Insight from the closure of local Starbucks branches
Dr. Anna Roshal on progress and patient-centered care
Chagall Inspired Bar Mitzvah boy connects with survivors through art
The story of Albert Steinfeld, Tucson’s Prince Murchant
Dr. Mordechai Kedar has a grand plan for the Middle East - if anyone will hear it
Time to Light: A Chanukah guide, latkes, and unnecessary gifts
EXECUTIVE
Rabbi Yossie Shemtov
REBBETZIN
Chanie Shemtov
OUTREACH DIRECTOR
Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin
PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Feigie Ceitlin
Affiliates:
and Lamplighter Chabad Day School of Tucson
EDITOR
Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin
COPY EDITOR
Suzanne Cummins
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Phyllis Braun, Feigie Ceitlin, Menachem Posner, Mordechai Schmutter, Benjamin Weiss
PHOTOS
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Keeping Jewish is published in print periodically by Chabad Tucson and is distributed free in Tucson and Southern Arizona. Chabad Tucson does not endorse the people, establishments, products or services reported about or advertised in Keeping Jewish unless specifically noted. The acceptance of advertising in Keeping Jewish does not constitute a recommendation, approval, or other representation of the quality of products or services, or the credibility of any claims made by advertisers, including, but not limited to, the kashrus of advertised food products. The use of any products or services advertised in Keeping Jewish is solely at the user’s risk and Chabad Tucson accepts no responsibility or liability in connection therewith.
Note: “G-d” and “L-rd” are written with a hyphen instead of an “o .” This is one way we accord reverence to the sacred divine name. This also reminds us that, even as we seek G-d, He transcends any human effort to describe His reality.
In the past, the classic saying was “Where there is Coca-Cola, there is Chabad.” The Chabad-Lubavitch movement was compared to the widely popular soda brand to highlight the reach of its global effort to educate and inspire Jews everywhere.
I always thought this comparison wasn’t entirely accurate for two reasons. First, Chabad was active in places where even Coke wasn’t, such as Arab countries that preferred Pepsi after boycotting Coke for selling in Israel. Second, a can of soda is physical and transactional, something you grab off a shelf and walk away with.
Chabad is nothing like that. We may bring joy like a cold Coke on a hot day, but our centers are not vending machine items. Our synagogues, schools, charities, and other institutions have an actual address, a place you can walk into as a home away from home. Whether in Bangkok, Thailand, or Bariloche, Argentina, they offer warmth and a sense of belonging.
So perhaps Starbucks feels like a closer comparison. Starbucks coffee shops are everywhere, in brick-and-mortar locations where people are welcomed and offered the beverages they choose. Of course, the experience at Chabad provides a spiritual jolt rather than a physical one from caffeine, but the welcoming atmosphere feels familiar.
By Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin
For a while, the Starbucks analogy worked for me until a recent development in Tucson made me rethink the comparison.
Starbucks had been on a roll, opening new branches left and right, sometimes in proximity to each other. Even in Tucson’s strong foodie and café culture, the number of branches turned out to be excessive. It didn’t take long for Starbucks to announce the permanent closure of six branches in September 2025, including some brand-new ones.
Speaking with a contractor, we learned that closing a Starbucks store isn’t a simple process. After removing all the food and utensils, a demolition crew arrives to destroy whatever remains. Their job is to ensure nothing remains that could be identified as Starbucks or reused elsewhere. After that, a separate crew arrives to verify that the destruction meets the company’s code.
And that’s where Starbucks differs from Chabad. What we share isn’t proprietary. We want people to take it with them. And what do they take with them?
Torah’s timeless teachings and spiritual guidance that they can implement in their lives. The goal is for people to live with purpose and make the world a better place for all.
In that sense, these teachings become something you take with you, which brings us back to the Coke analogy.
