On 28 April, the fifth largest supermarket chain in Britain, the Co-operative Group, voted to stop trading with Israeli companies that source some of their products from Jewish settlements in the West Bank. It is the first British supermarket chain to do so.
For those of us who oppose boycotts targetting the Jewish state, it is easy to dismiss this as irrelevant. After all, it's not like the Co-op voted to ban all Israeli products. In fact the Co-op went out of their way to say precisely that. They're not boycotting Israel, they said. They're just boycotting "companies that profit from the occupation".
Every year, on the thirty-third day between Passover and Shavuot, my cousins and I would forage for dry wood. We needed this wood to build a bonfire for our Lag Ba'Omer"kumzitz" or gathering. While the origins of this holiday are not entirely clear, for me the most meaningful part of Lag Ba'Omer is commemorating the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire. Lag Ba'Omer traditions include the lighting of bonfires, picnics, and Israeli folk music and dancing.
It's about time that an economist weighs in on the foodie scene and the locavore movement. Despite the negative advance press about Tyler Cowen's new book, An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies, I kept an open mind. I was rewarded by a delightful read and I learned lots of fascinating strategies for finding good, affordable food, especially when one is away from home.
If you host a Passover Seder or two, there is a good chance that you will have a refrigerator full of unconsumed food. The principle of Bal Tashkhit (Kiddushin 32a) is basic to Jewish Law. "Bal Tashkhit" means "do not destroy." We are instructed to avoid senseless waste or damage. When I find creative new ways to serve my Passover surplus, it feels like I am performing a mitzvah! How can you get people to enjoy the uneaten fare from your festive meal? Incorporate it with the huge supply of matza and eggs that are necessary to prepare for Passover. Dress up your matza brei (fried matza) and prepare satisfying repasts for your friends and family.
Museum will be open on Wednesday, April 11 until 8 p.m. during holiday
In celebration of the holiday of Passover, the National Museum of American Jewish History will have evening hours for the first time on Wednesday, April 11, when it will be open until 8 p.m. Visitors to the Museum can pay what they wish. The Museum café and store will also be open that night. The store will be offering a discount of 20 percent on Passover items on the 11th and the café will be kosher for Passover that night and for the duration of the holiday.
In addition, throughout the holiday, visitors will be provided with a Passover family guide that explores themes related to the holiday in the Museum's core exhibition. The family guide will prompt discussions about the holiday and the parallels between the story of Passover and the story of freedom that is told throughout the three floors of the Museum's core exhibition.
Each activity in the guide begins with a quote from the Haggadah (the booklet that guides the order of the Passover Seder while retelling the story of Exodus.) The family guide also contains questions geared to parents, non-family visitors, and older teens and includes definitions of the ritual objects and other items associated with Passover.
In preparation for the upcoming Passover holiday, President Barack Obama invited members of the Jewish community to the White House for a special cooking demonstration and discussion. Sponsored by the White House Office of Public Engagement and the National Endowment for the Humanities, White House chef Bill Yosses worked with Jewish chef Joan Nathan to demonstrate how to make, among other dishes, apple and pear charoset and matzo chremsel.
Haaretz writer Vered Guttman was one of the guests invited to the event. Guttman wrote:
Before the seder each year, guests are asked to send Bill and White House executive chef Cris Comerford their own family's Passover recipes. The chefs then design a menu for the seder and prepare the dishes according to the guests' recipes.
In previous years they served the classics: haroset and brisket. When we met Wednesday. Bill said they were still working on this year's menu. He did know, however, which desserts would be served: A flourless chocolate cake (which he promises will be on the White House website before the holiday) and a delicious sounding apricot roll cake, that he was kind enough to share the recipe with me. Bill gets extra points for a dessert that is not only fabulous, but also inspired by Middle Eastern cuisine. Does the president eat Jewish or Israeli food during the year? I asked.
'The president LOVES Israeli couscous!' Bill didn't have to think much before he answered. Since Israeli couscous is one of the most popular foods imported from Israel, it is often the target of boycott threats by anti-Israeli groups.
