Attempting to fuse Jewish and Black culinary traditions, a menu at a recent community seder included za’atar-seasoned salmon, parsnip-and-potato kugel, brussels sprouts and carrots dressed in tahini and, for dessert, a challah bread pudding.

It was the inaugural “Soulful Seder,” organized by Challah and Soul co-founders Shonda Walkowitz and Judi Leib.

Conceived in 2021 as a one-off luncheon for Black and Jewish mothers, Challah and Soul one year later became a full-fledged nonprofit organization with a mission of reigniting the Black and Jewish alliance by highlighting shared experiences of oppression, resilience and social justice advocacy. The organization uses food and storytelling as a bridge-building tool.

Held on April 8 at the Skirball Cultural Center, the “Soulful Seder” was full of both. The event celebrated the historic Black-Jewish relationship and the diversity of the Jewish world by featuring leaders from the Jews of Color community while offering a creative, pareve and tasty selection of Passover-themed bites.

The evening brought together more than 150 attendees.

Speaking guests emphasized how the Exodus story resonates with both Jewish and Black communities. They included Michael Twitty, a Black American Jewish chef, as well as Adrian Miller, a non-Jewish and Black culinary historian who calls himself the “Soul Food Scholar”—Miller’s catchphrase: “Dropping Knowledge Like Hot Biscuits.” At the Skirball, Miller’s topic was “The Theology of Soul Food.”

During a panel discussion, Twitty and Miller spoke about their upbringing and the connections between culture and food. Miller discussed the ways he was influenced by his mother’s cooking. At church potlucks, he said, members of the congregation were always seeking out whatever dish his mother had cooked.

At one point during their panel, Twitty noted how unusual it was for two people of their backgrounds to be having such a conversation with one another.

“How many times have you seen a Black Jewish man and a Black Christian man having this dialogue?” Twitty, author of the award-winning memoir, “Koshersoul: The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew,” said from Skirball’s Ahmanson Ballroom stage. “You can thank Challah and Soul for that.”

Additional guests included Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who presented Walkowitz and Lieb with a certificate from the city. Offering brief remarks, the elected official from the San Fernando Valley, who is married to an African American woman from St. Thomas, said events like “Soulful Seder” reminded him of his own family seders.

Throughout the evening, clergy from the local community—including Calabasas-based Rabbi Paul Kipnes of Congregation Or Ami—recited the various blessings of the seder.

Additionally, Black Christian singer Bobby Newt performed the feel-good gospel tune,
“You are Enough.”

Midway through the program, writer, actor and educator Joshua Silverstein, an African American Jew, led the crowd in the reading of the Haggadah, which was made available as a digital download via a QR code displayed above the stage. The Haggadah was filled with images and anecdotes highlighting instances of Black-Jewish solidarity, including Martin Luther King Jr. and social justice icon, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, marching together during the civil rights movement.

Silverstein punctuated his presentation of the Haggadah with interactive prompts and writing exercises. One asked everyone to reflect about an ancestor who had done something that had made a resounding impact on their lives. Then, Silverstein asked participants to share about that ancestor with the person seated next to them.

Miller, the culinary historian, spoke with this reporter about how his late mother had always been his cheerleader.

Over the course of the night, the guests feasted on both bread and matzah; because it was held several days before the start of Passover, the evening wasn’t bread–free.

Each of the tables was decorated with a seder plate as well as an orange. According to several educational resources, it was Susanna Heschel, feminist scholar and daughter of Rabbi Heschel, who introduced the concept of including an orange on the seder plate as a nod to gay and lesbian Jews. Historically, LGBTQ+ Jews were not accepted in the mainstream Jewish community, and the inclusion of the orange was a way of correcting that omission.

On Tuesday night, the “Soulful Seder” showed just how far the community has come in embracing the marginalized.

Ten years ago, after struggling with infertility, Gila Block co-founded Yesh Tikva, an organization that provides support to Jewish women and couples facing infertility.

In honor of Yesh Tikva’s (“There is Hope,” in Hebrew), 10th annual Infertility Awareness Shabbat, Block hosted a special event at Shalhevet High School with Sivan Kobi, known to her 850K followers as Sivan’s Kitchen.

