Features

Off the Shelf: Passover picture books and a new children’s haggadah

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Picture books for Passover

Even though I am approaching my Medicare birthday (you should be able to figure out my age from that), I still love reading children’s books, including picture books. It’s always interesting to see the clever ways authors and illustra…

Off the Shelf: Families, Nazis and the aftermath of the Holocaust

Graphic novels are not a new addition to the genre of Holocaust fiction. In fact, comic books in the 1950s-60s were among the first to speak about the Nazi war against the Jews. (For more information, see The Reporter’s review of “We Spoke Out: Comic Books and the Holocaust” at www.the…

Off the Shelf: Another haggadah – this time by Tablet

I have a friend who collects haggadot (the plural of haggadah). She’s always looking for new and interesting ones for her collection. That means finding those with either beautiful illustrations, contemporary readings or new commentary. I don’t think of myself as a collector and have tur…

Off the Shelf: Jewish food studies by Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Wikipedia defines the discipline of food studies as “the critical examination of food and its contexts within science, art, history, society and other fields. It is distinctive from other food-related areas of study such as nutrition, agriculture, gastronomy and culinary arts in that it te…

On the Jewish food scene: Thoughts on noodles and potatoes

By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

When I was a child, noodle kugel was the ultimate comfort food. In fact, I didn’t realize there was any other kind of kugel until I was far into my adult years. Certainly no other kugel ever appeared on our dinner table. In fact, it’s still difficult for me to t…