The next frontier for the savvy and hip gourmet, following up on farm-to-table locavorism, is to source your own food, through foraging and/or hunting. A timely guidebook for such culinary adventures is The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook by Emily Ansara Baines, the ultimate in fan tribute to the wildly popular trilogy on The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and now made into a film of the same name.
What happens when philanthropist David Magerman and James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Solomonov put their heads together? An incredibly ambitious project is born: to create the world's best glatt kosher European-Jewish restaurant! It will be poetically named Citron and Rose.
Cook Kosher has created a video guide to making an excellent Babka with minimum effort. It is a Purim favorite and great for Mishloach Manot! Please cook along with this clip.
In his incredible scientific cookbook Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, Dr. Nathan Myhrvold describes how to trap all of the odors and flavors of chicken soup in a test tube. He is then able to preserve this super concentrated broth for later consumption. From a scientific point of view, this is exciting and thrifty. Nothing is wasted! But this is not the way of the Yiddishe Mamma.
"Milky! Tell them I want my Milky!" replied a two-year-old Israeli when asked what he wished he could buy here. "Milky" is a chocolate pudding snack. This child was a customer at the Wynnewood Genuardi's kosher section. Lower Merion Township is home to a large Jewish community, of which a sizeable subset is made up of Israelis. They are very well educated, affluent, and in the United States for continuing education or work. Like their Jewish American counterparts, they buy many of their kosher and specialty foods at Genuardi's. The acquisition of Genuardi's by Giant Supermarkets is an opportunity for this Israeli community to express what it wishes was available in the kosher section. There are no definite statistics of the population size of Israelis in Lower Merion. I surveyed over 200 Israeli families in order to obtain these results.
Have you ever wondered how Persian Jews celebrate Purim? What do they serve to rejoice over their salvation from Haman? After all, their ancestors were directly affected. Up to this point, I could only wonder, because the Persian Jewish community is very insular, and recipes are a closely guarded family secret. Now, it is possible to learn about these Jewish Persian customs from Persian Food from the Non-persian Bride: And Other Sephardic Kosher Recipes You Will Love, whose author, Reyna Simnegar, has a lot in common with Queen Esther.
What do April 15th and the Shevat 15th have in common? Both are tax days! Two thousand years ago, the 15th of Shevat was when the twelve Hebrew tribes paid tithes to the Levites in Jerusalem. Tu B'Shevat, the fifteenth day of the month of Shevat, is described in the Mishnah as the New Year for Trees. During the times of the Temple, fruit tithes would be calculated beginning on Tu B'Shevat. Fruit that grew on trees after the fifteenth day of Shevat was counted for the tithes that were due the following year. These tithes supported the Levites, helped feed the poor, and paid for Tu B'Shevat festivities in Jerusalem.
Following the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans, the Jews were exiled from Israel, and tithes were no longer paid. The Jews in the Diaspora preserved the memory of Tu B'Shevat by remembering their connection to the Land of Israel. In the Jewish communities of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, and Kurdistan, Tu B'Shevat developed into the "day of eating the seven species." The seven species are the seven fruits and grains that are listed in the Torah as special products of the Land of Israel. In the 16th century Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, the famous mystic of Safed, and his students collaborated to create the Tu B'Shevat Seder. The observance of Tu B'Shevat has undergone many permutations
since that time.
How can you and your family enjoy this ancient holiday in present day Philadelphia?
Some hands-on ideas to bring your families the warming spirit of Tu B'Shevat this winter follow the jump.
From Johnny Appleseed, to the wise old man that Honi the circle-maker sees planting carob trees for his grandchildren in the classic midrash, those with the foresight to plant trees for the future are lauded in history and legend. Fruit trees are a special investment compared to annual crops. They require years of cultivation before their delicious rewards can be reaped. Tu B'shvat originated to help farmers keep track of their trees' ages, so that they would know when it was okay according to biblical law to eat the produce. Today, however, appreciating that first juicy bite of fruit after years of waiting lies beyond most of our experiences.
Nut-fruit balls are nature's perfect treat for Tu B'Shevat, the Jewish New Year for trees. These sweet and crunchy confections are also known as Sugar Plums in Europe, where they are a traditional Christmas treat. The earliest known recipes for these candies hail from Ancient Egypt. Dates, apricots, coffee, rice, lemons, sugar, and ginger did not arrive in Europe until after the Crusades. Fruit-Nut confections have been enjoyed during Tu B'Shevat since before the first century BCE. I like to celebrate Tu B'Shevat by indulging in all natural fruit and nut treats. This is my way of showcasing the abundance provided by trees.