Chabad outposts, located in every U.S. state and more than 100 countries, offer access to Jewish learning, community, and practice to anyone who seeks it. Chabad may seem as ubiquitous as Coke, but there is one significant difference. With a product such as a can of Coke, the item initially belongs to the seller. For a price, it exchanges hands to the customer. With Torah, we are told “The Torah that Moses commanded us is an inheritance for the congregation of Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4). This means it belongs to every Jew by birthright, regardless of background or level of observance.
Chabad’s mission, as inspired by the Rebbe, is simply to help every Jew reclaim what already belongs to them. Perhaps we can say that Chabad is the world’s largest lost-and-found agency. We are not selling anything. We are returning treasures to their rightful owners, including those who may not yet know something is missing. And each Jew who learns, prays, or participates with Chabad becomes part of that story, rediscovering something within themselves that was theirs all along.
- Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin is the Outreach Director of Chabad Tucson, the Jewish network of Southern Arizona
By Phyllis Braun - Arizona Jewish Post
Maternal mental health matters. That’s the main message of “You’ve Got This: A Pocket Guide for Maternal Mental Health,” a slim, easy-to-read volume by two local Jewish health care professionals, Robin Giles, a nurse practitioner, and Joy Subrin, a doctor of behavioral health.
“During your pregnancy, so much attention is given to physical changes; we encourage you to pay equal attention to your mental health,” the authors write in the foreword.
Organized alphabetically, “You’ve Got This” offers brief, practical bits of selfcare advice.
The page for “A,” titled “Ask for Help,” suggests, “Be specific in your asks. Can you hold the baby for me? Can you pick up the groceries? Can we talk about our schedule for next week? Can you take the second nighttime feeding? Will you attend my next appointment with me?” A few blank lines provide space for readers to jot down their own ideas.
Written for new or expecting mothers and the family members and friends who support them, the book is “a
valuable way to raise awareness about a topic and a condition that can be really misunderstood and then can go untreated,” Subrin says. She’s referring to perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, or PMAD, a more modern and inclusive term she and Giles prefer to use instead of postpartum depression. PMAD also covers a longer timeline, starting with pregnancy.
The authors intentionally kept “You’ve Got This” concise. “The book is evidencebased, although it is not an academic book that is lengthy and filled with citations. We created it to be welcoming, comforting, and succinct,” Subrin says.
Most of the entries are a single page, just a few short paragraphs. The only two-page entry is “P,” for “Postpartum Depression and Anxiety,” which notes that knowing the signs to watch for and establishing a care plan can reduce risk.
“Prevention is key,” says Giles, who recommends “talking to your provider, talking to your family, … just like you would buy diapers or bottles or the perfect car seat or the perfect stroller and crib, get your mental health resources in order.” Those resources might include a therapist and/or letting friends know you’ll need extra support.
Destigmatizing mental health issues — making them easier to talk about — is one of the driving forces behind “You’ve Got This,” Subrin says. One in seven women will experience perinatal depression, she says, noting that it is the most common complication of childbirth.
The book’s “F” entry, for “Fourth Trimester,” explains that “the fourth trimester is now recognized as the crucial 12 weeks following delivery that is filled with adjustment, both physically and mentally.” This period can last more than 12 weeks, adds Giles.
The authors each have more than 20 years of experience in women’s healthcare and have worked together for eight years. “We’re like-minded and passionate about this project,” Giles says.
Caring for and educating others are both Jewish values, Giles says, but “You’ve Got This” is universal. A resource guide at the end of the book highlights national and international organizations, making the book useful for readers nationwide. It is available from local bookstores, online booksellers, and the Pima County Public Library.
When the authors promote their book at events, Giles says, people often approach them to say, “Hey, this is what happened to me, or this is what’s going on with my daughter, my partner, my sister, my neighbor.” The anecdotes reinforce the data on the prevalence of PMAD.
Dr. Mordechai Kedar has a grand plan for the Middle East – if anyone will hear it
Dr. Mordechai Kedar stood on the curb at Tucson International Airport on Thursday night, scanning the flow of cars with a calm yet alert expression behind his rimless eyeglasses. After 25 years as an intelligence officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), situational awareness is second nature to him.
