An unexpected encounter
Filed under: education, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life
Not my new friend's grandfather, but a milkman in Ein Kerem (Israel Images)
She asked if we could help her to her home, which was just up the block from where we were standing on Esther HaMalka Street in Baka. Her house, she said, was on Mordechai HaYehudi. (Esther the Queen Street and Mordechai the Jew Street; both named for the Purim Megilla characters.) So we easily agreed, and began walking, slowly, together. She wanted to know where we were from; turned out she’s lived in the same house for 60 years. Sixty years!
As we ambled along, not exchanging names but having a comfortable discussion, she told us she would show us her house, and her artifacts so to speak. Turns out her grandfather, of Bukharan descent, was the first milkman in Jerusalem — and she had photos, news clippings and his wooden butter churn sitting in the hallway. She showed us her husband’s family’s original home in the now trendy and real estate-worthy Jerusalem neighborhood of Nachlaot; sold for ‘grushim’ — pennies — she told us with a sigh. And then, to the accomplishments of the last 60 years, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of whose photos adorned the fridge.
She and I had at least one thing in common: Twin sons. Hers are in their 60s, one a computer engineer, the other works for the Bank of Israel. They and their kids and grandkids were all beautiful; dark skinned, and bright eyed.
When the tour was over, it was clearly time for us to leave. She needed to rest, and we needed to get home. But she urged me to come visit whenever I wanted, and I just may.
Pesach leftovers
Filed under: Food, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Life
You know that very satisfying feeling when you take some heading-on-old veggies from the fridge or aging leftovers and do something tasty with them before they’re completely dead?
Mine did not look as perfect as these, but still tasted good
So, scallion matzah meal pancakes for the women’s seder I attended last night; diced scallions and yogurt in our morning potato starch pancakes for a savory treat; and some sliced scallions in the sauteed swiss chard/garlic and sliced carrots (from another seder side dish) for dinner tonight.
Recipes follow, and they’re all great ways of using up that matzah meal and potato starch sitting on your counters. Enjoy!
Pesach Pancakes by Ruth Sirkis
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups water
6 tblspn potato starch
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp oil
1. Mix eggs, water, potato starch, salt and oil thoroughly. Mixture should look like heavy cream.
2. Heat a skillet; sprinkle with a little oil and brush pan with oil. Continue heating until a drop of water will dance on skillet.
3. Put 2 tablespoons batter (if using small skillet; if larger pan, use a 1/4 cup or so) into pan, tilt so batter spreads evenly but thinly on surface. When batter looks completely dry, turn over and fry on other side. Each pancake will be pale gold.
We like these spread with yogurt, jam, cottage cheese, peanut butter and chocolate spread (very delish), and, as I mentioned above, a more savory version with yogurt and sauteed scallions.
Swiss Chard Saute
1 bunch swiss chard
couple cloves garlic
Olive oil
1. Chop up the swiss chard, as well as the garlic.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil, and saute the garlic. Add the swiss chard, and the water clinging to the swiss chard should be enough to let it wilt and cook in the pan.
OJ/Ginger Carrots by Adeena Sussman
1 lb. carrots
Chunk ginger
Pumpkin seeds, roasted in oven or stovetop pan.
Orange juice
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Par-simmer whole carrots in OJ and ginger. Then roast on high till caramelized.
Serve room temperature with diced avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds and an orange-lemon vinaigrette.
Spring has sprung
Filed under: Environment, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness
Spring seems to be here, judging from the birds’ chatter in the morning and the buds springing up on the trees — not counting the hateful sharav weather that has been weighing us down as we ‘slave’ over hot stoves for Pesach. More importantly, I happened to notice out my back windows that green, not-yet-ripe peaches are emerging on the peach tree — good news, as I feared the passionfruit vine had choked it to death, that my spring annuals were also blooming and emerging, and most exciting, my wisteria vine has finally bloomed, five years after it was planted.
Of course, spring has meant both Purim and Pesach, two major holidays that required and require a significant amount of preparation. But I’m trying not to focus on those aspects of spring, and rather on the sense of rebirth, blue skies, fewer layers and getting outside again, and, those purple blooms just outside the window, signaling that shorts and tee-shirts, barbecues and lazy evenings, summertime and sort-of vacation are just around the corner.
A happy Passover to everyone out there.
The Bieber, Bibi and Sderot
The Bieb on the beach
In any case, even if Bieber did refuse to meet kids from the Kassam-deluged Sderot, they’ve still gotten themselves invited to his concert, thanks to the folks at the ROI Community funded by the always generous Lynn Schusterman and the Morningstar Foundation. The two funds raised $30,000 to cover the cost of discounted tickets and transportation for 700 kids living in Sderot and other nearby communities to go to tonight’s concert.
So even if Bieber didn’t wanna meet them in person, they’re gonna see him on stage, at Biebermania in Tel Aviv. But chances are, Bibi won’t be there.
A new kind of haggadah
Filed under: Art, design, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Religion
Pesach is less than a week away — I know, I know — so this is a tad on the late side, but worth hearing about. One of the new haggadot out there this year is A Happy Passover Haggadah – for the Entire Family, with bright, visual graphics by Israeli artist Monicka Clio Rafaeli, classic Ashkenazic and Sephardic texts and an English translation by Rabbi Marc Angel.
For Rafaeli, this Haggadah fulfills a long-time dream, from when she was a nine-year-old growing up in Greece, her birthplace, and her grandmother bought her Viewmaster reels. One of them was the story of Moses, and it’s a story that she’s always wanted to tell, in her way. Fast forward through the years, including moving to Israel at 14 with her family and spending five years in New York. Rafaeli was newly married and pregnant when she started working on this Haggadah here in Israel, creating a wildly colorful version as she’d always imagined. It took three years, and now that moment has finally arrived.
“I wanted to bring a fresh look to the table,” she says. “To show that Judaism and the seder are not only an ancient thing, they can be exciting, offer a new flavor.”
The haggadah is fully bilingual and transliterated in parts as well, and given its colorful illustrations and graphics, offers something to the non-reading set as well. It can still — well, maybe — be ordered off Amazon, and is available at Jewish bookstores.
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