Month: April 2019

Pastries for Pesach

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Sara Winer in her happy place. Photo by Shelley A. Sackett

By Shelley A. Sackett

SWAMPSCOTT – Sara Winer stood in her recently redecorated kitchen emanating the serene aura of a person who is in the right place at the right time. “My kitchen is my happy place,” she said as she took a loving glance around the gray-toned sleek yet warm sanctuary, which has been kosher since the day she got married 49 years ago.

The Swampscott baker comes from a long matrilineal line of bakers, starting with her Russian Bubbe Sara, for whom she is named. She is renowned for her creative and delectable creations, which are decidedly not low-calorie. “There really is no substitute for butter if you want a rich cookie or cake,” she said.

Finally succumbing to repeated suggestions from friends, Winer decided it was time to test the waters and start a baking business. She launched “Sara’s Baked Goods & Specialties” last Passover, when she decided to offer a few of her personal favorites items to a few friends.

Baking for Passover can be challenging and tedious because no leavening agents are used, Winer shared. She makes sure all ingredients are kosher for Passover and she uses only her Passover dishes and cooking implements. “I buy eggs five dozen at a time,” she said.

This Passover, she again is selling desserts and kugels. Some she can bake in advance and freeze; others, like her chocolate-dipped meringues and sponge cake, are made just prior to delivery. New to this year are the vegetable farfel kugel and her personal favorite, Passover granola, loaded with nuts, coconut, raisins and honey.

The response so far has surprised her. “I always think people could do this themselves, but they either like what I make or don’t have that same excitement about baking,” she said.

Creativity is also in her genes. Her mother, sisters, nephews and son excelled in painting, photography and animation. Winer tried her hand at fine arts, but found her medium – and her calling – in baking. “It is also therapeutic, meditative, and fun. It satisfies my need to give, to nurture and to care for my family and friends,” she said as she poured a cup of tea and set out a plate of her favorite cookies: hermits, pecan sandies, chocolate chip and poppy seed.

The science of baking fascinates Winer, and she loves working with yeast. “A couple of ingredients and voilà! You have a challah!” she said with a broad smile.

She worked for 18 years as a sales rep at Rivkind Associates, a large printing company in Stoughton, and gifted her clients with baskets of handmade cookies at the holidays. “They all came to look forward to it every year,” she said.

After retiring in 2013, she had a lot of time on her hands, which translated to a lot of time for baking. Friends celebrating birthdays receive cupcakes or a cake, and her mah jongg friends know not to eat dessert on game nights, because Winer always provides an assortment of homemade goodies. “My freezer is literally full of cookies, cakes and breads,” she said.

Although Winer’s nuclear family is a great reservoir of talent, she credits her mother-in-law, Ida Winer, as the biggest source of her inspiration. “She taught me how to entertain and how to make everything look nice. She just had a real flair. I like to think I am following in her footsteps,” she said.

For more information, email sewiner48@gmail.com.

This year’s Jewish Film Fest will leave you on the edge of your seat

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by Shelley A. Sackett

MARBLEHEAD – Jewish film festivals are wildly popular, and according to jewishfilmfestivals.org, moviegoers had 170 to choose from worldwide in 2018 in locations ranging from Nebraska to Nepal. For the sixth year, local residents need travel only a few miles to Marblehead and Salem to view 13 films offered by the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore International Jewish Film Festival from April 28 to May 9.

While films about the Holocaust are natural candidates for a Jewish film festival, this year’s lineup features several films that – although set during World War II – are more character than history-driven. Bookending the 12-day festival are opening night’s “The Catcher Was a Spy,” a thriller starring Paul Rudd based on the true story of Moe Berg, the Red Sox catcher who became a WWII spy, and closing night’s “Prosecuting Evil,” a gripping documentary about Ben Ferencz, the remarkable 99-year-old and last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor.

Gordon Edes, an award-winning sportswriter and Boston Red Sox historian, will speak and answer questions following “The Catcher Was a Spy,” and both films include a post-screening reception.