If you're like me, it's a let-down to buy produce flown or trucked in from California, which is what are available these days in the supermarkets, even in Whole Foods, which may have the biggest selection of organic produce around. Some farmers' markets are open on Saturdays, but if you keep Shabbat, your best option is the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. It's open seven days a week, and it's indoors, so you (and the vendors) do not have to freeze in the open air.
When was the last time you've visited this market? You'll be surprised and delighted by the lively changes there. Check out the Reading Terminal Market website for fun events, including the Valentine Day's wedding of four couples in the center court at noon.
It is time for my yearly Hanukkah conundrum. Should I prepare levivot (Israeli latkes) from scratch, or succumb to the convenience of store bought frozen latkes? I could also go with a box of powdered latke mix, which produces a hot, crispy, freshly fried latke. I love preparing my own levivot from scratch. It is part of the Hanukkah celebration for me. Spending time together in the kitchen while peeling, grating, mixing, and frying is family bonding time. The only thing I hate about making my own levivot is getting onion juice in my eyes. Can this be avoided?
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted the White House's annual Chanukah party last night that was attended by many prominent Jewish leaders and activists. Vice President Joe Biden, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, several Jewish members of Congress, NJDC Chair Marc R. Stanley, NJDC President and CEO David A. Harris, and a number of other NJDC leaders were all among the event's attendees. Before the party started, Obama remarked to the guests:
Welcome to the White House. Thank you all for joining us tonight to celebrate Hanukkah-even if we're doing it a little bit early.
I want to start by recognizing a few folks who are here. The ambassador to the United States from Israel, Michael Oren, is in the house.
We are honored to be joined by one of the justices of the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is here. We are thrilled to see her. She's one of my favorites ... I've got a soft spot for Justice Ginsburg.
And we've got more than a few members of Congress here and members of my administration in the house, including our new Director of Jewish Outreach, Jarrod Bernstein is here....
I also want to thank the West Point Jewish Chapel Cadet Choir-the Voice of Tradition-for their wonderful performance, but more importantly, for their extraordinary service to our country.
And I want to thank all the rabbis and lay leaders who have come far and wide to be here with us today.
Now, as I said, we're jumping the gun just a little bit. The way I see it, we're just extending the holiday spirit. We're stretching it out. But we do have to be careful that your kids don't start thinking Hanukkah lasts 20 nights instead of eight. That will cause some problems.
This Hanukkah season we remember a story so powerful that we all know it by heart-even us Gentiles. It's a story of right over might, of faith over doubt. Of a band of believers who rose up and freed their people and discovered that the oil left in their desecrated temple-which should have lasted only one night-ended up lasting eight.
This week Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and other members of the RAC staff, is taking the Food Stamp Challenge. Part of "Fighting Poverty with Faith's" initiative to focus people of faith on issues of economic justice and the need to sustain vital social safety net programs, Food Stamp Challenge participants live for seven days on the standard weekly food stamp allotment of $31.50. Rabbi Saperstein will participate in the Challenge from October 27th through November 2nd, joining a half dozen prominent Jewish leaders and ten Members of Congress in this effort to call attention to anti-hunger programs and educate the faith community on the plight of hunger.
We are honored to be able to participate in the Food Stamp Challenge, and experience even for a brief time the ongoing struggle of the millions of Americans nationwide who are confronting hunger on a daily basis. We have long advocated for anti-hunger programs, like SNAP and WIC that meet the needs of the 49 million food-insecure Americans but the Challenge places in stark relief how difficult it is to obtain enough food and nutritious food on a food stamp budget - and why we must do better as a nation.
Jewish tradition teaches that feeding the hungry is a vital responsibility. The Midrash says:
When you are asked in the world to come, 'What was your work?' and you answer: 'I fed the hungry,' you will be told: 'This is the gate of God, enter into it, you who have fed the hungry.'