When his ride pulled up and he recognized the driver, he offered a warm, “Sholom Aleichem!” He noted, “In Israel, I carry a gun with me at all times. It isn’t possible to do so while traveling. And here I actually feel safer. In Israel, it would not be difficult for the Iranians to hire someone to find me.”
A lecturer in the Department of Arabic at Bar-Ilan University and a Research Fellow at its Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Dr. Kedar is one of Israel’s most outspoken critics of the Iranian regime. He has written extensively on the ethnic fragmentation of Iran as a possible pathway to regime change. As one of the only Arabicspeaking Israeli pundits regularly appearing on Arab television, he became a familiar face during the aftermath of October 7.
His current speaking tour has brought him to programs hosted by Chabad Tucson and the Weintraub Israel Center (along with many other North American stops).
While in Tucson, he was interviewed by Keeping Jewish and the New York-based Viktor Frankl Podcast, hosted by Rabbi Daniel Schonbuch and Lori Fein, Esq. The following excerpts are from that conversation.
Q: What do you think about President
By Benjamin Weiss
Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza—the “20-point peace plan”?
Dr. Kedar: I’m surprised it’s called a peace plan. Peace requires mutual recognition that both sides have a right to exist. Israel does not recognize Hamas’s legitimacy, and Hamas does not recognize Israel’s. So you might achieve a ceasefire, but not peace, because the foundational recognition is missing.
Q: How likely is it that an international Arab force could demilitarize Gaza?
Dr. Kedar: I see two problems. First, no soldier will voluntarily walk into Hamas ranks to take their weapons. Hamas has
sacrificed Gaza just to keep the weapons. They will not give them up. Second, the coalition itself is divided. Qatar and Turkey want Hamas to survive. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain want Hamas destroyed. I don’t see how such opposite factions could function under one banner.
Q: What do you see as the future of the Palestinians?
Dr. Kedar: Arab society is deeply clanbased. In the Arab world, there are two kinds of states: failing states and successful states. Failing states include Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, and Libya. Successful states include Kuwait,
Qatar, the seven emirates of the UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.
Many think success comes from oil, but that’s wrong. Iraq and Libya have oil and are hell on earth. Dubai has almost no oil and is heaven on earth. So oil is not the reason. The real reason is social structure. Failing states are conglomerates of ethnic, tribal, religious, and sectarian groups forced into one country by colonial borders. To keep such countries together, a dictatorship is required—and even then, the state often collapses.
Successful Gulf states are built on a single dominant clan. Kuwait belongs to Al-Sabah. Qatar to Al-Thani. Dubai to Al-Maktoum. Abu Dhabi to Al-Nahyan. Saudi Arabia to Al-Saud. These leaders were tribal leaders two hundred years ago, riding camels in the desert. Today, they drive golden Lamborghinis—but the leadership structure is still clan-based. They adopted modern technology, not Western values. The clan system is the only stable system in the Middle East.
So to solve the Palestinian issue, we must choose the successful paradigm, not the failing one.
For more than twenty years, I have advocated establishing an emirate in each major Arab city in Judea and Samaria—the so-called West Bank— and Gaza. Before the October 7 war, I addressed them together, but since the war began, and many Gaza clans have been shattered, I’m not certain the same model can work there.
Q: Where do Hamas and Gaza fit into all this?
reason religious, is often to
Dr. Kedar: Hamas understands the clan-based culture that dominates the region, which is why they continue to try to weaken or control the clans— because the clans are the only social force that can truly challenge Hamas.
Q: Were those Gaza shootings during resistance to Hamas clan-based conflicts?
Dr. Kedar: Yes. Clans such as Abu Shabab, Durmush, and others resisted Hamas because they rightly blamed Hamas for Gaza’s destruction. Israel tried to support some of those clans. If Israel supports clans in Judea and Samaria—and where possible in Gaza—this system can replace Hamas’s jihadism and the Palestinian Authority’s lawlessness.
