High Holidays - Jewish News Supplement 09.26.22

High Holidays

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Celebrate the fullness ofJewish worship with us as togetherwe find spiritual meaning in the words of our sages. Youwill finda heartygreetingfroma warm meaningCelebratecongregationthatembracesboththetimelessandtheinnovative.Comejoinusandletuswelcomeyouhome.7255GranbyStreet,Norfolk,VA235057574894550www.templeisraelva.orgPleasejoinTempleIsraelforthe2019/5780holidays!thefullnessofJewishworshipwithusastogetherwefindspiritualinthewordsofoursages.Youwillfindaheartygreetingfromawarmcongregationthatembracesboththetimelessandtheinnovative.Comejoinusandletuswelcomeyouhome.7255GranbyStreet,Norfolk,VA235057574894550www.templeisraelva.org

Chef Larry Adler: Cooking up a storm to break the fast

Debbie Burke

Virginia Beach’s Larry Adler, culi nary faculty lead at Stratford University and a former training professional, has a long history of applying his skills and creativity to bringing food to the nextForlevel.Jewish News readers, Adler shares a few tips for delicious ways to break the fast at Yom Kippur, plus his mother’s famous recipe for apple cake!

Jewish News: How did you get into cook ing and food prep?

Larry Adler: While I come from a family of good cooks as both my grandmothers and mother were creative in the kitchen, my incentive to cook was more a necessity as my wife worked late, and it was some thing I always enjoyed. I did not get my culinary degree until late in life, and it has become an interesting and rewarding pastime in my retirement years.

JN: What is your favorite meal for break ing the fast?

LA: We have done a standard Break-theFast at Yom Kippur for about 30 family members and friends for the last 30 years. Bagels, lox, both sweet and savory kugels, and an assortment of desserts featur ing my mother’s apple cake. Our close friend David Pariser hot-smokes a salmon

filet (recipe included), which is always a family favorite. For early arriv als, we have chopped pickled herring and chopped liver.

We consider this a family affair. Everyone who comes brings and shares. My wife, Ronna, and our children and grandchildren are all instrumental in making this a family event.

JN: How do you consider different palates as well as those with dietary restric tions— to have something for everybody?

LA: By offering a variety of food items, we have never had to work really hard to accommodate. Egg salad and chicken salad meet many diets and are gluten-free, and a large selection of sliced veggies or a salad will be both gluten-free and vegetarian-friendly.

JN: How is this year different for a breakthe-fast event, especially in light of COVID restrictions from recent years?

LA: We always hope for good weather so we can spread out on the porch and yard and with few exceptions, this has been the case. The first year of the pandemic kept us laying low with only the immediate family. This year we hope to be back to full strength, but as a family, we will take a moment to remember those who are no longer with us.

Chopped Herring Chill and serve with crackers.

Larry Adler.

High Holidays

Smoked Salmon

1 quart water

½ cup salt

¾ cup honey

¼ cup rum

¼ cup lemon juice

10 whole cloves (spice)

10 peppercorns (whole)

10 allspice berries

1 bay leaf

1 whole salmon filet

Combine salt, water, rum, lemon juice, and spices in a container. Place salmon filet in large dish and pour mixture over fish. Cover and refrigerate for 2–3 hours.

Prepare grill or smoker by filling water tray, adding wood chips and preheating to 250 degrees. Remove fish from solution and discard solution. Do not rinse fish of the salty skin that has formed. Place fish on smoker rack and smoke until desired doneness is achieved. Some folks like fish to be only lightly cooked (30–45 minutes); others like the fish to be well done (1–2 hours). Allow to cook and serve with horseradish or dill sauce.

Mamaw’s Apple Cake

This is my mother’s famous recipe. It has been known to cause family fights about who ate the last piece, and one whole cake has disappeared under suspicious circumstances. While my mother passed away this year, both my wife and my daughter Lindsey make a pretty good replica. My sister Dorothy says she will attempt it this year, too!

1Cake:box Duncan Hines

Butter Recipe Cake Mix

1 apple, cored, peeled, cut in half, and thinly sliced if you have a mandolin to slice it.