The remaining 11 films are a well-balanced mix of documentary, drama, and comedy. In “Winter Hunt,” a riveting German contemporary psychological thriller, a young woman on a personal mission of vigilante justice goes to extremes as she seeks reprisal against a suspected ex-Nazi. Powerful performances, an edgy score, and a tight script fuel the suspense.

Jewish women are front and center in three films that look at dilemmas they face as they struggle to forge their own paths in a world complicated by religious tradition and social conformity. “Working Woman” addresses the complexity of contemporary life in Israel, chronicling the predicament faced by Orna (played by the remarkable Liron Ben-Shlush) as she juggles motherhood, marriage to a struggling restaurateur, and a meteoritic rise in the corporate real estate world. When her boss relentlessly sexually harasses her, her entire world is brought to the brink of disaster.

Life for women in pre-state Israel was no less complex, as illustrated by “An Israeli Love Story.” Based on a true story and set in 1947, the well-shot and edited film explores the relationship between an aspiring actress and a kibbutznik who is also a member of Palmach, an elite fighting force. In “Leona,” a young Jewish artist in present day Mexico City finds herself torn between her traditional, observant family and a forbidden love.

On a lighter but no less poignant note, the award-winning “Shoelaces” traces the relationship between Reuven, a surly parent, and Gadi, his charismatic adult son with special needs, as the two slowly develop a tender and life-affirming bond of devotion. The popular film is thought-provoking and unexpectedly funny.

Three documentaries reveal different facets of present-day Jewish life. “Chewdaism: A Taste of Jewish Montreal,” follows two local men on the cusp of middle age as they nosh their way through a series of classical eateries and share their community’s 100-year Jewish history. “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel” charts the underdog journey of Israel’s national team to the 2017 World Baseball Classic in a story of sports, patriotism, and growth.

“Sustainable Nation,” shown in partnership with CJP as a free community event in honor of Israeli Independence Day, follows three visionary Israelis as they bring water solutions to an increasingly thirsty planet.

Poland and France are the settings for the rest of the line up. “Who Will Write Our History” is a documentary set in 1940, after Nazis sealed 450,000 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. The story of Oyneg Shabes, a group of journalists, scholars and community leaders who resolved to fight Nazi propaganda with pen and paper, is told through writings, new interviews, rare archival footage and dramatizations.

In her deeply personal documentary, “Chasing Portraits,” filmmaker Elizabeth Rynecki travels to Poland to find the remaining work of her great-grandfather, a prolific impressionistic painter who captured scenes of pre-war Jewish life.

“A Bag of Marbles,” based on a true story, follows two young Jewish brothers as they fend for themselves, making their way through German-occupied France to reunite with their families.

Many films have post-screening guests who will speak to issues raised by the films.

For information and to buy tickets, visit jccns.org or call 781-631-8330.

An interview with Joan Nathan

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Joan Nathan. Photo by Gabriela Herman

by Shelley A. Sackett

What do you plan to speak about at Friends of Hillel Library event?

I plan to speak on the revolving “bagel” of Jewish cooking from King Solomon’s times to our times.

What do libraries mean to you?

I love libraries. They mean history, finding nuggets of history, for me Jewish history, I love the quiet of them and the fact that everyone can use them, and what they reveal in wonderful books.

What current trends do you see in Jewish cooking?

Jewish cooking is really hot right now, especially Israeli cooking in New York, LA, Berlin, Paris, and many small places in between. Of course, much of it is due to what I call the “Ottolenghi” phenomenon – this wonderful Israeli chef, living in London and using pomegranate paste, date jam, chickpeas, etc. in his colorful cuisine. It raised the idea of Israeli cooking and I believe inspired all kinds of chefs and restaurateurs. In LA there is Bavel; in New York there is Nur, Mint Village; in Philly there is Zahav; in New Orleans there is Saba; and in Buenos Aires there is Meshuganah. Out of this is also coming Diaspora cuisine in restaurants everywhere.

Any “words of advice” to young Jewish people?

