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Yid.Dish: Watermelon Agua Fresca and Tomato Pie
Cross-posted from Examiner.com What’s with tomatoes and watermelon this year? I have seen them side by side at local farmers markets, of course, having both come into season recently. But in an odd development, I started to see them together in recipes, too. At first, I noticed the usual myriad recipes for watermelon-feta salad sometimes…
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Being Game
Lately, my weekends invariably include a round or two of Tetris: Kitchen Edition. The object of this game is to fit all the new pots, pans, casserole dishes and kitchen appliances — big ones, the kind that come with scary-looking attachments and instructional DVDs — into my cupboard- and countertop-deprived Manhattan kitchen. While I’ve spent…
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Ritual By (Re) Design
Artists are the new rabbis. Since at least the destruction of the Second Temple exile, adaptation and cultural syncretism have been the hallmarks of Jewish practice. History dictates that rituals, customs and habits are lost, forgotten and changed over time or are remembered only in absences. What remains is a scant trace of the diversity…
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William Korey, Soviet Jewry Activist, 87
William Korey spent more than 30 years of his life deeply involved with the struggle to allow free emigration for Soviet Jews. But when I interviewed him in his Queens apartment a few years ago, he did not hide the fact that he never liked to work on individual cases. “There would be no end…
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Beating Long Odds
POKER MAVEN HENRY ORENSTEIN, A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR WHO CONTINUES TO BEAT THE ODDS, HONORED BY METROPOLITAN COUNCIL ON POVERTY “It was my dream as a little boy to come to America,” said Henry Orenstein, who, with his wife, Susan, was honored at the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty’s Annual Builder’s Luncheon, held August 4 at…
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Largest Outreach Effort for Alums of Birthright Raises Concerns
Taglit-Birthright Israel, the highly regarded Jewish communal initiative that has sent more than 200,000 young Jews on free trips to Israel, has carefully tended its image as pluralistic and inclusive. But the religious slant and political orientation of the largest, most well-funded organizer of follow-up programs for Birthright alumni is raising concerns, even among top…
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Brooklyn’s Bicycle Man Uses Two Wheels To Bring Hasids and Hipsters Together
An unusual sign appeared in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn in early August. On it is a large Star of David constructed out of 50 or so rubber chickens. In the middle of the star, Yiddish text offers a free bike loan to any of the Yiddish-speaking Satmar Hasidim who live in the area. You…
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Deal on Temporary Settlement Freeze Hinges on What Happens Afterward
Attempts to finalize a deal on a settlement freeze are entering the final stretch, although significant differences still exist between American and Israeli negotiators. While those negotiators have reportedly reached an understanding on a nine-month freeze on new construction in the West Bank, both sides are struggling to agree on what should happen the day…
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Jews in Fantasy Baseball: The Chosen People Are Up at Bat
Matthew Soffer, a 29-year-old rabbinical student from Philadelphia, was the rookie manager of a weak fantasy league baseball team until he turned to his faith and traded for a player of Jewish heritage. His chosen one was Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers slugger whose Israeli-born father is Jewish (but whose mother isn’t). “His bat is…
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‘Crazy’ Eddie’s Cousin, a Former Fraudster, Speaks Out on Syrian ‘Subculture of Crime’
Sam E. Antar wants you to know up front: He’s no hero. The former chief financial officer of Crazy Eddie Inc. whose testimony helped convict his cousin, Eddie Antar, in 1993 takes an almost gleeful tone when confessing his sins. He lied. He committed fraud. He skimmed money. He misled investigators. And when he came…
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Father Patrick Desbois: A Priest on a Holocaust Mission
If the Rev. Patrick Desbois is bothered by the glances from late-lunching tourists at a midtown Manhattan hotel café, he’s not letting it show. These Friday afternoon guests probably didn’t expect to hear about mass graves, murdered babies and Nazi killing machines over their cappuccinos and sandwiches. But Desbois, in a casual black shirt and…
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