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream ¹/³ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup water ¹/³ cup

2¼Toppingssugarcup sugartablespoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons brown sugar

½ cup raisins

½ cup pecans finely chopped

Mix topping ingredients together and set aside. Mix cake ingredients with mixer. Pour ¹/³ cake batter into greased and floured tube cake pan. Sprinkle ¼ of the topping mix ture on top of batter. Pour ¹/³ more batter and arrange apple slices FLAT around pan. Sprinkle more topping mixture. Pour remaining batter over apples and topping mix and put remaining apple slices (standing upright) around top. Sprinkle with topping mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 50–55 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

High Holidays

How are repentance and forgiveness possible?

Area professionals say how it’s done and why it’s beneficial

Debbie Burke

Torah says that repentance can be achieved at any age or stage: “Even

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if a man has sinned his whole life, and repents on the day of his death, all his sins are forgiven him” (Maimonides, Yad, Teshuvah 2:1).

Yom Kippur is a time to consider how we have wronged others, our responsibil ity to make amends and apologize, and the benefit of accepting apologies. Not only does this fulfill our spiritual obliga tions at Yom Kippur, it is also good for our mental health and our personal growth.

“Forgiveness is a powerful tool that people can use to help them in their healing journey,” says Kelly Burroughs, CEO of Jewish Family Service. “Because forgiveness is an internal process, it is powerful; no one can take that power from you. It does not mean that the hurt ful behavior is condoned or forgotten, rather that they are learning that the person who hurt them no longer has the power.”AsSara Litt, LCSW from Churchland Psychological Center sees it, empathy is a key concept in forgiveness. “Try to imag ine how the other person may have been impacted by your actions, and be real in your assessment about what you did. Take the time to really sit with it and explore your own role and what you could have done differently. Then, it’s very import ant to make restitution. If you can make amends with the person directly, go for it. But if that isn’t possible, then consider other ways to make restitution, to change your character for the better.”

The hardest part of asking for for giveness is humbly admitting doing something wrong by expressing empathy and remorse, as well as promising to do better in the future. Michelle Walter, LCSW at JFS, says, “The best way to prove that we are truly sorry is not to repeat the behavior. Yom Kippur provides us a won derful time to make these changes.”

As for granting forgiveness, Walter points out that this is not the same as forgetting. “It can be very healing in not allowing one to continue to be victimized. One can gather the courage to acknowl edge and face the pain and accept to make

peace with ourselves.” This can require the support of a friend or therapist, as these issues affect one’s mental health. “It can be more about our own self-care rather than the other person.”

What about forgiving somebody who is not available or no longer around, for example, one’s deceased mother or father?

“One intervention that I like to use is to ask the person to write their parent’s autobiography,” suggests Litt. “Of course, this isn’t truly possible, but the exercise allows the person to see their parent’s life story through [their] perspective, to gain insight and empathy about where the parent [was] coming from and their strug gles. Our parents already [had] a whole life history before we [were] born and we are only one piece of their story. Most parents are doing the best they can, but sometimes that’s limited due to circum stances beyond their control. If, as adult children, we can perceive our parents as having tried their best under difficult cir cumstances, then it becomes much easier to forgive them for their mistakes.”

This Yom Kippur, this Day of Atonement, then, might be a good time to consider the personal benefits of forgiving others.

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High Holidays

The best foods to eat before fasting on Yom Kippur

Shannon Sarna

Fasting on Yom Kippur is not easy, nor is it waterabstainingfunctionSomemedicalfeeding,pregnant,becausepeopleeveryone—someforcannotfasttheyarebreastorhaveacondition.simplydonotwellwhilefromandfoodfora

25-hour period.

But for those who do choose to fast as a meaningful way to engage in Yom Kippur, there are actually foods to eat beforehand that can set you up for a more successful, less onerous fast.

Most people stick to a menu that is

classic and delicious but not too crazy or spicy: chicken soup, chicken, rice or pasta, a vegetable, some challah, and water.

1. Avoid foods that are hard to digest

Now this might be different for everyone, but in general stay away from heavy meat

dishes, fried foods, or lots of dairy.