Learn as much as you can now. When it comes to cooking, go to your parents and grandparents and watch them cook and ask them their stories and the stories of the foods that are in your family. Write everything down and make a little booklet out of them or do a paper for a class on them. You will keep them and learn from these recipes for the rest of your lives.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Every Jew has his or her own history. Food is so much part of it because of the repetitive: Enjoy it, celebrate it, and learn from your table what the history of each ingredient is. Food is just as important as music or prayer and in many families it is absolutely the last to leave our culture. Catch the recipes for you and the next generation.

Hillel to honor Knopfs

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Eddie and Diane Knopf in Valencia, Spain in 2017, where they learned to cook paella, a dish that locals claim was invented in Valencia.

by Shelley A. Sackett

MARBLEHEAD – Every year since 1987, the Friends of the Hillel Library have recognized members of the community for their commitment to learning and the pursuit of knowledge by presenting them with The Edith Bloch Award. This year’s recipients, Swampscott residents Diane and Eddie Knopf, will be honored at “Food: The Ultimate Connector,” a celebratory event to be held on Sunday, May 19 at 6 p.m. at the Epstein Hillel School in Marblehead.

“All of us who have had the opportunity to work alongside Diane and Eddie Knopf have seen first hand that their dedication to the North Shore Jewish community literally knows no bounds,” chairs Maura and Paul Copeland said in a press release.

Edith Bloch was a founding member of the Friends of the Hillel Library and was renown as a consummate teacher and committed mentor.

The Knopfs have made an impact on their community in many areas. For 11 years, Diane was Director of Community Engagement at Epstein Hillel and has volunteered in a number of positions, including as president of the JCC of the North Shore and chair of the JCC’s Jewish Book Month Speaker series. Eddie served on the Temple Beth El-Temple Israel merger committee and on the executive board at Congregation Shirat Hayam, where he is a regular at morning minyan.

Both earned MBAs, Diane from Northeastern University and Eddie from Boston University, and met at a Christmas Eve party in 1987. “I had a broken ankle and was in a cast, and he had a horrible cold,” Diane recalled with a laugh.

They married the following Thanksgiving, and Diane moved from Brookline to Swampscott, where Eddie had been living since 1978. Their daughter Elyse graduated from (then) Cohen Hillel Academy in 2004 and went on to Washington University in St. Louis.

To the Knopfs, libraries and education are synonymous and have long been part of their lives as students and adults. Diane and her mother, a 2nd grade teacher, established the Miller/Knopf Resource Library at Simmons University, both their alma maters. “Libraries matter to us,” she said.

Cooking, entertaining and travel matter to them too, and choosing Joan Nathan as the evening’s speaker reflects that. The award-winning cookbook author, PBS television host and newspaper and magazine contributor has won the James Beard Award twice, co-founded New York’s Ninth Avenue Food Festival under then-Mayor Abraham Beame, and received an honorary doctorate from the Spertus Institute of Jewish Culture in Chicago.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, she is the mother of three grown children and lives in Washington, D.C. and Martha’s Vineyard with her husband, Allan Gerson.

Nathan will speak about her culinary exploration of Jewish cooking from around the world and sign copies of her latest cookbook, “King Solomon’s Table,” after a light dinner reception featuring recipes from the book. The event is open to the community and is free of charge, although registration is necessary.

Diane readily admits Eddie is the cook in the family. “He first got involved watching his mom and aunt cook,” she said. His favorite dishes to cook are chili, chopped liver, and turkey and stuffing for a big crowd. Diane’s favorite dishes to eat are “all of the above” plus Eddie’s locally famous popovers.

They love entertaining and bringing people together for an evening of food and camaraderie and share the responsibilities seamlessly. Eddie handles the majority of cooking and cleaning up and Diane organizes, decorates and plans the menu, which often features ethnic foods. “I am a very experimental eater, perhaps because my mom instilled in me a love of traveling the world,” Diane explained.

The Knopfs are in awe of Nathan’s accomplishments and couldn’t be more thrilled that she is the featured speaker at their honorary celebration. They share her beliefs that food has the power to unite people, especially during challenging times. Born in Tiverton, R.I., Diane’s link is also personal. “Before all the current famous Israeli/Jewish chefs, there was Joan from Providence, the leading expert in Jewish cooking who embraced and promoted Jewish cooking in America,” she said with just a hint of her native Rhode Island accent.