (one book explores the essence of Wiccanism in Judaism), the Levines have culled passages and compiled their own book. Copies are printed and distributed to the guests, whose numbers have been steadily growing. “People really look forward to this event,” Levine said. “We have a multicultural family, and we can all find personal meaning in these stories of perseverance and freedom. Everyone feels included.” Finding recipes is easier than one might think. “Wherever you go, there’s someone Jewish,” said Levine, whose cookbook collection includes titles such as “Matzoh Ball Gumbo” and Joan Nathan’s “Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Cooking in France.” Finding the ingredients such as djon djon mushrooms and guascas spice is more of a challenge, but Levine said Amazon is a trusted source.

LEE LEVINE

INSPIRE CREATIVE SEDER EXPERIENCE

Levine finds it heartening that all around the world at Passover, Jews — as a “globally connected community” — are all doing the same thing. Whether with quinoa or curry or cabbage, our seders remind us that wherever we wander, we are sharing a meaningful Jewish experience.

HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | MARCH 2015 3

THE TASTE of FREEDOM

Graffiti at the Rock of Salt in Pequena Africa in Rio de Janeiro. By Ruth Knafo Setton Special to HAKOL I stand on the notorious Pedra do Sal (Rock of Salt) in Pequena Africa (Little Africa). The Rock overlooks Rio de Janeiro’s Empress Wharf where slaves from Africa were unloaded, a few minutes walk from the square where they were bought and sold. The sun is bright as I climb stone steps carved by slaves to make it easier to haul bags of salt. The ocean sparkles, and beneath the dust I smell the sea breeze. During Carnaval the port will be crammed with cruise ships, but in early November

4 MARCH 2015 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER

– Black Consciousness Month in Brazil – our ship, the MV Explorer, is the only one docked in the harbor. I find myself thinking of Passover, my favorite Jewish holiday because of the story it tells: the amazing, seemingly endless journey from slavery through the desert to the Promised Land. I’ve just finished another journey by ship, from Morocco to Barcelona, and then a 14-day Atlantic crossing to Rio that retraced the Middle Passage, the heart-wrenching transportation of slaves from Africa to Brazil and Barbados. Brazil received four million slaves, more than the United States – a fact that surprised me. Generations of slaves kept coming, keeping the African traditions alive, until slavery finally ended in 1888. While at sea I participated in a dramatic reading of actual testimonies from slaves and their captors. It was the most emotionally fraught program of the entire three-and-a-half-month long Semester at Sea voyage. The only white actor in the play, I was ironically the only one born in Africa: A Moroccan Jew whose father had sailed from the northwest corner of Africa through the Strait of Gibraltar and across the Atlantic Ocean to America so his children could grow up free. On Passover we ask four questions to mark the distinctions between one who is a slave and one who is free, but what does freedom mean? And do we ever forget the taste of slavery? In my novel, “The Road to Fez,” the patriarch of a Jewish family speaks at their final seder in Morocco: “This is what Pesach means to me,” says Papa Naphtali. “It represents the most courageous, terrifying decision human beings have ever made, to leave a known life of slavery, and to enter the unknown, dangerous promise of freedom. They had to lose the habits of slavery, to learn to straighten their shoulders and to look strangers directly in the eyes. It took 40 years of wandering in the desert before the last generation born as slaves was gone, and the first generation born free and wild in the desert was ready to fight for the promise. Imagine the terror. Imagine looking over the rocks into the land you thought was a myth, and seeing that it was real, that you could touch the ground and smell the air. We’re always on the verge of freedom, but frightened to take that last step. So what will we do, mes enfants? Remain in the desert for another

40 years? Or advance to the vision of light, which may be a mirage?” A couple of weeks later I pretend I'm walking on sand as I explore Nidhe Israel Synagogue in Bridgetown, Barbados – the first synagogue in the Americas. When the temple was built in 1654, the new Jewish immigrants covered the floor with sand to symbolize the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years before they came to the Promised Land. Armed with a valuable knowledge of sugar, this first wave of Jews came from Recife, Brazil, to the Land of Coconut Milk and Sugar Cane, which they hoped to turn into their Land of Milk and Honey. Their stay in Barbados began promisingly as they established and developed sugar plantations. However, this golden period lasted only five years, until 1659, when the Portuguese grew jealous of the Jews' success with sugar. They imposed a law restricting Jews to a single slave, thereby eliminating the possibility of a Jew maintaining a sugar plantation. Hence, the Jews, not permitted to be slave owners, lost the sugar trade – the only work they knew. The struggle to survive on the island became too difficult, and most Jews left for more promising ports. My last day in Rio, I return to the Rock of Salt, drawn as if to a magnet. At night there will be live samba, but this afternoon it is hushed – two boys playing with a mangy dog, a woman walking past with a bag of groceries. The graffiti speaks louder than voices: stenciled dancers, Afro-headed women, slogans proclaiming, “Zumbi Vive!” The spirit of Zumbi, the first hero of the slave rebellions, lives. The need for freedom never dies. I stand on the Rock and remember the clanging chains, the lash of the whip, the trudge of bare feet on sand, the maror that magically transformed into manna. I straighten my shoulders, lift my face to the sun and taste freedom. A promise. A responsibility. The author of the novel, “The Road to Fez,” and recipient of fellowships from the NEA, PA Council on the Arts, and PEN, among others, Ruth Knafo Setton has published poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction in many journals and anthologies. She teaches Creative Writing at Lehigh University and on Semester at Sea.

ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR,

Passover ties examined By Josh Goldin Teen Correspondent Passover, the annual celebration of our freedom from slavery, is ripe with parallels to the Civil War, which this year marks the 150th anniversary of its conclusion. In fact, 19th century politicians and modern scholars likened the lives of Moses and Lincoln as strikingly similar. Yet these two leaders’ deaths were quite different, and mourned by their contemporaries in very different ways. Reflections on the history of Passover during the Civil War remind us of the importance of this holiday — and what great efforts soldiers made to maintain the traditions, even on the battlefield. During the Civil War, creating a Passover seder was difficult. However in spring 1862, J. A. Joel of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Regiment gathered 20 other Jewish Union soldiers to celebrate a seder where they were stationed in Fayette, West Virginia. A soldier who was on leave in Cincinnati sent Joel and his comrades matzo and Haggadahs, the essentials for the service. The Union army gave these Jews time off to prepare for and celebrate Passover. Joel sent a group of Jewish soldiers to forage in the countryside — to find bitter herbs, wine and ingredients for charoset. The remaining Jews stayed back to build a log hut where they could hold their seder. Stories published in the Jewish Virtual Library quote

Joel saying, “Yankee ingenuity prevailed.” Apparently the foragers found two kegs of cider (substituted for traditional wine), a lamb and eggs. They could not find horseradish or parsley so they substituted with a bitter herb that was “fiery like Cayenne pepper, that excited our thirst to such a degree that we forgot the law authorizing us to drink only four cups, and … we drank up all the cider. Those that drank more freely became excited and one thought he was Moses, another Aaron and one had the audacity to call himself a Pharaoh. The consequence was a skirmish, with nobody hurt. Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh had to be carried back to camp...” David Hacker, Civil War historian from Binghamton University, studied another wartime seder. In April 1864, Isaac Levy, a 21-year-old, led this seder in South Carolina, where his unit was posted. Although Levy died four months later, during the Siege of Petersburg, he was passionate about Jewish life. Levy enthusiastically wrote to his sister Leonora that they were able to purchase enough matzah, for $2 a pound, to last for a week, from Jewish merchants they just met in the city of Charleston. The Civil War created other opportunities for befriending strangers. Jews were caught in a rift during this war between the North and South. Some Union soldiers, who were unable to form their own sed-

ers, shared the holiday with Confederate Jews. For example, according to historian Bertram Korn, Myer Levy of Philadelphia was in a Virginia town during a Passover later in the war. He saw a child eating a piece of matzah on the front porch of a city residence. Apparently the woman of the house invited the Yankee Jew into their home to celebrate seder with this Southern family. Historians ponder how the Haggadah passages on evils of bondage where handled around the table that night. Reports cite that Northern Jews often focused on the parallels between Passover and the Civil War — both about freedom from slavery. The similarities between Moses and Lincoln were not only discussed over makeshift seders during the 1860s, but also by leaders after the war. Judge Henry McDougal, in a tribute to Lincoln’s memory, gave a speech in 1897, on the anniversary of Lincoln’s birth. He pointed out key parallels between these two freedom leaders, including how difficult it was for them to initially gain the support of their followers. Both were born in poverty with obscure parentage, yet they rose to lead their people. Both were remarkable in their humility, unselfishness and seemingly nonambitious styles. McDougal stated, “Like Moses, Lincoln was not permitted to set foot in the land of perfect freedom for which his sad soul yearned. For each it was only a

little way off — just across the river — the Jordan for Moses and the Potomac for Lincoln — yet the hand of God touched the one. The other, the hand of a madman…” Lincoln was shot during Passover. The morning he died had previously been planned as a national day of prayer, to mark the end of the Civil War. Jews across the nation were gathered in synagogues when news of Lincoln’s death arrived. Historian Korn reports

that Rabbis set aside their sermons, synagogue altars were immediately draped in black and congregations quickly switched from Passover songs to Yom Kippur hymns upon hearing of Lincoln’s death. Jews had been appreciative of Lincoln’s overturning General Grant’s infamous anti-Semitic Ordinance #11. Korn explains, “In the days following Lincoln’s death, mourning compatriots rushed to compare him to Moses.”

HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | MARCH 2015 5

From Alsatian town,

FRANCE'S OLDEST MATZAHMAKER SELLS TO THE WORLD By Toni L. Kamins Jewish Telegraphic Agency

1919 he industrialized production, changed the company name to Etablissements Rene Neymann and in 1930 began to market the wonders of unleavened bread to the non-Jewish public. It was a hit and sales grew. After France fell to the Nazis in 1940, the bakery was shuttered and the Neymann family was forced into exile in southern France. Liberation came in November 1944 with the army of Gen. Phillipe Leclerc, and in 1948 Rene Neymann restarted the business. The decades following World War II saw many changes in how people ate and shopped all over the world. “Supermarkets started to replace traditional food markets, and eating a low-fat diet became fashionable,” Jean-Claude Neymann noted. Robert Neymann, Rene’s son, seized the opportunities – he modernized and automated production, expanded the product lines and secured new distribution outlets. With Robert Neymann at the helm, Etablissements Rene Neymann continued to extend its products and brands by manufacturing other types of matzah for different tastes and appetites: matzah made from rye and whole-wheat flours; bran matzah; spelt matzah; certified organic matzah. Even

ETABLISSEME NT

S RENE NEYM

ANN

Etablissements René Neymann also makes organic products.

COURTESY OF

For most Jews, matzah season comes once a year. But for JeanClaude Neymann, matzah, or “pain azyme” in French, is a defining family tradition. Neymann runs the oldest matzah bakery in France, located in the town of Wasselonne near the German border. The family company, Etablissements Rene Neymann, traces its matzahmaking tradition to 1850. “I’m the fifth generation of my family to bake matzah here in Wasselonne,” Neymann said. Walking along the steep, cobblestoned streets of Wasselonne, a city of nearly 6,000 people at the foot of the Vosges Mountains in northeastern France, is like stepping into a Grimm’s fairy tale. Timbered facades look more German than French, a reminder that Alsace and Lorraine have been shunted back and forth between two countries that regularly warred with each other in the not-so-distant past. Salomon Neymann, a peddler and the father of this unleavenedbread dynasty, set up his first bakery in nearby Odratzheim, where he began to bake Passover matzah for his family and the local Jewish community. His matzah became popular, and by 1870 he and his son Benoit moved the factory to larger quarters in Wasselonne, a market city with an industrial district that also had the advantage of being the site of a flour mill. Between 1870 and 1919 the Neymann family manufactured regular and shmura matzah in their factory, but Benoit Neymann’s youngest son, Rene, had bigger ideas for the company. In

Etablissements René Neymann is France's oldest matzah bakery.

Neymann’s kosher for Passover matzah, under the supervision of the chief rabbi of Strasbourg, is made from an array of flours. Jean-Claude, Robert’s son, took over the company in 1983. “Regular matzah is still our biggest Passover item, but about 62 percent of our total manufacturing output is sold outside France," he said. "We sell throughout Europe, to Morocco, South Africa, Japan and China. There’s a big market for crackers in those countries.” Asked about the state of French Jewry and mounting concerns about anti-Semitism in the country, the proprietor of this storied French Jewish company was circumspect. “I’m not afraid at this moment, but we can never know what people will do. Nobody imagined the Shoah could happen, but it did,” Neymann said. “We and our company are very well integrated into the life of Wasselonne and of France, but in people’s minds we are always the Jew.” Toni L. Kamins, a freelancer in New York, is the author of “The Complete Jewish Guide to France” and the forthcoming ebook “The Complete Jewish Guide to Paris.”