2. Eat foods that have fiber and water Foods with lots of fiber will keep you fuller longer, and foods with water, like fruits and vegetables, will keep you hydrated. Chickpeas or lentils are a great vegetarian protein source to eat, especially a dish like mujaderra. A hearty chicken soup with noodles or rice and lots of veg gies is another safe bet.

3. Avoid salt

Salty foods like olives, pickles, chips, canned soup, or dishes made with those bouillon cubes will bloat you and make you even more thirsty. So stick to some thing a little more bland for that pre-fast meal.

4. Avoid sugar

Too much dessert before fasting may cause your blood sugar to spike up and then come crashing down, which can be unpleasant at its least and cause a head ache or moodiness at its worst. Too much sugar will also make you thirsty, like salt, and will have you craving more sweets during your fast.

5. Drink water

This is pretty obvious, but make sure to drink plenty of water, not only at the meal right before the fast begins, but during the days preceding as well.

6. Avoid eating too much

Eat a moderate-sized meal that leaves you satisfied, but not unbuttoning your pants. You will feel uncomfortable and it will be more difficult to digest a monstrous-sized meal.

High Holidays

Zimtsterne: German star cookies for the Yom Kippur Break-the-Fast

Ronnie Fein

When people deny themselves food for an extended period of time they’re usually ravenously hungry and find themselves thinking about consuming huge amounts of food. It’s not a good idea, however, to pack it in too quickly because it is too hard on your digestive system.

So when Yom Kippur comes to a close, I make it easier for my family and friends and follow the ages-old wisdom of transi tioning from the fast to the main meal by offering guests a light nibble as they come into my home after synagogue. I serve sliced apples and honey, hummus and pita wedges, and, for those who prefer some thing sweet, zimtsterne cookies.

The word zimtsterne translates as “cin namon stars.” These star-shaped cut-out cookies are actually a German Christmas specialty. But for observant Jews, they are also traditional for Yom Kippur, when they are known as “erste sternen,” or “first stars”

because they are a reminder that before you can break the fast, you must be able to see the first evening stars that appear in the sky after Theresundown.areendless variations on this

cookie. I make one version with flour and honey, more like a traditional gin gerbread cookie. But the more popular recipes are basically warmly spiced nut-me ringues, with meringue frosting. They are compellingly crispy at first bite, then everso-slightly chewy; the cinnamon-clove fragrance is spellbinding. And here’s the bonus—they are gluten-free.

You can make these cookies as much as a week ahead. Keep them tightly sealed so they’ll stay crispy. If you haven’t ever tasted zimtsterne, consider adding them to your holiday menu. They also make a delightful gift to bring if you’re invited to a Break-the-Fast.

This article originally appeared on The Nosher.

German star cookies

INGREDIENTS

2½ cups finely ground almonds, approximately (or almond meal, see 1below)tspground cinnamon

¹/8 tsp ground cloves

½ tsp salt

1 tsp grated fresh lemon peel

2 large egg whites

1 tsp lemon juice

1½ cups confectioners’ sugar granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. Place the almonds, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and lemon peel in a bowl, whisk to blend the ingredients, and set aside.

3. Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer starting at low, then increasing the speed to medium-high, for 1–2 minutes or until bubbly. Pour in the lemon juice and beat at medium-high for another 2 minutes or until soft peaks form. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar and beat at high speed for 4–5 minutes or until stiff and glossy.

4. Remove about ¹/³ of this mixture to a bowl and set aside.

5. Add the almond mixture to the remaining (²/ ³) mixture and stir to blend the ingredients thoroughly. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for at least one hour.

6. Remove the dough. If it is still soft and sticky, work in some additional ground almonds. Sprinkle a pastry board with some granulated sugar. Place the dough on the board and top the dough with some parchment paper or waxed paper. Roll or press the almond dough to a ¼-inch thickness.

7. Cut the dough with star-shape cookie cutters. Place the cookies on the parchment-lined cookie sheet. Spread the remaining ¹/ ³ egg white mixture on top of the dough. (You can use a small spoon or a pastry brush.) Bake for about 12–15 minutes.

NOTE: If you use pre-packaged almond “meal,” start with two cups; add more as needed to create dough that isn’t overly sticky.