Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on October 30, 2021

The Jewish Public Library (JPL) has announced the return of its annual Jewish Book Month (JBM), through to Nov. 30. Far from being only about books, this entertaining and thought-provoking series of eleven multilingual, eclectic events brings together some of todays top literary minds in interviews and inspiring lectures, along with film, workshops, concerts and Russian dance & culture. Insightful Q&A sessions follow most presentations.

Distinguished evolutionary psychologist and Harvard Professor Steven Pinker will be among the speakers at Jewish Book Month. Here is an interview he gave recently.

These one-time livestreamed events take place in various cities around the world, with the option of attending the Russian performance in person. Highlights include this years keynote speaker David Grossman, Colum McCann, Steven Pinker and Valrie Zenatti. Certain events are available in French. Jewish Book Month is celebrated every November. Honouring works that contain Jewish content first started at the Boston Public Library in 1925; JPL sponsored the first comprehensive book exhibit in the Montreal Jewish community in 1944.

For Eddie Paul, JPLs Senior Director of Library & Learning Services, Jewish Book Month is about the resilience of the book and the exchange of ideas in which books hold sway, JBM is first and foremost a month in which writers and ideas from all reaches of the human experience converge, he said. The events confer special importance on the current zeitgeist because of their diversity, their scope and their willingness to invite open discussion; the life blood of the Jewish Public Library."

This years award winning line-up reflects the polyglot character of JPL's institutional history and identity. Speaking from Israel, JBM Keynote event An Evening with David Grossman: More Than I Love My Life, is inspired by the true story of acclaimed author Grossmans long-time confidante, a woman held at the notorious Goli Otok (the Adriatic Alcatraz) in the 1950s, with simultaneous French translation (Nov. 7); from Massachusetts Steven Pinker continues his exploration on the genealogy of reason with insight and humour in this Montreal launch of his new work, Rationality (Nov. 17); live from France, Valerie Zenatti is a Francophone author grounded in the European and Middle Eastern romantic traditions in conversation with Chantal Ringuet (Nov. 14); and direct from Ireland, author Colum McCann is in conversation with Anne Lagac Dowson about his lauded novel Apeirogon, the real-life story of two fathersone Palestinian, one Israeliwho have both lost daughters to conflict in the Holy Land (Nov. 3).

McCann is honoured to be part of JPLs Jewish Book Month, I like people who like books; they are smart and adventurous and generally have something to talk about, he offered. The conflict is not an easy place into which we step. The message of Rami and Bassam, the two central figures of my novelthat we do not need to love each other, or even like each other, but we must understand one anotheris something that can be applied universally.

Diverse events continue with Danny Robas singing in Hebrew from Israel, In Friendship Together (Oct. 30); from New Jersey Jeffrey Shandlers Yiddish: Biography of a Language, a revealing and multifaceted history about the mother-tongue of JPL's early founders (Nov. 10); the 16th annual Evening of Russian Culture- Our Hearts Are Holding Hands features poets, musicians, vocalists and dancers bringing famous Russian bard Bulat Okudzhava to life, in English and Russian. Tickets available to watch live in person at the Segal Centre or livestreamed (Nov. 13); and from California and New York, Chanie Ehrentreu, host of The Boss Maidel Podcast, is in conversation with author Fiona Davis in the new series, Boss Maidel Conversations with Female Writers (Nov. 30).

High-calibre workshops cover The Jargon of Hegemony: cultural appropriation and repatriation with the book talk, Contested Heritage: Jewish Cultural Property after 1945 with Caroline Jessen, and rare book workshop Repatriating the Orphans: The Provenance of the JPLs Rare Book Collection, with Nicole Beaudry and Eddie Paul (Nov. 11), and rare book workshop, Missing Inks: Jewish Texts in Controversial Contexts with librarians Nicole Beaudry, Eddie Stone and Eddie Paul featuring volumes from JPL's oldest collection dating back to 1481, focusing on texts whose backstories were controversial and fraught with intrigue (Nov. 24).

As a post JBM treat, charismatic Sephardi Cantor Daniel Benlolo will perform the concert, A Glimmer of Light A tribute to Jewish composers showcasing songs from artists including Leonard Cohen, Neil Diamond, Samy Elmaghribi, Billy Joel, Carole King, Enrico Macias, Simon and Garfunkel and Theodore Bikel, on Dec. 12.

The Jewish Public Library remains unique among Montreals and the worlds Jewish institutions. Open to all, the library, including archives and childrens library, is a hub for Jewish culture, lifelong learning, literature and cultural programming, cultivating imagination, and promoting literacy, dialogue and creativity. Jewish Book Month is just one of their ongoing, year-round activities.

Complete program, dates, tickets are available here. Tickets are free or up to $18 depending upon the event. For further information: (514) 345-2627 info@jplmontreal.org.

THE NEWEST PODCASTER: Rabbi Yechezkel Freundlich, spiritual leader of Congregation Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem in Cte Saint-Luc, has launched his own podcast. It is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all your other favorite podcast apps. Subscribe today and don't miss a beat!

FEDERATION CJA INTERVIEW: For a recent edition of Suburban On Air we interviewed newly minted Federation CJA President Joel Segal and CEO Yair Szlak about the challenges faced in the past 18 months and their Community Recovery Plan. You can view it here.

FIRESIDECHAT WITH STEPHEN HARPER: Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be in Montreal on Nov. 18 to speak as part of a fireside chat presented by The Foundation for Public Policy Development in support of projects with NGO Monitor and Bnai Brith Canada. It will take place at Jardin Royalmount. Event co-chairs are Hyman Beraznik, Eric Bissell, Perry Shak and Michael Szirt.

KRISTALLNACHT: On Nov. 9, the world will join International March of the Living to commemorate Kristallnacht. Messages from around the world will be projected onto the Old City Walls of Jerusalem, on houses of prayer and public institutions around the world

On the night of November 9, 1938, the Nazis organized the murder of Jews and the burning of 1,400 synagogues and Jewish institutions in Germany and Austria as part of the Kristallnacht pogrom. This event is one of the seminal moments that led to the Holocaust. To mark this historical event and to stand in protest against the rise of antisemitic events and hate crimes, International March of the Living has announced the continuation of its Let There Be Light global initiative and invites individuals, institutions and houses of worship to leave the lights on during the night of Nov. 9 as a symbol of mutual responsibility and the shared struggle against antisemitism, racism, hatred, and intolerance.

Last year thousands of houses of prayer across the world took part in this initiative and left a symbolic light on during the night of November 9th. Messages of hope were projected onto the walls of Jerusalems Old City and onto Coventry Cathedral in Britain, which was destroyed by the Nazis during the Second World War. Through this unique virtual initiative, people around the world can once again join this important call to action.

The President of the International March of the Living, Phyllis Greenberg Heideman and Chairman Dr. Shmuel Rosenman state: In the face of rising antisemitism, our mission to educate and to remember the Holocaust is urgent and essential. The Let There Be Light initiative unites the world against antisemitism, hatred and racism.

Adds Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Chief Operating Officer: Facebook is proud to support the International March of the Livings Let There Be Light initiative as part of the actions we are taking against antisemitism it is unacceptable that Jews absorb violence and threats against the background of antisemitism.

Visit http://motl.org/let-there-be-light for complete information

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SJN: Jewish Book Month is officially underway in Montreal - The Suburban Newspaper

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Posted By admin on October 30, 2021

Lawmakers discuss breast cancer and legislation to raise awareness

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who have both been diagnosed with breast cancer, are calling for action.

Jasper Colt, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON When Sen. Amy Klobuchar received the news in February that she had breast cancer, she not only joined asmall group of women in Congress who have had the diseasebut also becameone of the thousands in the U.S. who are diagnosedeach year.