Q: What sovereignty would these emirates have? What powers would remain with Israel?
the
Dr. Kedar: I’m not sure they even want full sovereignty, and I wouldn’t impose it. But they should not be part of Israel demographically, because absorbing all those Arab cities would endanger Israel’s Jewish majority. So the cities would run themselves locally. Israel would handle security, prevent the importation of dangerous weapons, and maintain strategic control around them. There are many global examples of semi-independent enclaves surrounded by another country. With agreements, this could benefit both sides.
Q: What would happen to Mahmoud Abbas and the PA?
Dr. Kedar: Either they dissolve because no one needs them, or they become an umbrella federation of the emirates, like the UAE, which is a federation of sovereign emirates. The decision would be theirs. Israel’s concern is security.
Q: What are Israel’s biggest military threats over the next decade?
Dr. Kedar: Egypt’s militarization in Sinai matters. Turkey matters too. Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman ambitions are real. A Turkish colleague once told me, “You Jews dreamed for two thousand years about returning to your land and did it. Why shouldn’t we dream about lands we controlled a hundred years ago?”
jets to Saudi Arabia?
Dr. Kedar: The Middle East is sharply divided between countries (primarily Iran) that are wholeheartedly committed to wiping Israel off the map on one side, and countries that have no problem with Israel and have even normalized relations, such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco on the other.
Saudi Arabia belongs to this second camp. Saudi Arabia was a victim of Iran even before Israel was. I am not afraid of the Saudis at all. If they were not afraid of Iran, they would have normalized relations with Israel long ago. So regarding the F-35 issue: I’m not worried. Saudi Arabia wants stability, not war.
Also, Saudi Arabia has another enemy: Qatar. Qatar is aligned with Iran and though it plays a duplicitous role today in peacemaking, it is a serious enemy of Saudi Arabia—and of us.
Q: Do you foresee normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia in the near future?
Dr. Kedar: There are already elements of normalization. Since the Abraham Accords were signed, Saudi Arabia has allowed Israeli flights to pass over Saudi airspace on the way to the Emirates and Bahrain. That is partial normalization already.
That mindset is part of Turkey’s strategic vision. Add to this that many in the Islamic world reject Jewish historical claims entirely, and instead argue that Jews are Khazars with no link to ancient Israel. They deny our legitimacy but accept Ottoman legitimacy—so restoring the Ottoman sphere feels logical to them.
Q: What are your thoughts about the U.S. approving the sale of F-35 fighter
Q: What should Jews in America keep in mind when supporting Israel?
Dr. Kedar: The American Jewish community is diverse, from ultraOrthodox to liberal reform, and views on Israel vary widely. But every Jew in America must remember: if America becomes unsafe, the only safety net is Israel.
Chanukah will be celebrated Sunday evening, December 14, through Monday, December 22
Chanukah, the eight-day Festival of Lights, commemorates one of the most dramatic and transformative moments in Jewish history: the triumph of spiritual resilience over oppression and the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after years of desecration.
The story reaches back more than 2,000 years, to the 2nd century BCE, when the Syrian-Greek empire under Antiochus IV sought to suppress Jewish life and practice. Harsh decrees outlawed Shabbat, circumcision, Torah study, and the Jewish way of worship. The Temple was seized, its holy objects defiled, and its service disrupted. The empire could not tolerate the Jewish insistence on maintaining a distinct identity rooted in divine law.
A small group of Jews refused to yield. Led by Judah the Maccabee, they launched a bold uprising, reclaiming Jerusalem and entering the ruined Temple. Their goal was not only military victory but spiritual restoration. They rebuilt the altar, purified the Sanctuary, and prepared to rekindle the menorah— the seven-branched candelabrum whose light symbolized the divine presence.
According to tradition, they found only a single sealed cruse of pure olive oil, enough for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, the time needed to produce new oil under the strict purity requirements for Temple use. That miracle became the basis for the holiday’s duration and its central ritual: lighting the menorah for eight nights.