Participating in the Food Stamp Challenge will not, by itself, end hunger in America; that will take a sustained commitment by our nation and its leaders. To that end, we are hopeful that our participation in the Food Stamp Challenge this week will inspire others to advocate for policies addressing families and individuals who confront hunger nationwide. During these difficult economic times, easing the burden on those who are most vulnerable must be our number one priority.
All members of our congregations are being called to register online, and join us in the Food Stamp Challenge and use it as an opportunity to educate your synagogue and community.
Other food stamp challenge participants are listed after the jump.
Earlier in the spring, my husband asked me to serve more fish. As I am a vegetarian, it would mean shopping for items I do not eat (or taste, so recipe adjustments happen at the dining table). However, I knew there was a fish purveyor at the Headhouse Square Farmers' Market and I started chatting with them. An interesting bit of news was that the male head of household, Murat Aritan, had left for Alaska and he'd brought his young daughter along on their summer journey. So, I asked to interview the couple when the family reunited again.
Earlier this month, I met the adults, Murat and his wife, Amanda Bossard, in their Fishtown office. Amanda wanted to talk about sustainable fishing, Murat wanted to talk about their CSS (Community-Supported Seafood) and I wanted to know if it could be kosher. It was a lively conversation.
Other than bread, we are not instructed to serve any specific dishes during Sukkot. The point of this festival is to celebrate the fall harvest. A wonderful way to connect to nature is to cook with what is in season locally. In Pennsylvania we are blessed with a bountiful fall harvest. Hearty homemade vegetable soups accompanied by an assortment of breads are a wonderful way for your family and guests to warm up during the chilly fall evenings in the sukkah.
You can source your local vegetables by gathering your own crops from your garden, picking vegetables yourself at a farm, being a member of a Community Supported Agriculture group, or shopping at your local farmer's market, coop, or supermarket. Fresh seasonal produce will result in the most flavorful soups.
Do you know that a world without bees means a world without food? Farmers — from industrial to small-scale, artisanal ones- depend on these hard-working bees to pollinate the fruit trees. These tiny creatures are like the "canary in the coal mine" for agriculture and their recent episodes of Colony Collapse Disorder have concerned scientists and environmentalists as well as agriculturalists.
The Sephardic communtiy has a unique mystical tradition for Rosh Hashanah. Symbolic foods are served at a Rosh Hashanah Seder. Some of these foods are also puns, and are called "simanim," or "signs." Special blessings starting Yehi ratzone, Hebrew for "May it be God's will," are chanted over these dishes. Here are some of them, and the traditions associated with them.
Pomegranate
Pomegranates are said to have 613 seeds, the same number as mitzvot in the Torah. On Rosh Hashanah we eat a fresh pomegranate preceded by the blessing:
"Yehi Ratzon Mil'fa'necha, Adonai Eloheinu She nirbeh zechuyot ke rimon." "May if be your will Adonai our God That our merits increase like the seeds of a pomegranate."
In Ancient Israel, the fall harvest was still being gathered as preparations for Rosh Hashanah were under way. One of the most important crops was the grape vine. Our modern festive Rosh Hashanah meal is the perfect opportunity to showcase an often-overlooked part of this member of the Seven Species, its leaves. There is an old Sephardic tradition of serving stuffed vegetables for Rosh Hashanah. These cornucopiae connote a year filled with blessings and abundance. This year, recall Ancient Israel's fall harvest, and imbue your dishes with symbolism, by preparing various delicacies encased in grape leaves.
Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama, addresses the group.
-- by Liz Kohn
Last week 12 excited Hazon representatives and 160 other Jewish participants gathered in Washington D.C. as part of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable (JSJRT), a collection of 21 nonprofits supporting social justice as an essential component of Jewish life. The two-day affair began on Thursday, July 28th with congressional meetings and culminated the following day with the White House Community Leaders Briefing Series, a unique summer-long opportunity for grassroots leaders to engage White House officials and voice issues close to our hearts.
Jon Carson, deputy assistant to the President and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, succinctly articulated the purpose of the series: "I'm not here to talk," he said. "I'm here to listen about what you're seeing across the country." For many in Hazon's cohort and millions of American Jews, this issue is food justice.