Streit's closing Lower East Side matzah factory after 90 years Jewish Telegraphic Agency Streit’s said it will close the company's 90-year-old matzah factory on New York's Lower East Side. Aron Streit, Inc., a family-owned business, said it will leave the facility at 148-154 Rivington St. following the Passover baking season in April. “The economics just finally caught up with us,” Alan Adler, the owner of the factory and the Streit’s matzah store, told DNAinfo. “It was very sad, a very hard decision to make.” Adler is the great-grandson of Aron Streit, who started a bakery at a different Lower East Side location before opening the Rivingston Street factory nearby in 1925. Streit’s now produces approximately 40 percent of the matzah consumed in the United States, according to The Associated Press. The company will move its offices to its other facility in New Jersey that bakes macaroons and other products, Adler said. It hopes to fetch $25 million for the six-story building, AP reported. “Right now everything is on the table, we’re looking at all our options,” Adler told DNAinfo. Adler said the company cannot find anyone to repair its equipment, which was built in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. 6 MARCH 2015 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER

FROM FARM TO SEDER TABLE: By Talia Lavin Jewish Telegraphic Agency In their small farmhouse bakery in Vermont, Doug Freilich and Julie Sperling work round the clock producing matzah in the period preceding Passover – a matzah that feels ancient and modern at once. Using a mix of grain they grow on their own farm and wheat sourced from other local farmers, the couple create hundreds of pieces of the wholesome unleavened bread they call Vermatzah. “The idea came because of our initial interest in growing grains, looking at them from the harvest to the baking in a very simple sense, and highlighting grains that have good flavor,” Freilich told JTA. “We celebrate our own Passover each year, we go through the matzah-making ritual for both the spring awakening and remembering the storytelling of this holiday.” Freilich and Sperling, co-owners of the Naga Bakehouse in Middletown Springs, Vermont., are among American Jewish bakers looking at new ways to create matzah in ways that dovetail with the concerns of an age of foodies and locally sourced groceries. They are joined in the process by their teenaged children, Ticho and Ellis. “Between the four of us, we are working each and every piece by hand: they are handmade with fingerprints, and heart, and soul,” Freilich said. “Our matzahs are tinted and kissed by the fire of the wood oven.” At the end of the labor-intensive process, each matzah is wrapped in parchment paper and hand tied before being sent off -- with a bonus seed packet of wheatberries from the family’s farm -- to

prospective customers throughout the country. Vermatzah is primarily available in Vermont, New York and Massachusetts, but Freilich says a huge increase in Web orders means the product is now making it across the United States. Freilich and Sperling have been making Vermatzah for six years. Now others are beginning to embrace matzah’s role in the farm-to-table trend. The Yiddish Farm, an eclectic collective in Goshen, New York, that combines Yiddish language instruction with agriculture, is producing its own matzah this year baked with grain grown in its fields. The matzah will be whole wheat and shmurah – a ritual designation for matzah that refers to a process of careful supervision which begins when the matzah’s grain is in the field and doesn’t stop until the matzah is baked. The process involves planting, combine-harvesting, reaping, milling and sifting at the Yiddish Farm, according to the Forward. The end result is a locavore’s matzah dream that will travel from Goshen, in upstate New York, to Manhattan and New Jersey prior to Passover. For Anne Kostroski, the owner of Crumb Bakery in Chicago, making her own matzah has less to do with food ideology than more practical matters. “I don’t like eating store-bought matzah because I think it tastes awful,” she said, laughing. Kostroski, 41, has been making her own signature matzah for nearly 10 years, since her conversion to Judaism in the mid-1990s. “The matzah I make is made with honey, locally sourced eggs, black pepper

COURTESY NAGA BAKEHOUSE

Locally grown matzah on the rise

Julie Sperling working the matzah dough at the Naga Bakehouse in Vermont. and olive oil,” Kostroski said. “It’s flat and crunchy, but not as dry as the regular store-bought plain matzah. There’s a hint of heat and sweetness that makes matzah more interesting.” For Kostroski, matzah making has been a part of her Jewish journey, even when she hasn’t been able to attend synagogue regularly under the strain of a baker’s life. Matzah creates a feeling of connection with history and tradition, she explains. And her homemade matzah, which she sells at farmer’s markets, her Chicago eatery, the Sauce and Bread Kitchen, and by

pre-order – is made lovingly and painstakingly by hand. “I make several hundred matzahs a year, mixed, rolled and baked,” she said. “One batch is maybe two dozen and it’s really labor intensive.” Kostroski says demand is increasing, slowly but surely, year by year. “I came across this recipe in 1995 and I started making it, and I’ve been making it ever since,” Kostroski said. “People are not expecting different types of matzah – they expect something flavorless, and it doesn’t have to be.”

