As far as I know there is no special reason to eat knaidlach on Succos. Knaidlach which are also called matzo balls actually belong to Passover though, amazingly some Hassidic Jews won’t eat them then because they are made from matzos which have come into contact with water. On Succos we don’t have any such rules. … Continue reading
Here’s a little secret you’re unlikely to hear from your financial advisor. Just before Yom Kippur have a friend feed you a slice of honey cake. Two slices even. And not because the sweet carbs will help you fast better. A pre Yom Kippur gift of honey cake, also called Lekach is the secret to a … Continue reading
While I grew up eating honey cooked carrots every Rosh Hashana, I never realized this was holy food until I read Rabbi Dovid Meisel’s account of the every day life of Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, the previous Satmar Rebbe. In case you’re unfamiliar with his story, the old Satmar Rebbe walked out of Bergen Belsen alive. … Continue reading
Until I learned about the simanim, the symbolic foods of the Rosh Hashana meal I had no idea that Jews ate black eyed peas. Like chitterlins and collard greens, I thought they belonged to the genre of African American cuisine known as soul food. Little did I know that this lovely legume feeds our neshomos too. … Continue reading
It feels like the summer has hardly begun but this Shabbat we usher in the month of Elul, the opening act to the High Holiday Season. Elul is a heavy time for Jews. Since Rosh Hashana is the Yom HaDin, the Judgment Day, Elul is the time to prepare for that judgment. The way to do this is … Continue reading
If fish could be said to have families, then pickled salmon would rank as gefilte fish’s forgotten sister. Everyone remembers gefilte. The old ground carp has been frozen and jarred even served up in three layers like a petit four. Salmon does star on the foodie pantheon but that’s only when it’s grilled on cedar planks or … Continue reading
Kids don’t think their parents need comfort or comfort foods. Kids, especially really teeny ones don’t think their parents need anything at all-not food or sleep or privacy. But they do. As a battle scarred veteran with 23 years on the front lines of motherhood, I know that Moms sometimes need to scarf down a meal returns … Continue reading
I know that this is hard to believe but the Torah doesn’t anything about blintzes or cheesecake, or cheese kreplach or even sour cream for Shavuot. The only cooked food mentioned is bread, as in the Shnei Lehem, two loaves made from the wheat of the new crop and brought to the Temple along with the … Continue reading
Forget Zen koans, trips to the Dalai Lama, meditation retreats. You can find life’s secrets in a cheese blintz. Says the Rebbe Rav Naftoli of Ropschitz , the cheese (in Hebrew gevina) whose numerical value is 70 (gematriya) stands for the 70 paths to Torah wisdom which enlightens the soul of the Jew. The pancake wrapper is a … Continue reading
On the fifth day of Sivan there was a great commotion in the Heavens. Hashem was preparing to give the Torah to the Jews but the angels were unhappy. ‘We don’t want You to give the Torah to the Jewish people, ” the angels said. “We want to keep the Torah here in heaven for … Continue reading