Early Friday, after a lively opening session at the National Press Club, the large group split four ways for agency briefings about housing, healthcare, education and food justice. I joined the food justice cohort for an overview of food accessibility, policy and budgeting by three key members of the White House staff.
My favorite non-fiction book in 2007 was Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, written with her biologist husband, Steven Hopp, and their two children about their experiment in growing all of their food on their own land in rural southwest Virginia. It also powered the growth of the locavore movement. I found the memoir fascinating in its intelligence, its honesty (mistakes were made!) and the family's sense of humor. My favorite anecdote was when Kingsolver quipped to her friends that when you're ranked as "number 74 (on a Doomsday author's book about the dangers of 100 people who were destroying America), you try harder," as she endeavored to eviscerate a turkey.
These millions of grills release some 225,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, burn the equivalent of 2,300 acres of forest, and consume the same amount of energy as the city of Flagstaff, Arizona, uses in a whole year.
Big consequences. So what to do? The Nature Conservancy is offering 10 tips for eco-friendly celebrations, so you can have yourself a green barbecue this Fourth of July and all summer long!
Top 10 Ways to Green Your BBQ Party (in no particular order):
1. Use reusable or biodegradable plates and utensils. If you can't find those, at least go for products made from 100 percent recycled materials. Remember that your biodegradable plates will need to be cleaned before going in the compost bin- ketchup, hamburger grease and other-non-veggie food matter doesn't compost.
2. Fill up pitchers of water, homemade lemonade and iced tea instead of buying huge quantities of personal-sized beverage containers.
3. If you take heed of tip #2, you'll need to provide cups. If you use plastic or paper cups, provide markers at the drink counter so people can write their names on their cups- and therefore not use more than one.
4. And even if you follow tip #2, you're likely to have beer and other individual-sized beverages in a cooler. Encourage recycling by putting out easily identifiable bins- you'll find fewer bottles and cans smeared with ketchup in the garbage.
5. Grill locally grown fruits and vegetables. While local doesn't necessarily mean organic, small farms are often more likely to be more sustainable and pesticide-free.
These millions of grills release some 225,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, burn the equivalent of 2,300 acres of forest, and consume the same amount of energy as the city of Flagstaff, Arizona, uses in a whole year.
Big consequences. So what to do? The Nature Conservancy is offering 10 tips for eco-friendly celebrations, so you can have yourself a green barbecue this Fourth of July and all summer long!
Top 10 Ways to Green Your BBQ Party (in no particular order):
1. Use reusable or biodegradable plates and utensils. If you can't find those, at least go for products made from 100 percent recycled materials. Remember that your biodegradable plates will need to be cleaned before going in the compost bin- ketchup, hamburger grease and other-non-veggie food matter doesn't compost.
2. Fill up pitchers of water, homemade lemonade and iced tea instead of buying huge quantities of personal-sized beverage containers.
3. If you take heed of tip #2, you'll need to provide cups. If you use plastic or paper cups, provide markers at the drink counter so people can write their names on their cups- and therefore not use more than one.
4. And even if you follow tip #2, you're likely to have beer and other individual-sized beverages in a cooler. Encourage recycling by putting out easily identifiable bins- you'll find fewer bottles and cans smeared with ketchup in the garbage.
5. Grill locally grown fruits and vegetables. While local doesn't necessarily mean organic, small farms are often more likely to be more sustainable and pesticide-free.
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— By Eric Lee
If you are planning on attending 
— by Max Samis
, Dr. Nathan Myhrvold describes how to trap all of the odors and flavors of chicken soup in a test tube. He is then able to preserve this super concentrated broth for later consumption. From a scientific point of view, this is exciting and thrifty. Nothing is wasted! But this is not the way of the Yiddishe Mamma.
— by Hannah Lee
Jewish tradition teaches that feeding the hungry is a vital responsibility. The Midrash says: 
Other than bread, we are not instructed to serve any specific dishes during Sukkot. The point of this festival is to celebrate the fall harvest. A wonderful way to connect to nature is to cook with what is in season locally. In Pennsylvania we are blessed with a bountiful fall harvest. Hearty homemade vegetable soups accompanied by an assortment of breads are a wonderful way for your family and guests to warm up during the chilly fall evenings in the sukkah.
Pomegranate
Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama, addresses the group.