Klobuchar, D-Minn., said getting her breast cancer diagnosis was a "shock." Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., described her diagnosis in 2007 as "devastating."

As Breast Cancer Awareness month comes to a close, both lawmakers are fighting in the halls of the Capitol for better preventive care and more advocacy for survivors.

Klobuchar announced Thursday that she is introducing thePreventive Care Awareness Act, legislation she started crafting after her diagnosis, she told USA TODAY.

The legislation would aim to help people get appointments needed to detect cancer early by promoting health care screenings androutine examinations andphysicals.

"The numbers aremuch bigger than people think," Klobuchar said. "Now I'm one of them. And I never thought that would happen."

Klobuchar, 61,revealed in September that she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and that doctorsdiagnosed her with stage 1A cancer after a biopsy in the spring. The diagnosis came after a routine mammogram she had delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

After other tests, she was treated at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and hadalumpectomy to remove a tumor in her right breast. In May, she began radiation therapy.

More: Sen. Amy Klobuchar reveals breast cancer diagnosis, successful treatment

The senator's revelationput a national spotlight on the disease the American Cancer Society says results in more than 200,000 diagnoses each year in the U.S.According to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention,breast cancer is the second most-common cancer among womenbehind skin cancer.

Wasserman Schultz, 55,kept her diagnosis private for more than a year after learning she had breast cancernearly 14 years ago. She did so to protect her three children at the time.

She had a double mastectomy and continued to work as a lawmaker during treatment,scheduling surgeries during weeks the House was in recess.

More: Casey DeSantis' cancer journey will include balancing the private and public, survivors say

Klobuchar noted many Americans missed doctors appointments in the past year and a half amid thecoronavirus pandemic, and somedelayed appointments out of fear of contracting COVID-19 at hospitals or doctors' offices. Klobuchar put off her own cancer screening for about a year.

More: Olivia Newton-John and Hoda Kotb tearfully bond over breast cancer journeys: 'We're sisters'

"We know there's tons of people (who have had)undetected breast cancer and other forms of cancer," Klobuchar said. "I put mine off from the beginning of the pandemic."

At the beginning of the pandemic, cancer screenings were not considered essential medical services instead, they were classified as elective procedures, leading patients and medical professionalsto deprioritize them.

"The sooner you know these things, and stop playinggames in your mind and get the screening done, the better you're going to feel and certainly the better off your health is going to be," Klobuchar said.

It was her personal experience that inspired her to create the legislation, which would establish a task force to develop recommendations addressing preventive care access during COVID-19 and future public health emergencies.

It also would direct the Health and Human Services secretary to create a public health education campaign aimed at informing people about access to preventive services incollaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the surgeon general and the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

More: What do the different stages of breast cancer mean? Which is the most dangerous?

In addition, it awards grants to states, territories, localities, and tribal organizations to increase use and decrease disparities in preventive care services.

Wasserman Schultz agreed prevention is crucial to combating the disease while scientists search for a cure.

"We have to make sure that we focus on prevention" and early detection, she told USA TODAYon Wednesday, surroundedby pink breast cancer awareness memorabilia in her office. Funding preventive measures can bring down mortality rates, she said.

Preventive care measures for breast cancer include scheduling regular mammogramsand physicals. Klobuchar said a key part of the education campaign would to be inform the public that most of those services are free.

Wasserman Schultz also emphasized the need to educate people on how to do self-exams.

After her first mammogram, which came back clean, she became more "aware of paying attention to my breast health. So, I was doing a self-exam in the shower, found a lump,something that did not feel like what I normally felt."

Though survival rates vary for different cancers, generally, the later cancer is diagnosed, the more difficult it is to treat.

The U.S. National Cancer Institute, a government agency that conducts cancer research, published anacademic articlein early September 2020 that said it "conservatively estimates 10,000 excess deaths over the next decade from underdiagnosed and undertreated breast and colorectal cancers during COVID-19."

More: Many Arizonans avoided cancer screenings during the pandemic. That could have major ramifications.

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Klobuchar's bill, which hasn't been introduced in the House yet,is already getting bipartisan support in the upper chamber.

Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine andMike Rounds and John Thune of South Dakota have joined Klobuchar and Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jacky Rosen of Nevada in sponsoringthe legislation.

Rounds' wife, Jean, also isbattlingcancer.

My family has seen the importance of preventive health care firsthand as my wife, Jean, has been battling cancer since 2019," Rounds saidin a statement. "Unfortunately, thousands of American families share my familys story and witness how a scheduled check-up can turn into lifesaving early detection of a horrific disease.

Klobuchar and Wasserman Schultz have teamed up on similar breast cancer legislationand awareness before, helping leadthe charge to reauthorizepass theBreast Health Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act, or the EARLY Act, to be reauthorized last year. It was done so as part of the larger government spending and COVID-19 relief legislation.

That legislation, written by Wasserman Schultz in 2010, created an outreach program administered by the CDC to highlight the disease in younger women and those who may be at higher risk because of their ethnicities.

Wasserman Schultz said thatbecause of her Ashkenazi Jewish heritage, she was much more likely to carry a BRCA genemutation. Because of thegene, she was alsomore likely to have ovarian cancer. Shehadher ovaries removed during her breast cancer treatment.

"Making sure that young women knew their risk was animportant part of this legislation," she said.

More: Most women should schedule an annual mammogram starting at age 40

Opinion: I gambled with my life and got lucky. But too many Black women lose.

What happens after the diagnosis and battle? Though it hasbeen nearly 14years since Wasserman Schultz's diagnosis and treatment, she stressed that the"survivor journey is for your lifetime. And there are so many pits and falls that youcan trip up on."

She told USA TODAY she plans to unveil House legislation this year to "help people navigate their post-cancer experience," focusing on helping survivors navigate doctors visits.

For Klobuchar,her diagnoses shined a spotlight on the disease.

"It's a whole new ballgame when it happens to you personally."

Contributing: Matthew Brown, Gabriela Miranda andJasper ColtUSA TODAY;Jim Rosica, the Tallahassee Democrat; and Drew Favakeh and Meena Venkataramanan, the Arizona Republic

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Klobuchar and Wasserman Schultz have their own breast cancer stories. This is how they want Congress to fight it. - USA TODAY

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Posted By admin on October 30, 2021

While Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's disease hopeful donanemab stole most of the headlines for the drugmaker Tuesday, the company's stable of approved drugs continued on their growth path. The company posted a double-digit sales increase in the third quarter and is getting readyfor some highly anticipated launches.

Lilly's diabetes medicine Trulicity, immunology blockbuster Taltz, breast cancer drug Verzenio and migraine prevention medicine Emgality each posted revenue gains of more than 30 percentage points versus the prior quarter, propelling the company to a $6.77 billion quarterly haul. On the flip side, sales forLilly's insulins Humalog and Humulin, cancer med Alimta and osteoporosis injection Forteo declined amid competitive challenges leading to lower prices.

Overall, Lilly's sales beat consensus estimates by about $170 million. Its earnings per share of $1.94 came in justshort of the Street's $1.96estimate.

Looking ahead, Lilly expects a "difficult" year-over-year revenue comparison in 2022, because the companypredicts it will see "limited" sales fromits COVID-19 antibodies, Chief Financial Officer Anat Ashkenazisaid on a Tuesday conferencecall. The company projects about $1.3 billion from this year.

Meanwhile, much of the earnings call focused on potential 2022 launchesdonanemab for Alzheimer's disease andtirzepatide for Type 2 diabetes. Both drugsrepresent important 2022 launches for a company that's already growing thanks to its new medicines.