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HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | MARCH 2015 7

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Celebrate Passover with PJ Library By Abby Trachtman PJ Library Coordinator Have you ever wondered how you are going to teach your children about their Jewish heritage, especially when you don’t remember much of what you learned yourself? PJ Library can help. PJ Library is a program of free, age-appropriate, Jewish-themed books and music delivered to your home each month. In addition to the books, which come with information on Jewish topics and how to discuss them with your little ones, PJ Library in the Lehigh Valley also hosts fun-filled events to highlight Jewish holidays and values. This year, children and their parents can celebrate Passover at the event, “Let My People Go … On a Storywalk.” Along with reading the book, “All of Me, A Book of Thanks,” by Molly Bang, families will travel from page to page and room to room trying different Passover-themed activities. Make your own

trail mix charoset and explore the obstacle course path imagining you are crossing the desert as the Jews did when they left Egypt. Learn and sing Passover songs after creating Passover-themed crafts. For the first time, Bnai Abraham Synagogue, Congregation Sons of Israel, Congregation Keneseth Israel, Temple Beth El and Temple Shirat Shalom are co-sponsoring a PJ Library program in the Lehigh Valley. Not a member of a synagogue? Never fear. All PJ Library events are open to the entire Jewish community and appropriate for children through age 8. You may even learn something. Join PJ Library on Sunday, March 29, 2015, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at Congregation Sons of Israel, 2715 Tilghman St., Allentown, for this fun, interactive, no-cost event. RSVP to Abby Trachtman at abbyt@jflv.org. Forgot to RSVP? That’s OK, we don’t want you to miss out on the fun, but RSVPs are always appreciated so we will have enough supplies on hand.

JDS PAIRS UP WITH YOAV SCHOOL

to make Haggadahs By Julie Taffet JFLV Marketing Intern

5100 W. Tilghman St, Suite 320 Allentown | dietrickgroup.com

Dana Kind, Duffy Batat and Yifat Kolen from the Jewish Day School are working with 5th, 6th and 7th grade students to make Haggadahs with students in Israel. The program is part of a four-year curriculum with students in Yoav, the Lehigh Valley’s partner community. Each student at JDS is paired with an Israeli student in Yoav. There is a portal where passages from the Haggadah are uploaded, and students work together

YOAV - LEHIGH VALLEY

to answer questions, analyze the text and interpret the meaning. The students meet via Skype to discuss the text. “A lot of pen-pal programs with Israel have been established, but JDS is the first school to write a curriculum,” said Kind, one of the coordinators of the program. “We want them to learn together, discuss together, think together. Things they would not be able to do through letters.” The Haggadah will be published online just in time for Passover. There will be an online seder with a video conference where students and their families can read the Haggadah with students in Yoav.

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8 MARCH 2015 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER

Prepared in a strictly Passover kitchen Full Glatt Kosher Catering under the supervision of Community Kashrus of Greater Philadelphia

SIX POINTS KOSHER EVENTS 550 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406 610-257-3050 • info@sixpointskosher.com www.sixpointskosher.com

Nine decades of Moses AT THE MOVIES

By Marshall Weiss The Dayton Jewish Observer/ JNS.org Hollywood has had its share of big-budget biblical flops, but until now, the Exodus narrative has not been among them. Studios have brought Moses to the big screen sparingly, but in ways that defined the image and character of Moses for each generation of audiences.

THE FIRST BIBLICAL EPIC In 1923, director Cecil B. DeMille left it to the American public to decide the subject of his next movie for Paramount. DeMille received a letter from a mechanic who suggested he take on “The Ten Commandments.” Despite opposition from studio executives who didn’t think audiences would connect with a Bible story, DeMille got the green light. For the role of Moses, he cast 61-year-old Theodore Roberts, a popular character actor present in most of DeMille’s previous films. Roberts played the role with a down-to-earth charm, portraying an 80-year-old Moses on an important mission, but who is approachable at the same time. On the Israelites’ journey out of Egypt, a child approaches him for a hug. When Moses sees the Israelites cavorting at the Golden Calf, his heartbreak is palpable. Although the biblical story of Moses and the Israelites comprises only the

40-minute prologue to this feature film—set in thenmodern 1923—the sequence resonated with silent film audiences of the day, and broke box office records. Theatergoers flocked to it across America for more than a year. It didn’t hurt that in 1922, news of Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and its cache of treasures created a frenzy in the American public for all things Egyptian. But DeMille himself put forth another explanation for the subject’s significance. Title cards at the opening of the film tell the audience: “Our modern world defined God as a ‘religious complex’ and laughed at the ‘Ten Commandments’ as old fashioned. Then, through the laughter, came the shattering thunder of the World War. And now a blood-drenched, bitter world – no longer laughing – cries for a way out.”

COLD WAR MOSES After years of receiving letters urging him to remake “The Ten Commandments” for the sound era, DeMille approached Paramount’s board in 1953 with the concept; they balked. Audiences, one board member said, wanted “modern, happy pictures.” As Katherine Orrison relates in “Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. DeMille’s Epic The Ten Commandments,” Paramount founder Adolph Zukor chastised them.

