Holidays & Cooking
These artifacts are used for various Jewish holidays, as well as cooking for those holidays!
Menorah
United States
Josh D.
This Menorah is important to my family because it reminds us of a part of our family that we don't see all the time. It is from my dad's cousin who lives in southern New Jersey. It was given to my 3rd cousin by his mother who got it somewhere in the United States. Soon after, my dad's cousin gave it to my brother for his Bar Mitzvah.
This Menorah is used for the holiday of Chanukah. Chanukah is the holiday that remembers the miracle in which the oil in the menorah lasted longer than they thought it would. The oil was supposed to last one night but lasted for eight nights. That's why Chanukah lasts for eight nights. Chanukah also reminds us of dedication and learning prayers against Greek ruling.
Machzor
Tel Aviv, Israel
Cheryl S.
This Machzor is important to my family because it reminds us of my great grandma Ruth from my mom's side. Also it makes us think of her hardships during the war and how she kept her religion alive and never lost her faith. She was born into a religious family in Galicia (now Poland) and was one of 8 siblings. She was very close with her brother Isadore, the rebel of the family, who left Europe for America before the war. Her parents saved up some money and were willing to let her visit him in New York. She traveled by boat and ate very little because she was strictly kosher. While she was here, her parents and 5 brothers and sisters were killed under Hitler. She never found out exactly about the others but she knows that her mother was put in a barrel and sent down a river to drown. The only other surviving family member was her sister who ended up in Israel. Despite what happened to her family, she never gave up faith in Hashem and remained an observant Jew. In 1958 she traveled to Israel for the first time to visit her sister. While there, she bought this Machzor.
The Machzor is a special prayerbook for the High Holidays. Instead of a regular siddur this is especially made for the high holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. People use this book only on those two holidays. The pages are brown, wrinkled and torn.
Frying Pan
Greece
Grandma Sarah
This frying pan was used by my Great-Grandmother, Esmeralda, in Greece. She used it to make special matzah pancakes for Passover. It was brought to America by my Great-Grandmother Esmeralda in about 1920. My Great-Grandmother came to Ellis Island with her mother and younger brother when she was in her twenties. She married my Great-Grandfather Samuel in 1923. They lived on the Lower East Side of New York and moved to Harlem, where my Grandmother Sarah was born. When my Grandmother was about 3 years old, they moved back to the Lower East Side. My Great-Grandmother was a stay-at-home Mom. The pan is important to my family because it helps us keep my family's tradition of making the special matzah pancakes for the important Jewish holiday of Passover. Knowing that the pan was passed down from generation to generation makes the pan special to me.
This pan was designed and used for matzah pancakes for Passover. It shows how important it was for people to have the special tools and objects they needed in order to celebrate the holiday and keep Kosher for Passover. Passover is known as the holiday of freedom because since G-d freed the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, we aren't slaves now. There are six items on the seder plate: a roasted shank bone of lamb; a roasted egg; a bitter herb; a mixture of chopped apples and nuts, cinnamon and wine; salt water and a green vegetable. To be kosher for Passover, you can only eat unleavened bread and you have to look for the label that says that the food is kosher for Passover. The frying pan also has places for six pancakes, and kind of looks like a seder plate!
Nutcracker
Israel
Nanny
This nutcracker was given to me by my husband's grandmother (Nanny). During World War II she lived in hiding in Nazi occupied France. I have included a picture of her while she was living in France. After the war she moved to America. Shortly after coming to America she visited relatives in Israel. She purchased the nutcracker on that visit to Israel. Whenever we would visit Nanny she would show my children how to use the nut cracker to crack open walnuts (which she loved). Before she passed away she gave us the nutcracker. Nanny loved the nutcracker because it reminded her of her first visit to Israel. We love it for the same reason.
A nutcracker was used to crack open hard shelled nuts. Today we can buy shelled nuts in a bag but years ago you had to use a nutcracker to eat the nut in a hard shell (such as walnuts, almonds, pecans, filberts, etc). Nuts are a very important ingredient in many Jewish European and Middle Eastern recipes. We also use them for holidays - on Passover we use nuts to make Charoset and on Tu B'shevat we eat of the fruits of the tree which include nuts.
Bubala Spoon
USA
This Bubala spoon was used by my mother's mother, Rae F., aka Nana Banana. This spoon was only used during Pesach to make a special pancake-like thing called a Bubala. It is used like a whisk. The spoon is used to beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Then, the yolks, matza meal, salt & sugar are folded in. The whole batter is poured into a buttered frying pan and cooked until firm and brown on the bottom. Then it is flipped over and cooked some more. We usually sprinkle sugar on it, and cut it into small squares. My grandmother enjoyed making this special dish for the grandchildren, even though it was a lot of work. She never used the electric mixer for this!
This bubala dish was only made during Pesach. It was and still is a special holiday treat. There was no written recipe for this, it was passed down by watching, listening and tasting. I don't know anyone besides my extended family who knows about a bubala. Maybe other people called it by a different name. Now, my children look forward to eating a bubala on Passover!
Rolling Pin
Brooklyn, NY
Grandmother
My grandmother left Russia in the late 1800's to come to America. She lived in Brooklyn, NY. I have included a picture of my grandmother and grandfather. My grandmother loved to bake and used this rolling pin to make cookies, strudel, rugelach, bread, etc. I would help her bake when I was very little. She later gave the rolling pin to my mother who used it for her baking projects. When I got married my mom gave the rolling pin to me. Each year I use the rolling pin to make my Hamantschen. My daughter helps me roll the dough out with the rolling pin. When she gets married I will give her the rolling pin.
Baking is a very important part of Jewish life. Shabbat meals are not complete without a good dessert like Rugelach, Strudel, cookies, and pies. Many desserts are served at certain Jewish holidays such as Hamantaschen on Purim and doughnuts on Chanukah. In order to make these homemade delicacies you need a good rolling pin. Today we have bakeries to make all of these Jewish desserts but there is much joy in making them from scratch especially when you know you are using the same utensil as your grandmother used. The rolling pin makes our homemade dessert that much more special.