Block and her husband were diagnosed with unexplained infertility at a young age and went through multiple treatments, including IUI and IVF, before finally conceiving. Today, they are the proud and grateful parents of three children, ages 9, 7 and 5. But even though that journey into motherhood is behind her, Block remains the driving force behind Yesh Tikva.

The non-profit offers free professional psychosocial services, resources and tools to those struggling with infertility while also raising awareness and sensitivity within the Jewish community.

“It started as a support group with three women around my dining room table,” Block told the Journal at the event, which was attended by dozens of women who filled every seat at the basketball court at Shalhevet.

“I got connected to a few women who either worked in the fertility space or had themselves gone through this journey, and that’s how I found my partner Elie Salomon.”

Since launching the non-profit, it has helped hundreds of women from the U.S. and around the world. They meet on Zoom, share their struggles, support each other and receive important information to help them on their journey. They also celebrate whenever one of them is able to conceive. There are different support groups for women going through IVF, those going through donor conception and for parents post-donor conception. If you are struggling with any type of infertility, resources are available to you.

“This past year, we helped over 300 people, men and women. We offer an emotional support group as well as a peer mentorship program. It allows us to pair those in the beginning phase of their journey with those who have already been through it, to be their buddy so they can listen and support them,” said Block.

April is recognized as National Infertility Awareness Month, with National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) typically taking place in the last full week of April. During Infertility Awareness Shabbat, synagogues, rabbis and communities across denominations participate by discussing infertility in sermons, offering prayers for those struggling to conceive and promoting conversations that break the stigma around infertility. The goal is to create a supportive and understanding environment for individuals and couples experiencing this challenge.

“When I was diagnosed, it was something that happened to others; no one spoke about it,” said Block. “But the statistics tell us that it’s one in six, and we all know at least one in six. Go to the synagogue and count six women and one of them deals with it. The more we talk about it, the more we’ll have people understand.”

Block said she wants to shift the way people approach each other when talking about children, as the conversation can be sensitive for many. Instead of asking people whom you meet for the first time, “How many children do you have?” she suggested asking: “What can you tell me about your family?” or, “What can you tell me about yourself?” Assuming that someone has children can be painful for someone who desperately wants to have them but is dealing with infertility issues.

During the event, a woman shared her personal journey through infertility and how she was able to conceive four children successfully through IVF. Dr. Sahar Wertheimer, Dr. Sasha Hakman and Dr. Shahin Ghadir of HRC Fertility Clinic also attended the event. This is one of many clinics Yesh Tikvapartners with to offer educational resources.

“The fertility space isn’t regulated by insurance and therefore, you need to be an informed consumer and an empowered one,” said Block. “You can be a partner in your journey rather than just a passenger, letting the doctor take the lead.”

Participants enjoyed a special cooking presentation by Kobi, who shared a few Passover recipes that they were able to enjoy at the beginning of the event: viral green salad, Moussaka and Crembo Cake.

Kobi shared her personal story of stardom while demonstrating the three dishes in one hour. She immigrated to the U.S. with her family when she was 10 years old. Her father opened Sherman’s Bakery in Sherman Oaks and quickly added two more locations, which became a huge success.  Her husband’s family also came from a family of restaurateurs. It was a perfect match.

She married him when she turned 19 and became a mom at 20. Three more children followed. Kobi loves to host and her guests loved her cooking, but she didn’t take it much further than that, although at one point, she did have a cake design business while also working as a fitness coach.

It all changed in 2020, shortly after the Covid pandemic hit.

“It was sometime in May, my 30-year-old daughter came to me one Friday, the kitchen was full of food, pots on the stove, cakes and challah in the oven. She said: ‘Ima, why don’t you share everything you make with the world? No one is going anywhere, everyone is either at home cooking or watching someone else cook.’”

Kobi was skeptical but decided to go along with it. Back then, she had an Instagram page, Sivan’s Cakes, with only 200 followers. “She asked what name I wanted to call my new page and I said, let’s go with Sivan’s Kitchen.”

At first, she said she didn’t think this would go anywhere, but soon enough, she discovered that for many, cooking doesn’t come as easily and they need tutorials. One woman even asked her, “How do you make a schnitzel?” She was happy to help.

“It took me two and a half years to reach 10,000 followers,” she said. “And then, it took off.”