From left to right, Theodore Roberts in "The Ten Commandments" (1923), Charlton Heston in "The Ten Commandments" (1956), Moses voiced by Val Kilmer in "The Prince of Egypt" (1998) and Christian Bale in "Exodus: Gods and Kings" (2014). Credits (left to right): Paramount, Paramount, DreamWorks, 20th Century Fox. Photo illustration by Marshall Weiss.

The 80-year-old Hungarian Jew raised his hand for silence and stood up. “Well, I find it embarrassing and deplorable that it takes Cecil here – a gentile, no less – to remind us Jews of our heritage! What was World War II fought for anyway? We should get down on our knees and say ‘thank you’ that he wants to make a picture on the life of Moses.” Charlton Heston was not DeMille’s first choice for the part. With the biblical image of an elderly Moses to lead the Exodus in mind, DeMille wanted 58-year-old William Boyd, who had worked with DeMille on earlier films. In the 1950s, Boyd had achieved success as Ho-

palong Cassidy on television. He turned down DeMille’s offer, thinking it would interfere with his Hopalong image. DeMille’s associates urged him to consider the 31-yearold Heston, showing DeMille Heston’s headshot next to images of Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses. Even with Heston secured, when DeMille’s crew began filming on location in Egypt in 1954, Boyd surprised everyone with a visit to the set – possibly DeMille’s version of a safety net during those first days in production. It wasn’t lost on those who worked on the movie – particularly the young,

Jewish composer of the film’s score, Elmer Bernstein – that Moses at the movies Continues on page 11

HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | MARCH 2015 9

Passover memories

AT THE JCC AND BEYOND By Sheryl Block Special to HAKOL

The Hammel and Block families at seder.

Passover has always been a special memory-making time for me, from teaching at the J to cooking with my family. As my mind races with all these memories, I’m already preparing to make new ones this year. One of my most fond Passover memories was making grape juice with the children. I had them squeeze the grapes in sandwich bags, then took it one

PJ LIBRARY PASSOVER SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015 3:30 to 5 p.m. Congregation Sons of Israel

Celebrate Passover with PJ Library! Learn about the holiday, visit interactive story stations, and enjoy snacks, crafts and a PJ Library story. There will be a story walk to the book “All of Me: A Book of Thanks” by Molly Bang. Co-sponsored by Bnai Abraham Synagogue, Congregation Sons of Israel, Congregation Keneseth Israel, Temple Beth El and Temple Shirat Shalom. RSVP to Abby Trachtman at 610-821-5500 or abbyt@jflv.org. PJ Library is brought to you by the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, the Jewish Community Center of Allentown and the Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley, in partnership with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.

step further and experimented with different colored grapes to see if there was a difference in the color of the juice. One child said something memorable to me: “Miss Sheryl, when my mom wants to buy us grape juice, she just goes to the store.” So much for our scientific discovery! In our classroom, we got ready for the holiday by washing our dishes in the toy kitchen. Our room was clean and sparkled, the children felt a sense of pride. Speaking of pride, one child I had in my three-year-old class is currently a teacher in a three-yearold class. Yes, I am kvelling. I recently spoke with our youngest son, and asked him what makes Passover so memorable for him. He really didn’t have to think about it long; he said it was being together with family and friends, food, food and more food. I love to cook and honor family members who are no longer with us by making their specialties, and creating the Block Family Song Book, which we use every year. We eat, we sing and we laugh, making great memories together. I remember when my oldest son went to college and stayed with a friend’s family for the holidays. He told me that it was a holiday from a can, and he will never experience that again. Ever since he said that, he has been home for holiday celebrations. Our middle child makes the memory of the holidays even better because she is a wonderful cook. Everything she makes is far superior to the way I make it, even though I taught her how. One year my husband told me that the salt water was not the best. Salt water has now become the responsibility of our daughter. I refer to it as her secret recipe. My 25 years of teaching at the J were rich and rewarding in so many ways, and now I am lucky to continue working with children as I teach a parent/tot class called “Tots and Tales.” The kids are exuberant, of course, but the bubbly adults in

the room are always participating, happy to hear my suggestions on how to include their children in holiday celebrations and share their experiences. Those who do not celebrate the Jewish holidays take a real interest in learning about them. This year for Passover, I will be bringing in a pillow for each adult, so while we are talking, we will be reclining. We will have a matzah tasting party – I like to use the mini matzah bites; they are a good size for children to handle, and they are not quite as crumby as real matzah. I can’t wait to read “Sammy Spider’s First Passover” so I can debut the authentic Sammy Spider I recently purchased. And what is a Jewish holiday without matzah balls? Using an appropriately sized children’s parachute, we will cook our imaginary matzah balls. (I will be using bath poufs so if they are put in a child’s mouth, they can be washed.) There are so many wonderful children’s songs for Passover. I prefer songs with a tune that the families already know. Now you can see why teaching this class is a highlight of my week! From my family to yours, Happy Pesach and may you enjoy some of our favorite Passover recipes.