The company started a rolling review for the Alzheimer's drugand submittedtirzepatide to the agency with a priority review voucher, it said Tuesday.

RELATED:Eli Lilly kick-starts speedy FDA review for Alzheimer's hopeful donanemaband a one-on-one test against Aduhelm

Lilly also kicked off a head-to-head trial of donanemab against Biogen's Aduhelm. Biogen's medicine scored a controversial accelerated approval in June and has seen very limited use during its time on the market. Last week, Biogen reported just $300,000 in third-quarter sales for the drug.

The company doesn't think Aduhelm's struggles meandonanemab will suffer the same fate, neuroscience head Anne White said on the call. While there's "clearly work to do" tostrengthen long-term uptake for Alzheimer's antibodies, White said, Lilly plans to focus on improvingdiagnostic infrastructure, infusion capacity and reimbursement dynamics to support its launch.

The company is "confident we can address these challenges over time," she added.

As for tirzepatide, Lilly already has a sizable diabetes commercial team in place, Ashkenazi said. While the company expects a diabetes indication first, Lilly is also eying a potential use in obesity to challenge Novo Nordisk's new Wegovy.

SPECIAL REPORT:The top 20 pharma companies by 2020 revenue | Eli Lilly

After Lilly reported third-quarter results, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen wrote to clients that the company's "earnings outlook is favorable when compared with those of its peers." The company can continue expanding its margin and post "mid-teens" earnings per share growth, she added. Lilly is "entering a period of earnings growth through 2030, bolstered by multiple pipeline readouts of its first-in-class/best-in-class compounds," includingdonanemab andtirzepatide, she said.

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As Lilly gears up for key 2022 launches, Trulicity, Taltz and more drive solid growth - FiercePharma

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Posted By admin on October 30, 2021

23andMe Scientist and Customer Discuss How Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Health Tests Can Make an Impact on Health

New York, New York --News Direct-- YourUpdateTV

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are genes that have been found to impact a persons chances of developing certain cancers, including breast, ovarian and prostate cancer. Recently, 23andMe scientist, Ruth Tennen, and customer, Gina Burris, participated in a nationwide satellite media tour to discuss the first and only FDA-authorized, direct-to-consumer test that detects select BRCA1/BRCA2 variants*.

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/ziqp10R_j_A

23andMe Scientist and Customer Discuss How Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Health Tests Can Make an Impact on Health

The genes are called BRCA because the link between these genes and breast cancer was discovered first. The genes themselves do not cause cancer. They actually help prevent it by repairing DNA breaks that can lead to cancer. Sometimes, changes in the BRCA genes occur that prevent them from functioning properly. These changes are called genetic variants or mutations. Variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can be passed down through families, increasing the risk of developing certain cancers.

Many people with a BRCA variant, both women and men, are unaware of their risk and what they can do about it. While it is true that having certain BRCA variants can increase a persons risk of developing cancer, most cases of breast, ovarian and prostate cancers arent caused by inherited BRCA variants. And not every individual who inherits a BRCA variant will develop cancer.

23andMe offers a genetic test for three variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes to its Health + Ancestry Service customers. This genetic test detects three selected variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes BRCA1 185delAG; BRCA1 5382insC; and BRCA2 6174delT that are among the most studied and best understood. These three variants are most common in people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. (They can be found in people of other ethnicities, though this is rare.) If you have one of these three variants, you have an increased risk of developing certain cancers.

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For more information, visit 23andMe.com/brca

*The 23andMe PGS test uses qualitative genotyping to detect select clinically relevant variants in the genomic DNA of adults from saliva for the purpose of reporting and interpreting genetic health risks, including the 23andMe PGS Genetic Health Risk Report for BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants). Your ethnicity may affect the relevance of each report and how your genetic health risk results are interpreted. The test is not intended to diagnose any disease and does not describe a persons overall risk of developing any type of cancer. It is not intended to tell you anything about your current state of health, or to be used to make medical decisions, including whether or not you should take a medication, how much of a medication you should take, or determine any treatments. Warnings & Limitations: The 23andMe PGS Genetic Health RIsk Report for BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants) is indicated for reporting of the 185delAG and 5382insC variants in the BRCA1 gene and the 6174delT variant in the BRCA2 gene. The report describes if a woman is at increased risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, and if a man is at increased risk of developing breast cancer or may be at increased risk of developing prostate cancer. The three variants included in this report are most common in people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and do not represent the majority of BRCA1/BRCA2 variants in the general population. This report does not include variants in other genes linked to hereditary cancers and the absence of variants included in this report does not rule out the presence of other genetic variants that may impact cancer risk. The PGS test is not a substitute for visits to a healthcare professional for recommended screenings or appropriate follow-up. Results should be confirmed in a clinical setting before taking any medical action.

About Gina Burris:

Gina Marie Burris lives in a small riverside community in western Pennsylvania. She is a childrens book author and blogger. At the age of 46 with no known family history of breast or ovarian cancer Gina discovered (via a 23andMe health report) she carries a BRCA variant . After making this discovery, Gina worked closely with a team of medical professionals and made the decision to take a preventative path. Since November 2020 Gina has undergone a bi-lateral salpingo-oophorectomy and double mastectomy straight to reconstruction. After finding refuge in the stories of survivors, previvors and patients, Gina felt compelled to share her own story, so she turned to the place she feels most comfortable, her keyboard. Ginas blog http://www.rivergirlreflections.com follows her journey from early in the process through today. She has found a way to bring truth, grace, and a little humor to a serious situation. Gina aspires to bring awareness to what life with a BRCA variant looks like in todays world. She has a passion for speaking freely about her experience and strives to be a small part of an educational community which shifts the wording in some common breast cancer awareness conversations.

About Ruth Tennen:

As a product scientist at 23andMe, Ruth develops new genetic health reports with the goal of helping 23andMe customers access, understand, and benefit from the human genome. Ruth received her bachelor's degree in molecular biology from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in cancer biology from Stanford University. Before joining 23andMe, she served as a science policy fellow at the State Department, helping promote science education and entrepreneurship in Africa, and as a lecturer at Stanford, teaching courses on experimental design, bioethics, and cancer. Ruth loves learning about and talking about science, and throughout her career, she has worked to inspire budding scientists by mentoring and teaching students at local schools, hospitals, and museums.

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View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/october-is-breast-cancer-awareness-month-134921077

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month - Yahoo Finance

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Posted By admin on October 30, 2021

(JTA) Occult practices and totems are a mainstay of Halloween season, and sage bundles, altars and crystals are an increasingly trendy way to dabble in divination and witchcraft. But the spooky supernatural world also has a long history in Judaism, and modern Jewitches are encouraging the connection though their practices often slightly differ from their non-Jewish contemporaries.

I do not burn sage, said Zo Jacobi, who runs Jewitches, a popular blog and podcast that deep dives into ancient Jewish myths and folkloric practices. The sage-related ritual of smudging, an Indigenous ceremony popular among modern witches for cleansing a person or place of negative energy, is not a Jewish practice, she said. But Jews had crystals. Actually, they were called gems.

Jacobi and her peers are revitalizing ancient Jewish practices of witchcraft, which have been seeing something of a revival as of late. Far from having an uneasy relationship with magic practitioners, Judaism or at least Kabbalistic strands of it has long embraced them.

Jacobi, based in Los Angeles, studies those gems role in Jewish ritual, along with the connections between assorted other magical artifacts and Judaica. Eight shelves in her home are filled with books on Judaism as well as Jewish magic, witchcraft and folklore.

Her studies have revealed the historical ways that items like gems have been used in Jewish magical correspondences. Like healing crystals, gems are meant to protect and heal based on their properties, according to Midrash (Numbers Rabbah 2:7). For example, sapphire was thought to strengthen eyesight.