After October 7, Kobi opened her home to families and friends of hostages and those who lost their loved ones in the Hamas attack. One mother, Ayala Fuder, who lost her daughter, Maya, at the Nova festival, prepared a special carrot cake with Kobi in her kitchen and named it after her beloved daughter. She also brought 30 children from the Gaza envelope to her home, and together they made hamantaschen.

The talented chef and social media sensation said that through her cooking and beautiful table settings, she encourages people to welcome Shabbat and host meaningful Jewish holidays.

“It’s very important post-October 7, when we feel so neglected, unwelcome and unwanted. We need to bring Judaism into our world and hold on to it as much as we can,” she said.  “I pinch myself when I stand in front of people and they tell me, ‘You saved my Shabbat.’ I feel blessed that I’m bringing people closer to Judaism and Shabbat.”

To learn more about Yesh Tikva, visit: yeshtikva.org

Recipes by Sivan’s Kitchen

VIRAL GREEN SALAD

Ingredients:

• 1/2 green cabbage shredded
• 1 fennel bulb sliced thin
• 4 celery ribs chopped (leaves included if available)
• 3 green onions chopped
• 1 green apple sliced thinly and into strips
• optional for a kick 2 Serrano chilies with seeds or deseeded
• 1/2 bunch chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 bunch chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. salt or to taste

Directions:

1. Chop
2. Slice
3. Toss
4. Enjoy!

Moussaka

Ingredients:

For meat filling:

• •1 pound ground beef
• •1 large onion
• •about 6 garlic cloves
• •1 bunch fresh parsley
• •1/4 cup oil
• • 1 tbsp. salt
• • 1 tsp. black pepper
• •1 tsp. sweet paprika

For tomato sauce:

• •1/4 cup oil
• •1/4 cup date molasses (silan)
• •1/4 cup tomato paste
• •1 tsp. salt
• • 1 tsp. black pepper
• •1.5 cups chicken stock

You’ll need 3 medium sized eggplants not too fat, and 2 tomatoes.

Directions:

1. Prepare Meat Filling:

• Combine ground beef, chopped onion, chopped garlic, fresh parsley, seasonings, and oil in a bowl. Mix well and set aside.

2. Assemble Layers:

• Diagonally slice eggplants to one inch thick slices.
  Drizzle oil in a baking dish or pot.
• Spoon meat filling between two eggplant slices and assemble in circular motion for a round pot or rows for a casserole dish.
• Slice tomatoes and scatter slices between eggplant and meat layers.

3. Make Tomato Sauce:

• Whisk together the ingredients for the tomato sauce.

4. Layer and Bake:

• Spoon tomato sauce over the layers.
• Optionally, cover with parchment paper and foil.
• Bake covered in a preheated oven at 375°F
  for one hour.

5. Broil:

• Uncover and broil for an additional 10 minutes.

6. Garnish and Serve:

• Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
• Enjoy hot!

J Los Angeles (JLA), formerly Westside Jewish Community Center, has named nonprofit and global media leader David Siegel as its new CEO, with JLA leadership saying Siegel was the right person to lead the organization’s next chapter.

“David is an inspired choice to lead JLA at this critical moment,” JLA Board President Tony Regenstreif said in a statement. “His passion and expertise are reflected in his track record of transforming organizations. We’ve built something extraordinary at the J, and with David at the helm, we will propel it into the future.”

Before starting at JLA, Siegel worked in the entertainment industry and philanthropy. He is the immediate past CEO at Exceptional Minds, a professional training academy and animation studio for young adults on the autism spectrum. Siegel also has deep roots in Jewish philanthropy, having worked on a campaign with his son—Siegel and his wife are the parents of three boys—that raised $1.5 million to combat a Jewish genetic disease.

“I am deeply honored and energized to lead JLA and to do this work in collaboration with our dedicated team, board, and the broader community,” Siegel said. “Together, we will build on the strong foundation already in place to shape a dynamic, welcoming, and forward-thinking hub for Jewish life.”

For seven decades, JLA has played a central role in Jewish life in Los Angeles, fostering enduring connections through several empowering initiatives, including an early childhood center, an infant care program, JCamp, the JLA Maccabi Games, a Diller Teen fellows program and the Lenny Krayzelburg SwimRight Academy.