The “Food Issue” of Jmore is always published just before Thanksgiving. How appropriate.
Food is obviously a necessity, but it has much deeper cultural and family significance. The foods we eat mark us as Americans and as Jews.
My great-grandparents didn’t eat turkey and cranberry sauce in Russia and Lithuania. Nor, of course, did they celebrate American holidays. But the meaning of family holidays and gatherings hasn’t changed.
Thanksgiving is special. It brings us together as families. Cooking a special family meal is an expression of our love. The traditional family dishes are remembrances of the ones we love and those we have lost.
Those treasured foods are part of the core that holds our families together.
This year, as always, my 94-year-old mother will bring her delicious black bottom cupcakes. My wife Fran will make her matzah ball soup with the incredibly airy matzah balls. I will attempt to cook turkey that isn’t dry.
The kids will come from Connecticut, Baltimore and Frederick. They will bring their wonderful spouses and our four sweet grandchildren. The conversation will be about the little ones and the ones we’ve lost.
My father, the real family chef, passed away a few years ago. He loved to cook brisket and gravlax. He baked challah for family events as well. He was a formally trained chef and took great pride in his ability to put homemade food on the table.
Those dishes are part of how we remember him. He was an honest, hard-working man, but it is the food that triggers our warm memories of him.
One day, our children will be the hosts. The recipes are being captured in print by my mother. I have confidence my great-grandchildren will see us through the lens of these family recipes and traditions. What a nice thought.
With Thanksgiving upon us, we at Jmore wish all of you a wonderful family celebration. Hold your loved ones close. The news can depress us and scare us, but family is our protection from fear and our hope for the future.
God Bless,
Scott Rifkin, MD
Publisher
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