Its in a medieval text called the Sefer Ha-Gematriaot, Jacobi said. But even if we go to the Torah, we see crystals on the breastplates of the kohanim (high priests of Israel).

Many Jewish rituals today have their roots in warding off demons, ghosts and other mythological creatures. When we break glass at a wedding, scholars say, were not just remembering the destruction of the Temple; were also scaring off evil spirits that may want to hurt the bride and groom. Likewise, ancient Jews believed that the mezuzah protected them from messengers of evil a function parallel to that of an amulet, or good-luck charm.

The mezuzah is absolutely an amulet, said Rebekah Erev, a Jewish feminist artist, activist and kohenet (Hebrew priestexx, a gender-neutral term for priest or priestess) who uses the pronouns they/them and teaches online courses on Jewish magic. I consider it to be a reminder of the presence of spirit, of goddess, of shechinah [the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God]. Much of magic is about reminding ourselves that were all connected and that everything is alive and animate.

The moniker Jewitch itself can be seen as controversial within the group. Erev first heard the term while attending a 2014 Jewitch Collective retreat in the Bay Area.

I feel that any word that identifies someone as a witch is controversial in nature because of how society, including Jewish society, has demonized witches leading to violence and ostracizing, Erev said. To be a Jew and to be a witch has had serious repercussions throughout time. I hope the recent popularity of the term Jewitch will bring more acceptance and understanding of both identities and help to make our practices more widely accessible.

Priestexx Rebekah Erev calls the mezuzah an amulet. (Vito Valera)

I feel that any word that identifies someone as a witch is controversial in nature because of how society, including Jewish society, has demonized witches leading to violence and ostracizing, they said, even though they do consider both witchcraft and Judaism to be major tenets of their life.

Cooper Kaminsky, a Denver-based intuitive artist and healer, concurred that the portmanteau was revisionist to some, but added, Many, including myself, are empowered by identifying as a Jewitch.

Historically, as Judaic practices grew more patriarchal, women were exempt from studying the Talmud and Torah. They knew little Hebrew, so they created their own prayers in Yiddish, used herbal remedies and centered their religious practices around the earth.

Erev mirrors these customs by creating magical rituals, like meditating on cinnamon sticks during the month of Shvat, hearkening back to how cinnamon trees in Jerusalem scented the land during the harvest.

Theres a Kabbalistic idea of making oneself smaller for creation to emerge. Connecting with a cinnamon stick is a simple ritual. The cinnamon folds in, and the bark contracts in on itself, Erev said. Sometimes contracting inward can give us space to emerge and create.

They also do spellwork, creating spells for new love, pregnancy protection and social justice; on their blog, they shared an incantation designed to bring more awareness to Indigenous Land Back movements.

The goal of many Jewitch educators and practitioners, they say, is to shine a light on rituals that have been forgotten or buried for self-preservation. Jacobi believes that many folkloric practices died out following the 13th-18th centuries because, at the time, Jews were viewed as demonic witches.

Jewish communities did what they thought would protect them from literal certain death. Some of that came at the expense of some of these practices, Jacobi said. Instead of the supernatural reasons, they tried to give rational reasons for what they were doing. Ashkenazi Jews routinely tried to debate with their oppressors in the hopes that they could out-logic antisemitism.

This traumatic history, the Jewitches say, is often papered over or dismissed as myths and superstitions. Saying superstition is a way that we downplay our magic, Kaminsky said. We protect ourselves because, historically, a huge part of our oppression has been because were magical.

Almost all of our Jewish spells are for the sake of healing, says Cooper Kaminsky. (Colin Lloyd)

Kaminsky, who uses the pronouns they/them, does spiritual readings for clients that draw upon Kabbalah, Tarot and the Akashic records a reference library of everything that has ever happened, which spiritual mediums believe resides in another dimension. Kaminsky incorporates Jewish prayers into their spellwork, like reciting the Psalms of David when doing candle spells and the Bsheim Hashem as a magical invocation.

Kaminsky, who uses the pronouns they/them, grew up in a Conservative Jewish household and learned the basic concepts of Kabbalah in Jewish day school.

Kabbalah looks at Judaism through a cosmic, mystical lens that clicked for me a lot more than looking at a story from the Torah, Kaminsky said. As I read more Kabbalah, I started feeling more connected to my Judaism.

Various scholars and rabbis have linked Kabbalah to Tarot, a deck of cards originally used in the mid-15th century to play games that evolved to divinatory practices in the 18th century (though Jacobi, for one, refutes this idea, claiming the connection has never been proven). The Tarots Major Arcana the trump cards of the deck, which detail the evolution of ones soul usually make up 22 cards in any given pack, a meaningful Jewish number: the same as the number of letters in the aleph-bet, and the number of pathways on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

For their energy work, Kaminsky draws parallels between the chakras, energy points in the body discussed in Hinduism, and the Kabbalistic Tree of Life.

The Tree of Life is an energy network, they said. Theres the meridians of energy, and the chakras are like the middle pillar.

Mystical practices were a part of Jacobis upbringing. Her parents practiced Kabbalah, metaphysics, folklore and folk mythology. They have attended the same local Chabad since Jacobi was three years old.

Thanks to these experiences, Jacobi is comfortable living out of the (broom) closet a tongue-in-cheek term that some modern witches use to refer to openly practicing witchcraft. She grew up with astrology, used tarot cards on Shabbat and played with her mothers rose quartz crystal ball while her father led Havdalah prayers. The Jewitches blog and podcast are filled with mythological creatures with origins in Jewish beliefs, like dybbuks, werewolves, dragons and vampires.

Some creatures are unique to Jewish lore:the vampiric Alukah, a blood-sucking witch referred to in Proverbs 30, turned out to be Liliths daughter, while a Broxa originated as a bird from medieval Portugal that drank goats milk and sometimes human blood during the night.

Whenever there have been dire times throughout history, people have turned to mysticism; thats how Kabbalah emerged, Erev said. We need to look to our ancestors for guidance. There are a lot of tools in our human community for healing and re-dreaming and creating a world that is safe and generative for all beings.

Kaminsky thinks magic has the power to repair the world: Almost all of our Jewish spells are for the sake of healing. Tikkun olam, using our magic to repair the world, is beautiful.

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The season of the Jewitch: Meet the occultists who blend witchcraft and Jewish folklore - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

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Posted By admin on October 30, 2021

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At her sonogram appointment in late September, Kendra Joseph received ominous news. Signs pointed to an impending miscarriage, but she wasnt far enough along for the doctor to know for sure. He told her to come back in a week.

The 39-year-old San Antonio mom of one began to worry. Under Senate Bill 8, Texas new abortion law, even if the medical and developmental condition were still grim, if they could hear cardiac activity, she would have to wait out the pregnancy or leave the state to end it.

For nearly three years, Joseph and her husband, Eric, had been trying to have a second child, and laws intended to limit abortion access had, ironically, already made the process more difficult. With SB 8 in effect, given the risks her pregnancies entail, Joseph is hesitant to keep trying at all one of the many unforeseen consequences of the new law.

The reality of her pregnancies so far has not been as black-and-white as the language in the bill, crafted by a childless, single man: state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola.

On March 15, when Hughes discussed his bill to bar abortion after a patient is about six weeks into a pregnancy, he focused solely on what he called the heartbeat.

That heartbeat is a key medical indicator of whether that unborn child is going to reach live birth, Hughes said during a meeting of the Senate State Affairs Committee, of which he is chair.

Medical and legal experts say it is misleading to use heartbeat to refer to the cardiac activity of embryos at a developmental stage when they dont possess a heart.

