Shabbat
Berbere: The Ethiopian Curry
Published in The Philadelphia Jewish Voice When the Ethiopian Jews began arriving in Israel in 1984, they brought with them a spice mixture called berbere. Like curry, berbere is a combination of spices that gives Ethiopian cuisine its distinctive flavor. These flavors are one of the newest additions to the fusion that is modern Israeli cuisine, especially for shabbat dinner. Although modern Ethiopia is a landlocked country, it has a long history of spice trading. In the 5th Century BCE, the Kingdom of Axum included modern Eritrea, northern Ethiopia, northern Sudan, Yemen, and southern Saudi Arabia. Square-rigged trading ships departed Axum via the...
Read MoreYosef Who Loves Shabbat
One of my favorite stories for Shabbat is based on tractate Shabbat 119a in the Babylonian Talmud. You may read the story here. Chaim Topol and Hanny Nachmias collaborated to create a wonderful DVD retelling this story with original music and songs. You may order a copy...
Read MoreHome Baked Challah For Shabbat
Published in The Philadelphia Jewish Voice Olive oil lamps and tabun-baked flatbreads were the centerpieces of the first Shabbat tables. As Jews dispersed around the world, candles replaced oil lamps, and the loaves used for the blessing over the bread sometimes changed as well. In the fifteenth century, Jews settled along the Rhine River, and were inspired by the local braided egg breads to bake challah. At that time, every challah was artisanal! The woman of the house mixed her own dough, shaped it by hand, and baked it fresh for Shabbat. With the arrival of commercial baking, for many families the art of preparing a homemade challah was lost. Now, many...
Read MoreHow Chamin (Ancient Sabbath Stew) Came To Philadelphia
Published in The Philadelphia Jewish Voice Please enjoy this clip I filmed about how chamin (Portuguese cholent) came to Philadelphia. It was filmed at Stenton Mansion, one of the best-preserved colonial homes in Philadelphia. I would like to extend my special thanks to Marlene Samoun for permitting me to use her soulful rendition of the ladino folk song Morenika in this clip. Jewish contact with Spain may go as far back as the Kingdom of Solomon. It is thought that Southern Spain was the country of Tarshish. Tarshish was the furthest place west that people could sail to from Ancient Israel in Biblical times. There was a continuous Jewish presence in Spain...
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