CHAROSET FROM BUDAPEST INGREDIENTS 3 apples, chopped 1 bag of mission figs 6 oz. of slivered almonds Handful of raisins Cinnamon and wine to taste Place all the ingredients in the blender.

INDIVIDUAL PASSOVER VEGETABLE KUGELETTES INGREDIENTS 3 Tbsps. Passover margarine 1 medium onion, chopped and cooked ½ cup celery, chopped and cooked 1 ½ cup carrots, grated and cooked 10 oz. frozen spinach, cooked and well drained 3 eggs well beaten ¼ tsp. nutmeg 2/3 cup matzah meal Preheat oven to 375. Spray muffin tins with non-stick Passover cooking spray. Sauté vegetables 2-3 minutes and set aside. Add eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and matzah meal. Mix thoroughly and spoon into muffin tins. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes before removing.

CORNISH HEN INGREDIENTS ½ Cornish hen per person Kosher for Passover sweet and sour sauce or pie filling Cover Cornish hens with sauce and bake for 1 hour at 375. 10 MARCH 2015 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER

Moses at the movies Continues from page 9

DeMille was filming in a country that sought to destroy the new state of Israel. Far from slow of speech and of slow tongue, Heston’s Moses is the great communicator of the story, almost not in need of Aaron (John Carradine) as his spokesman. When Heston tells Yul Brynner, “Let my people go,” you can almost hear Ronald Reagan 30-some years later exhorting Mr. Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.” It’s no accident. DeMille threw down the antiCommunist gauntlet in his “Ten Commandments” curtain speech, shown in theaters at the opening of the 1956 movie. “The theme of this picture,” DeMille intones, “is whether men are to be ruled by God’s law or whether they are to be ruled by the whims of a dictator like Ramses. Are men the property of the state, or are they free souls under God? This same battle continues throughout the world today.” In the script, Heston is given more than a few lofty monologues. Though this Moses is pained to know Egyptians will suffer in the plagues, he’s still more of a monument then a fully-fleshed person. This does help Yvonne DeCarlo’s interpretation of Zipporah, Moses’s wife, when she utters, “I lost him when he found his God.”

TOTS and

TALES

Adjusted for inflation, DeMille’s 1956 “The Ten Commandments” remains one of the highest-grossing box office films of all time.

CELEBRATION OF YOUTH When Hollywood moguls Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen formed their own studio, DreamWorks SKG, in 1994, they decided in short order to present their version of the Exodus narrative. With Katzenberg’s expertise from The Walt Disney Company and songs written and composed by Stephen Schwartz, DreamWorks SKG released its animated feature musical “The Prince of Egypt” in 1998. “The Prince of Egypt” is one of only two animated features not released by Disney to gross more than $100 million in the United States. It continues on as a staple, shown to children at home and in religious school settings as an introduction to the Exodus. The main characters – Moses, Ramses, Aaron and Miriam – are depicted as decidedly young adults throughout, perhaps to resonate with a new generation and its children. One appeal of the gorgeously animated film is the sense of wonder we often catch in the face of Moses, as voiced by Val Kilmer. As with Heston’s Moses, Kilmer’s has a mindaltering revelation at the Burning Bush and from that moment, he’s all in.

Heston and Kilmer, each in his own time, provided the voice for God in their respective movies, following a Midrash (rabbinic commentary) that God spoke to Moses in a voice that would be familiar and comfortable to him.

FOR AN AGE OF ANXIETY Considering what little direction Ridley Scott’s Moses receives from God or God’s messenger boy, Malak (Isaac Andrews), Christian Bale presents a character who is rightly anxious and anguished in the recently released “Exodus: Gods and Kings.” In this script, the Israelite God pretty much keeps Moses in the dark on how all will move forward, except to ask Moses to be God’s general. A former military leader in Egypt’s army, this Moses relies on his wartime skills to rally the Israelites into the beginnings of revolt, a small-scale war of attrition. When that doesn’t work, God tells the now Robin Hood-like Moses, “for now, you can watch.” God then takes charge. Scott brings a knack for conveying the ancient world as a pretty rough neighborhood. But this Moses doesn’t get a sense of where it’s all heading; that doesn’t leave much room for the audience to follow. Will theatergoers anoint Bale as this generation’s Moses? The answer is as hard to decipher as a message in “Exodus: Gods and Kings.”