But for hundreds of thousands of pregnant Texans, especially those who face tough or unusual pregnancies, that cardiac activity is the starting point. Chromosomal conditions, malformed vital organs and other severe fetal abnormalities can develop along the way. When a doctor tells an expectant parent their childs condition is incompatible with life or lethal, they find themselves in a world of gray.

When Joseph's first child was born five years ago a daughter conceived and delivered with the kind of predictability Joseph took for granted she left her job as a middle school theater and debate teacher and started working as a real estate agent. She hoped to spend more time with her daughter, Adalynn, and the sibling or siblings she assumed would follow.

Having been advised it might take longer to get pregnant as she was reaching what doctors consider advanced maternal age, the couple soon began to try for a second child. The average age for giving birth has increased in Texas, from 26.1 years old in 2009 to 28.3 years old in 2018, and is higher in the metro areas.

In 2018, Joseph had her first miscarriage. It stunned her, in a way, how unprepared she was. We dont talk about pregnancy loss [in our culture], she said.

When she got pregnant again in March 2019, Joseph was 36, officially a high-risk pregnancy.

A pregnancy is considered to be at increased risk if the pregnant person is over 35. Certain conditions, like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, are more likely during pregnancy in older women, as is miscarriage. Doctors often recommend additional screening and monitoring.

Genetic disorders are also more likely. And Josephs Ashkenazi Jewish heritage also elevated the risk of certain genetic conditions like Tay-Sachs and Canavan disease, so she already planned on prenatal screening.

Most genetic screening takes place at the end of the first trimester, well after cardiac activity is detected. Although it is optional, genetic screening, like ultrasounds and sonograms, is a common part of prenatal care.

Genetic screening tools offer valuable information, said Lorie Harper, division chief of maternal-fetal medicine at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin.

But under SB 8, what families can do with that information is limited. Before the new law, some families went into genetic screening knowing if certain conditions were detected, they would terminate. Were not going to detect them before six weeks, because theres not a lot to detect on ultrasound, Harper said.

Plenty of families who would not consider abortion want genetic screening anyway, so they can be prepared for challenges, and Harper is not sure if more families will decline genetic screening now that termination isnt an option.

When Joseph arrived at her genetic screening appointment in 2019, she wasn't expecting to hear anything that would lead her to terminate the pregnancy. But when the results came in around her 15th week of pregnancy, her doctor delivered devastating news: The baby had trisomy 18, also known as Edwards syndrome, which is, in most cases, fatal before the baby's first birthday.

We looked it up and we realized how terrible it really was, Joseph said. Its difficult to find consistent information on the chance of a baby with the condition being born alive because so many women decide to terminate their pregnancies once they are told their baby has trisomy 18. Of those babies born with the chromosomal abnormality, the median lifespan is 10-14 days, and only 12% percent survive until age 5. Many of the symptoms of the condition are painful.

Advocates argue that more could be done to improve the odds of survival in babies with severe genetic disorders like trisomy 18, and claim that labeling the condition incompatible with life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. But for the time being, the condition is considered imminently fatal.

One of the reasons SB 8 used the objective presence of cardiac activity was to avoid the issue of viability, said Texas Right to Life legislative director John Seago.

Viability has actually been an ambiguous concept that policymakers around the country are getting away from, Seago said. That is a judgment call from the physician. While doctors might feel they are the right ones to make that judgment call, he said, you cant punt to medical judgment when at the core it is an ethical issue.

Not every case of trisomy 18 is equally severe, but at 15 weeks, some of the more severe and painful effects of the condition were already showing in Josephs baby swelling was visible on the sonogram. It was a boy, which made his chances of survival even slimmer.

Joseph and her husband couldnt take a wait-and-see approach. In 2019, Texas already prohibited abortion after 20 weeks, and the law was unclear whether trisomy 18 would count as an exception due to severe fetal abnormality under the state's 2013 restrictions.

They were watching the clock in another way as well: Joseph said they wanted to make the decision before her baby could feel pain whether from the abortion or from his medical condition. Doctors disagree on when the ability to experience pain develops, but Josephs doctor assured her that at 15 weeks, it had not.

When she decided to end the pregnancy, Josephs doctors referred her to an abortion clinic. Insurance wouldnt cover the procedure and doing it in the hospital was, for the Josephs, like most people, prohibitively expensive.

That was my first time entering an abortion clinic, she said.

Joseph had always believed that carrying a pregnancy to term should be a womans choice, as was abortion, but she didnt necessarily feel like she was exercising her rights. She felt like she was in a medical emergency, trying to make the right decision for her entire family.

It was extremely emotional. We wanted this baby so bad. We really did. My ultimate decision was because I didnt want him suffering, Joseph said. They decided to name the baby and called him Arlo.

Because of Texas 2003 Womens Right To Know Act, a law authored by then-state Rep. Frank Corte Jr., R-San Antonio, Joseph had to visit the clinic twice. On the first day, she sat with a room full of other women, listening to information about the procedure.

Under Cortes legislation, any pregnant person in Texas must wait 24 hours before going back to the clinic to have an abortion. So the next day, Joseph went back and, after sitting for hours in a packed waiting room, had the abortion.

Texas had just 22 abortion clinics at that point in 2019, and those facilities provided about half of the more than 56,000 medically induced abortions performed on Texas residents that year. The other half were performed at ambulatory surgery centers, and about 1% were in hospitals or outside the state. In the nearly two months since SB 8 went into effect, news reports show this demand is shifting entirely to out-of-state providers who are struggling to meet it.

Although she was heartbroken over losing the baby, Joseph was also keenly aware of how much she benefited from resources like therapy, insurance and a partner able to drive her to appointments things not everyone has. She was thankful that Eric could handle the flood of paperwork and even more thankful they were both employed and could afford the $1,000 procedure.

Over the next two years, she would lose some of those resources herself, and her dreams for a second child would seem more and more unlikely. Time was not on Josephs side. Her hormone levels indicate her egg reserves, which decrease over time, are already lower than average.

Last year, the couple met with a doctor to begin in vitro fertilization. The first round didnt produce enough eggs, so they started again in May, as the Legislature was passing SB 8. Joseph was watching the bill closely, wondering what it would mean for their work with the fertility specialist.

For families looking to increase their chances of getting pregnant quickly with IVF, some opt to try with two or more embryos transferred into the uterus at once. Whether to recommend multiple-embryo transfer is a complex issue in the IVF community. If more than one embryo implants resulting in a multiple pregnancy the associated risk increases.

Now, doctors advising these families have to work within the limits of SB 8, said Elizabeth Sepper, who teaches health law at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

Often the implantation of multiple embryos means selective reduction toward the end of the first trimester to help increase the odds of a successful pregnancy, said Sepper. These procedures cant be done consistent with SB 8.

The effects of an anti-abortion bill on fertility treatments is always an area of concern, said Seago, but seeking an abortion after a fertility treatment is the same as any other abortion: the taking of a human life.

As the Josephs watched SB 8 signed into law on May 19, they were already scheduled for egg retrieval the next week. Then Eric lost his job at Caterpillar and, with that, their insurance. They discontinued IVF, and Joseph started having more serious doubts.

When she thinks about the new barriers created by SB 8 what it would have been like waiting for Arlo to die she wonders if its worth the risk to try again.

It just makes what was already a hard situation impossible, Joseph said.

Shes not alone in her hesitation. Austin OB-GYN Rachel Breedlove said shes seeing patients consider or ask for more reliable forms of birth control like IUDs now that abortion is not an option. Its on peoples minds, Breedlove said.

