While some food writers automatically push the same old latke and brisket menu at Chanukah, Susie Fishbein offers a lighter touch by mixing in Mediterranean fare. And although she tweaks culinary tradition, she honors it. Fishbein believes in presenting beautiful food in unique ways.
Neil Sedaka has had a noteworthy place in American music for four decades; he became a comfortable perennial who did not let himself turn into a tortured titan like Sinatra or a forgettable one-hit wonder like The Imperials, Haircut 100 or Luscious Jackson.
Arlo Guthrie, the son of the legendary folk singer and composer, says that his father\’s mother-in-law, Yiddish poet Aliza Greenblatt, inspired Woody\’s largely unknown lyrics for Chanukah, Holocaust and Jewish children\’s songs.
When it\’s time to celebrate Chanukah, nobody should be left out of the fun. We\’ve scoured the holiday gift scene to find the perfect presents for Mom, Dad and the whole family.
Less well-known, according to a leading Israeli archaeologist, is that the Maccabees also were major builders who transformed the face of Jerusalem and restored the centrality of the Temple in Jewish life.
Latkes are a simple form of potato preparation, as potato dishes go. But simplicity in cooking, as the food writer Richard Olney wrote, is a complex thing. I have had rubbery latkes, starchy latkes, undercooked latkes and latkes so greasy that two of them could run a diesel engine for a week.
When it comes Chanukah, you\’ve got eight nights to get your gift giving right. Our Gift Guide points you toward a cornucopia of categories for every evening of the Festival of Lights.
Presents from the Holy Land have resonance for both the recipient and for Israel, whose economy could use a little boost from American consumers.
Ironically, the Chanukah story, with its many tellings, preserves those nuances better than almost any other holiday in Jewish tradition. It celebrates a variety of ways to be Jewish — ways which have changed through the generations, the challenges and the times.
Following are pointers on livening up your Chanukah table from \”Kosher by Design\” by Susie Fishbein (Mesorah, 2003).
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