Passover Dairy Dinner BY SANDI TEPLITZ

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Salmon with Spinach

INGREDIENTS: 1 large fresh cauliflower, cut into florets 5 t. KP olive oil 1/2 t. kosher salt 1 t. kosher salt 4 garlic cloves, wrapped in foil 3 c. vegetable broth 1 c. lowfat milk 1/2 c. grated KP parmesan cheese

INGREDIENTS: Wild salmon Salted butter Baby spinach

TECHNIQUE: In a 425 degree oven, on a cookie sheet, roast the cauliflower with the oil and 1/2 t. salt. At the same time, roast the garlic. This should take about half an hour; turn the cauliflower occasionally. Transfer to a 5 qt. pot – add the unwrapped and peeled garlic along with the vegetable broth. Simmer for five minutes. Cool, then process in Cuisinart. Return to pot. Stir in milk, cheese, t. of salt. Cook until heated.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

TECHNIQUE: Roast salmon with butter at 375 degrees until done. Boil spinach for a minute; drain well and add butter and nutmeg to taste.

INGREDIENTS: 5 lbs. unpeeled red potatoes, quartered 3 sticks KP unsalted butter 5 oz. KP Romano cheese, grated 7 cloves garlic, minced 2 t. KP dried oregano 1 t. salt TECHNIQUE: Boil the potatoes for 25 minutes – drain. Add in the following order:

stir in butter, add cheese, garlic and oregano. Mash with a mixer or by hand. Stir in salt – mix well.

Lemon Pudding INGREDIENTS: 1 c. sugar 4 T. potato starch Dash of salt 1/4 t. mace 3/4 c. boiling water 3 extra large yolks 1/2 c. fresh lemon juice 1 1/2 t. rind TECHNIQUE: Combine first 4 ingredients in large saucepan. Add boiling water. Cook, stirring, until very thick. Combine yolks with lemon juice and add. Cook over low heat until thick. Add rind. Cool and chill. Serve cold with a dollop of whipped cream.

The new eightweek session of Tots and Tales begins April 22, with a free demo class on April 15. This parent and me program is great for infants and toddlers, and older siblings are welcome. Contact the JCC at 610-435-3571 or visit allentownjcc.org to learn more. HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | MARCH 2015 11

For Passover recipes visit GiantFoodStores.com/recipes

GiantFoodStores.com

Wishing you and your family a Happy Passover

Acme Smoked Nova Salmon

$ 99

Kosher Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

$ 99

Previously Frozen, 4 oz. pkg.

Yehuda or Aviv Matzos 5 lb. pkg.

Manischewitz Matzos 5 lb. box

/ea.

/lb.

Lilly’s Kosher for Passover Assorted Cookies

$ 99

Sweet Potatoes

/ea.

12 oz. pkg.

Kedem Grape Juice Selected Varieties, 64 fl. oz. btl.

Manischewitz Matzo Ball Mix or Matzo Ball Soup Mix 4.5 oz. pkg.

/lb.

Manischewitz, Streits, Osem or Yehuda Matzo Meal, Cake Meal, Farfel 16 oz. pkg.

$ 99

2/$

10/$

2/$

Holiday Fruit Slices

Streit’s & Manischewitz Potato Pancake Mix

Manischewitz Egg Matzos

Mrs. Adler’s Gefilte Fish

GIANT Seltzer 1 Liter

6 oz. pkg.

12 oz. pkg.

All Varieties, 6 oz. pkg.

Selected Varieties, 24 oz. pkg.

33.8 fl. oz. btl.

2/$

4/$

2/$

Gold’s Borscht

Yehuda Memorial Glass Candle

Streit’s Macaroons

Gefen Whole Roasted Shelled Chestnuts

Streit’s Chocolate Covered Matzo

24–32 oz. jar

1 ct. pkg.

Chocolate, Almond, Chocolate Chip or Coconut, 10 oz. pkg.

5.2 oz. pkg.

7 oz. pkg.

$ 79

2/$

$ 99

Manischewitz Cake Mix

Elite Chocolate Bars

Season Sardines

Gold’s Duck Sauce

GIANT Honey Bear

3 oz. pkg.

12 oz. pkg.

Assorted Varieties, 3.75– 4.37 oz. can

40 oz. jar.

12 oz. squeeze btl.

2/$

$ 99

4/$

2/$

$ 39

Glick’s & Mani Potato Chips

2/$

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