Exceptions in the law provide little reassurance, she said. What patients and their doctors consider an emergency situation might still open them up to litigation under SB 8. The law uses emergency with little clarification, similar to the exception for severe fetal abnormalities in the 2013 law those terms are not absolute in the medical field.

The language doesnt protect doctors, Breedlove said. It protects the people suing them.

Fear of being sued for aiding and abetting an abortion could lead to more hesitancy around offering what is ultimately appropriate medical care, said Harper, who is also an associate professor in the womens health department at Dell Medical School. Termination is sometimes appropriate medical care for women.

Some people know that they cannot safely take a pregnancy to term because of preexisting medical conditions, but they may also not have reliable birth control or their birth control can fail. All they can do now, if they cannot leave Texas, is let the situation play out until it becomes an unquestionable emergency by which time the risk to their health is even greater.

Even if a situation would ultimately qualify as an emergency, or the procedure would be legal, such as in an ectopic pregnancy, Harper worries that doctors will be too fearful to recommend it when they otherwise would, or the need to involve lawyers will result in delayed care.

Then when all agree the procedure is both legal and necessary, finding someone to perform it will be a whole different barrier, Harper said. As hospitals consider their liability, Harper worries fewer will offer termination-focused medical procedures and surgeries, and with ambulatory clinics closing, women wont have access to what few abortions are still legal. Those who can will go across state lines, but not everyone can.

When Joseph found out she was pregnant a fourth time in September, her excitement was mixed with apprehension, and it only got worse when the first ultrasound showed signs of trouble.

A week later, when she went back to her doctor, the situation was clear: There was no cardiac activity. She was able to take misoprostol, a drug that speeds up the miscarriage process, which can take weeks.

As she continues to see her therapist and sort out the disappointment and grief of the past four years, Joseph has shared her story with family and friends, including those who are ardently against abortion. The feedback has been encouraging, she said. People, she said, have been willing to see the gray areas of abortion situations already fraught with trauma and sadness overlooked in the language of laws.

Its given me a very different view, Joseph said. I see pregnancy, I see loss, I see the decision to not follow through. Its very private. I dont think anyone comes through it lightly.

Bekah McNeel is a San Antonio-based freelance writer. If you have feedback or a tip related to this story, email editors@texastribune.org.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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Posted By admin on October 27, 2021

Ralph Lauren meets Moroccan souk meets your grandmothers house. Thats the vibe of the new location of Ediths, a speciality grocery store and sit-down eatery serving traditional dishes from Jewish communities all around the world, reinterpreted.

Take, for instance, their pasta amatriciana, which substitutes beef tongue for cured pork cheek, just like they did in the Roman Jewish ghetto. Then Ediths soaks the beef in milknot so Roman Jewish ghetto.

Its your great-great-great grandmothers cooking, 34-year-old chef-owner Elyssa Heller said. But with a twist.

The restaurant and supermarket will open in Williamsburg next month.

Ediths, in its current iteration as a grab-and-go sandwich counter, also in Williamsburg, is named for Hellers great aunt who ran a Jewish delicatessen in Brooklyn in the 1950s and serves what Heller calls global Jewish diaspora food, combining Levantine, Middle Eastern, and North African fare along with deli standards brought to the U.S., or at least popularized here, by Jewish immigrants.

Ediths bodega sandwich: latke, cheese, bacon and egg

The counter pushes up against all expectations: the restaurant opened as a pop-up six months into a pandemic, in a male-dominated industry, its run by women, and its far from kosher.

Ediths first opened in August 2020 as a pop-up in Greenpoint, hosted at Paulie Gees pizzeria pizza ovens were a key ingredient for executing Hellers vision for wood-fired bagels. It then opened a permanent location in Williamsburg in April this year. The pop-up opened when nearly 90% of New York City bars and restaurants couldnt make rent, but boasted hour-plus lines snaking down the street and sold out each day.

Traditionally, U.S. delis have served Ashkenazi Jewish food. Rare was the deli that offered hummus alongside herring. But at Ediths sandwich counter, patrons can order The Maghreb, a sandwich with Moroccan merguez lamb sausage and harissa, served on a raisin bagel with raisins soaked in arak. Heller said the touch of sweetness is a nod to Moroccan tagine.

You can order sabich, the Iraqi fried eggplant and boiled egg sandwich, as well as a bagel and lox.

When people think about Jewish food, its Ashkenazi food or its Israeli food. But theres so much from around the entire Jewish diaspora, Heller, a Chicago native, said. There was just a lot of storytelling that I felt like was being missed.

To help execute her vision to explore the classics in a new way, Heller, whos worked in the food industry for over a decade, including for Momofukus Milk Bar, hired Christina Jackson, former chef de cuisine at Tetsu in Tribeca. The female duo found unexpected synergies between Jacksons culinary background a career chef from Tokyo and San Francisco trained in sushi and the smoked fish Heller wanted to serve.

But if theres one menu star, its the Instagrammable BECL bacon, egg, and cheese bagel with a latke. The homage to the venerated New York bodega sandwich flouts pretty much every rule of the halachic laws of eating: pork, milk and cheese, all in one big bite.

That dish begs the question: just what is Jewish food and does a bacon-bagel sandwich stretch it beyond the breaking point?

The menu at Ediths documents the ever-evolving nature of Jewish food

That to me is anathema, said Tina Wasserman, culinary historian and author of Entree to Judaism: A Culinary Exploration of the Jewish Diaspora.

Wasserman said that while a Reuben sandwich, with its pastrami and Swiss cheese, might get a pass as Jewish cuisine, bacon is a hard no.

I mean, that shows no respect for the different foods of the diaspora. Just because theyre sticking it on a bagel doesnt cut it, thank you very much, she said. Dont call it Jewish food.

According to Wasserman, Jewish diaspora cuisine is food from any region of the world that conforms to kashrut and the laws of Shabbat. Whether its chicken chitarnee, an Indian Jewish curry, or borscht from Russia, she said what constitutes Jewish cooking is that the recipes are sans pork and dont combine meat and milk.

But unlike other restaurants that intentionally defy kosher law, like Traif in Williamsburg, whose name translates to non-kosher in Yiddish, Ediths is not so much a shrine to pork as it is an invitation to global Jewish fare.

The eatery dips in and out of tradition.

For Passover, the Ediths staff cranked out wood-fired shmurah matzah flat and round along with their famous bagels (bread crumbs swept out between batches). A few streets over, Orthodox communities burned chametz, foods with leavening agents that are verboten during the holiday. It was a cheeky move for the new deli on the block.

For Thanksgiving, Ediths will offer schmaltzy chicken pot pie. Pie has never been a dessert for Jewish holidays or celebrations, the restaurant posted on social media, but everyone eats pie on Thanksgiving. For Christmas, expect a special menu of turnip and edamame fried rice with crispy spring rolls, honoring the century-old Jewish ritual of eating Chinese food for Christs birth. For Purim, Ediths celebrated with crown-shaped halva croissants to laud Queen Esther shifting the focus away from male villain Haman, whose hamantaschen typically outshines other culinary representations.

I thought that we could be this new voice in an industry that hasnt seen a lot of change, Heller said.

Part of that change comes down to whos running the show. Of the 460,000 chefs and head cooks in the United States, 77.6 percent are male, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For big name U.S. restaurant operators, the gender gap is even wider: women occupy less than 7 percent of head chef positions, according to a Bloomberg study that analyzed 15 prominent restaurant groups. Even rarer is the Jewish female restaurateur, a role Heller and her late great aunt Edith share.

Edith Heller ran her Brooklyn deli called Franks Delicatessen after the previous owner, a name she kept from 1949-1953.

She hated it, Elyssa Heller said. It was back-breaking labor. She ended up closing up shop and moving to Florida.

Women always played a large role in day-to-day operations of American Jewish delis, according to Ted Merwin, Judaic studies historian and author of Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli. They cooked, they managed the cash register, and once takeaway stores turned into restaurants with tables, they served lunch and washed dishes.

But were there women who actually opened the deli all by themselves? No, not that many, Merwin said.

The grueling hours of the restaurant industry meant arduous labor for women running a business and taking care of a family in an era when many dining establishments only served men.

And what about the bacon on the bagel?

Thats nothing new, he said.

As Jews have become increasingly more secular, fewer and fewer observe kosher laws, and, Merwin said, most Jewish delis now cater to a mostly non-Jewish clientele. The pattern started with delicatessens in New York Citys theater district, where Jews who worked in the entertainment industry tended to be less religious. Their secularism was reflected in the non-kosher offerings at the delis around Broadway.

Though the U.S. restaurant industry tanked during the Great Depression, Jewish delis thrived. According to Merwin, with 1,550 kosher delicatessens across the five boroughs of New York City at the height of the Great Depression, the deli was a rare Depression-era success story. Delis doubled as a lunchtime spot for an affordable meal as well as a gathering space for Jews to lean on one another in times of hardship.

And like these delis, Ediths is flourishing. Hand-twisted and wood-fired Polish-style obwarzanek krakowski keep Brooklyners coming back and lining up down the block while restaurants are closing in droves.

Like the delis of the 1930s, Heller says she made a point to price Ediths competitively, if not under what some other restaurants charge.

Ediths wood-fired sourdough bagels

When I first moved to New York I was homesick and always wanted a bagel with lox from Russ & Daughters but I could never afford to spend, like, $16, she said.

The Ediths version, topped with homemade cultured cream cheese and in-house smoked salmon, will set you back $10.50, or $14.25 with the works.

Heller, who started her restaurant on an act of faith, unsure if people would get it, has been blown away by the response to Ediths, that people are excited about her vision, that she generated enough interest to open her own sandwich counter and now a second location in an economic depression.

Food is humanity, Heller, who is soon launching a zine with stories and recipes from the Ediths community, said. Its been a bright spot in a really tough time.

The soon-to-open food hall and market will have a prepared foods section, bakery, deli counter, full espresso program, and sit-down restaurant with Ashkenazi classics, consumer food products made by Jewish Mexican women, Indian Jewish goods and every Jewish diaspora group in between.

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The new Edith's redefines Jewish food with bacon and bagel sandwiches, sabich and shmaltzy pot pie - Forward

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Growing up in a Jewish family in Tehran, Iran, Angela Cohan enjoyed her familys Persian cuisine. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the family left for the U.S.namely, Southern California, where Cohan married and raised a family. Yet she remembered the recipes of her childhood, which reflect both Persian and Persian-Jewish traditions. Now shes sharing this heritage in a new cookbook, Persian Delicacies: Jewish Foods for Special Occasions.

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What I really wanted to do was tell the story of our immigration through the prism of food, Cohan said. Thats how I decided to pursue it.

Through fascinating recipes and gorgeous photography, Cohan illuminates the world of Persian cuisine, which has a centuries-old history, including under the Persian Empire, which stretched from Turkey in the west to close to China in the east.

Iran was strategically located in the middle of the Silk Road, between India and Europe, Cohan said. There were little hotels called caravanserais, where merchants stopped. They would bring spices from India, from China, all over the world, on their way to Europe. Iran has many influences on Indian cuisine, Chinese cuisine. I think a lot of the [Persian] rice dishes have their origins in India, that part of the world.

Many recipes within the cookbook feature rice, spices or both.

The star of the Persian cuisine is rice, Cohan said, including a crispy dish called tahdig that her family served during its first Thanksgiving in the U.S.

Our American guest did not know it was supposed to be burnt, Cohan recalled. She said we were burning the food, burning the rice. This is a delicious, excellent dish.

Another big part of Persian cuisine is spices such as saffron and turmeric.

The use of spices is very extensive in all kinds of rice, all kinds of stews, Cohan said, for additional depth of flavor, and also for garnishing the rice dishes.

When many think of Persian cuisine, kabob comes to mind, and there are multiple such recipes in the book. Yet theres so much more.

I think because kabobs are probably easier to make in a restaurant they figure prominently, Cohan said. Yet she recommended trying other dishes like saffron chicken, which she called just exquisite with the saffron.

There are traditional Persian Jewish foods. The book notes a staple of Friday night Shabbat dinner for Jewish Iranian Americansgondi, or chickpea flour meatballs. In Tehran, Cohans family said the hamotzi prayer over flatbread, not challah. Traditional foods at funerals and memorials include a frittata called kuku sabzi, a rice with lentils dish called adas polo and halva. The roundness of lentils symbolizes life. Cohan also has a recipe for Passover charoset from her motherone of many family recipes in the cookbook, which arose six years ago after Cohans daughter expressed an interest in learning about her culinary heritage.

If I did not compile recipes, try to document past traditions, Cohan said, the recipes, our stories, Farsi, the Persian language, would be forgotten by the next generation or so. It was incentive and inspiration to write it.

She said she also wanted to pay tribute to the mostly female cooks in her family, including her mother, her late grandmother and aunts who helped raise her. Theres also an egg dish that Cohans uncle used to make. Cohan has high praise for her sistera master chef, a better cook than I am. As for Cohans daughter, she is a fantastic cook who loves baking. The author has two grown children, a daughter and son; they were both back home during the COVID-19 pandemic: Everybody was cooking and baking, she said.

Cohan herself is the former editor of the Iranian Jewish Chronicle and a member of the PEN USA literary organization who has been cooking since her 20s, before she married her husband, who is also a Persian Jew. His favorite rice dish, which is sweetened with dates and raisins, is included in the cookbook, as is a fall salad with two of his favorite vegetables, squash and beets.

Its my own creation, Cohan said of this salad, adding that collectively, the recipes are a mix of family recipes, my recipes and traditional recipes.

Some reflect ancient traditions, including the Persian New Year of Nowruz, held on the first day of spring.

Its an absolutely major celebration for all Iranians, Cohan said. I make sure I celebrate it with my children. I like to educate everyone [that] its a secular holiday, nonreligious, non-denominational. It goes back many centuries ago.

Her favorite Nowruz dish is sabzi polo, or rice with green herbs, usually served with fish, which represents Anahita, angel of water and fertility.

She also includes a dessert dish popular during the Islamic holiday of Ramadana funnel cake called zulubia, eaten at the end of the fast.

I wanted to honor the Iranian people, Cohan said. Its such a staple of the Middle East. Its what we used to eat in Iran. Its still very popular. Its very sugary, very oily, popular with tea. Its what the older generation gravitates toward.

Some recipes reflect Cohans incorporation of vegetarian alternatives to meat dishes, as well as new, health-conscious ingredients, including an avocado and spinach hummus, after interviewing a nutritionist for the cookbook.

I was trying to make recipes a little bit healthier, Cohan said, noting that the avocado and spinach hummus incorporates some minerals and vitamins into basic staples. She similarly updated her uncles egg dish with vegetables and quinoa.

However, she said, many traditional recipes are healthy in and of themselves.

We usually have fresh mint tea for an after-dinner digestive, Cohan said. Its very healthy for you. Hot water with mint after any meal will calm the stomach [and] help with digestion, while Persians in general have known for centuries that turmeric and saffron have anti-inflammatory, healing qualities. Its nice that science is catching up with this knowledge.

Want to try a recipe from the book? Learn how to makePersian chicken kotletordolmeh (stuffed peppers)!

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Posted By admin on October 27, 2021

In a Conde Nast Traveler magazine reader poll just out, Israel scored in the Top 20, at No. 15, in a survey of readers favorite countries. And Israels southern Negev Desert region made Time Magazines list of the Worlds Greatest Places in 2021.

The timing of the recognition is perfect, coming just as Israel is preparing to open up again to foreign tourists. In 2019, a year that ended just prior to emergence of the coronavirus, Israel welcomed a record 4.5 million foreign tourists. But the virus ravaged the tourism business here in Israel, and for much of the pandemic, foreign passport holders were only allowed into the country under extenuating circumstances.

Over the past few months, I have visited tourist sites in Jerusalem and Nazareth, both of which are usually teeming with foreign visitors. They were virtually deserted. Now that is about the change.

From my first trip to the country as a teenager on a program sponsored by what is now the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, I came away convinced that Israel was the ideal tourist destination in that it had such variety packed into a small space. The same holds true today only more so. Israel is more sophisticated but just as interesting as when I made my first visit.

Lots of luxury hotels have been built around the country in recent years including the just-opened Six Senses Shaharut hotel near Eilat, which has been called the countrys most expensive hotel. But there are less expensive options as well, including a large number of Airbnb properties.

Israel is also a major culinary destination that has produced world-famous chefs, whose cooking frequently reflects the mix of Middle Eastern and European influences that have shaped the country. At Mashiya, one of my favorite restaurants in Tel Aviv, the largely European-style menu currently features grilled branzino fish, which is particularly popular in Italy, but with a twist the addition of pkaila, a Tunisian Jewish spinach dish. In a recent review in Haaretz, a critic called Mashiyas cooking cuisine for the 21st century and quipped that he feels like asking for political asylum there.

Foreign tourism to Israel is an important slice of the countrys economy, or at least it was until the COVID pandemic hit. Many of Tel Avivs most popular restaurants clearly suffered from the lack of overseas visitors. One of my favorites, Brasserie, where I had eaten before the pandemic with friends visiting from Cleveland, didnt survive. It has been converted into a more casual restaurant by its owners.

Travel to Israel creates jobs and helps support the Israeli economy which on the whole has weathered the pandemic relatively well. But for Jewish tourists, I think visiting Israel gives them a tremendous amount in return. It provides a firsthand feel for their own ancient Jewish roots, and for the realities of a modern Jewish country with its impressive accomplishments and its problems.

Theres nothing like a trip to Israel, whether its your first or 10th visit, to cement the connection to the country. Sadly, however, identification with Israel isnt central to many Jews identity. Only 62% of American Jewish respondents to an American Jewish Committee poll in 2019 agreed with the statement caring about Israel is a very important part of my being a Jew. More encouraging is that 72% agreed that a thriving state of Israel is vital for the long-term future of the Jewish people.

As I write this, the country is expected to be opened to foreign tourists as of Nov. 1, so theres no better time to plan a trip here.

Cliff Savren is a former Clevelander who covers the Middle East from Raanana, Israel. He is an editor at the English edition of Haaretz.

The Cleveland Jewish News does not make endorsements of political candidates and/or political or other ballot issues on any level. Letters, commentaries, opinions, advertisements and online posts appearing in the Cleveland Jewish News, on cjn.org or our social media pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Jewish Publication Company, its board, officers or staff.

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Jay Kitterman| Culinary and special events consultant, Lincoln Land Community College

Widely acclaimed as the pioneer of Californias farm-to-table cuisine, Chez Panisseshouldbe celebrating its 50th anniversarythis year.Safety concerns over social distancing ledrestaurant founder Alice Waters to postpone the reopening.This past year the restaurant hasserved pizzasfor takeoutand produce farmers market style on Sundays.Severalyearsago,Carol andI,while in SanFrancisco,traveledvia BART(rapidtransit) tothisiconicrestaurant in Berkley.

Waters,in her new book,We Are What We Eat,makesanimpassioned plea for aradical reconsideration of the way each and every one of us cooks and eats.Sheurges us to take up the mantle of slow food culture,thephilosophya core of her life's work. When Waters first opened Chez Panisse in 1971, she did so with the intention of feeding people good food during a time of political turmoil. Customers responded to the locally-sourced organic ingredients, to the dishes made by hand,towhatshe calls the human qualities that were disappearing from a country increasingly seduced by takeout, frozen dinners and prepackaged ingredients.Shecameto seethat the phenomenon offast-foodculture, which prioritized cheapness, availability and speed, was not only ruining our health, but also dehumanizing the ways we live and relate to one another.

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Waters believes and writesthat manyof the serious problems we face in the world today, "from illness, to social unrest, to economic disparity and environmentalchangeare all, at their core, connected to food.Fortunately,shebelieves thereis an antidote. Waters argues that by eating in a "slow food way," each of us, like the community around her restaurant, can be empowered to prioritize and nurture a different kind of culture, one that champions values such asbiodiversity, seasonality, stewardship and pleasure in work.She is a strong proponent of the slow food movement.

In 1986, McDonaldsin Italywanted to open a franchise at the base of the Spanish Steps and Italians were not pleased, so they gathered for a protest. Instead of just waving signs and chanting, they brought a big bowl of penne pasta and handed it out to the crowd that gathered. People shared a meal at the Spanish Steps and began chanting we dont want fastfood,we want slow food. That gathering was the foundation for the birth of the slow food movement.The organization is nowpresent in more than 150 countries and there is a Springfield chapter.

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Hannah Tomlin, owner of Moon GirlFarm,emailedme thatanyoneinterestedinjoiningor learning more aboutbecoming members of Slow Food Springfield can join by signing up for Slow Food USA and selecting Springfield, Illinois,as their local chapter.https://slowfoodusa.org/become-a-member/

Below is a recipeadapted from ''Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook,'' by Alice Waters.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk, slightly warmed

1 teaspoon salt or to taste

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 medium onion, diced

1/2 cup scallions, including a bit of the green part, thinly sliced

1/2 cup garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

Pinch of cayenne

1/2 cup gratedGruyerecheese (2ounces)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste

3 large eggs, separated

1/3 cup heavy cream.

Directions

1. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter over medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in the milk a little at a time, whisking after each addition until smooth. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and the thyme sprigs. Reduce heat to very low and cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce is medium-thick, about 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and remove the thyme.

2. Melt the remaining tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat and cook the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add scallions, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup water. Reduce heat and cook until the garlic is soft and the water is nearly evaporated, about 10 minutes, adding more water if necessary to keep the vegetables from browning. Set aside to cool.

3.Pureethe mixture in a food processor, add the sauce, cayenne,Gruyereand 1/2 teaspoon pepper and process until blended. Taste and adjust seasoning it should behighlyseasoned. Add the egg yolks and process until blended. Transfer to a large bowl.

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter six 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl until they form soft peaks and gently fold them into the cheese mixture. (Do not overfold.) Spoon into the ramekins and place in a baking pan. Add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides. Bake until thesoufflesare puffed and light golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.

5. Carefully remove the ramekins. When thesouffleshave cooled a bit, unmold them by running a paring knife around the edges, inverting each souffle into the palm of your hand and placing it in a shallow baking dish, top side up. They can now be held at room temperature for a few hours. They can also be held in the refrigerator, covered in plastic wrap, overnight.ENJOY!

Jay Kitterman is the culinary and special events consultant at Lincoln Land Community College.

Lincoln Land Community College offers associate degree programs in culinary arts and hospitality management, certificates in culinary arts and baking/pastry and non-credit community classes through the Culinary Institute.

Information: bit.ly/Culinary_LLCC

Questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu

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Chez Panisse and the history of the slow food movement - The State Journal-Register

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