Chanukah begins each year on the 25th of Kislev. In 2025, the holiday starts at nightfall on December 14 and continues through December 22. Jews around the world will gather each night to light the menorah, adding one candle at a time until all eight flames shine together. The
menorah is placed where its light can be seen—often in a window or doorway—to remind us of the miracle and to publicize it proudly.
Several traditions enrich the celebration. Families recite blessings over the flames, sing “Maoz Tzur,” and share foods fried in oil, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts).
Children play dreidel, a spinning-top game rooted in historical memory, and often receive small gifts or “gelt.”
Underneath the fun lies the deeper message of the holiday: that even a small amount of light can dispel great darkness.
Although Chanukah is not mentioned in the Torah and is considered a rabbinic holiday, its themes resonate through
Sunday, December 14
10:30 AM – Home Depot of Sierra Vista – Menorah workshop building personal menorahs and enjoy Chanukah refreshments
3:00 PM – Oro Valley Marketplace – Northwest Chanukah Festival with live music, activities, food, menorah lighting, and gelt drop
5:00 PM – Downtown Tucson – 42nd lighting of Tucson’s tallest Chanukah menorah outside City Hall with holiday food and free gifts
5:00 PM – Casa Grande City Hall – Menorah lighting with a klezmer band, food.
5:00 PM – Veterans Memorial Park in Sierra Vista – Chanukah celebration with menorah lighting, food, and music
Monday, December 15
5:00 PM – Del Lago Golf Course in Vail –Menorah lighting, live music, giveaways, refreshments, and prizes
5:00 PM – Fort Huachuca Main Post Chapel –Outdoor menorah lighting with army personnel and residents
Tuesday, December 16
5:00 PM – Benson Visitor Center – Outdoor menorah lighting with latkes and food
Thursday, December 18
Jewish life. It is a story of identity preserved under pressure, of the right to live and worship freely, and of divine support when human courage is summoned. The victory of the Maccabees was not merely a military success; it was a reaffirmation that Judaism would not disappear into the dominant cultures around it.
The menorah’s flames remind us that miracles can occur in any generation— not always through dramatic events, but often through the persistence of our values, traditions, and commitments. Chanukah invites each of us to add light to the world, one candle at a time, and to remember that even when the oil seems insufficient, the spark of faith can last far longer than we might imagine.
4:30 PM – Chabad Tucson – Car Menorah Parade driving through the streets with police escort
Friday, December 19
5:00 PM – Chabad Tucson – Community Shabbat Chanukah Dinner with candle lighting, services, meal, songs, and stories (registration required)
Shabbos, December 20
7:30 PM – Chabad Tucson – Havdalah & Family Game Night with menorah lighting, refreshments, and games
Sunday, December 21
5:00 PM – Tubac Presidio State Historic Park –Menorah lighting with stories and donuts.
5:00 PM – Grassy Park of Bisbee – Menorah lighting in front of the Copper Queen Hotel with refreshments
The Tenth of Tevet, marking the beginning of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 425 BCE (3336 from Creation), is observed annually as a day of fasting, mourning, and reflection. The siege ultimately led to the breach of Jerusalem’s walls on the 17th of Tammuz and the destruction of the Holy Temple on 9 Av, followed by the 70-year Babylonian exile.
In addition to its historical significance, the fast has also been designated in modern times as a general Kaddish day for victims of the Holocaust whose dates of death remain unknown. It precedes International Holocaust Remembrance Day, observed worldwide on January 27.
This year in Tucson, the date is marked by new educational initiatives and community-driven projects highlighting Holocaust memory and testimony.
The Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center (TJMHC) has announced a new digital initiative titled Intimate Histories in 3D, developed in partnership with the University of Arizona’s Center for Digital Humanities.
Funded by a donation from Dr. Gary Monash, the project will record and digitally preserve the testimonies of ten Holocaust survivors and two secondgeneration survivors from the Tucson region. Using advanced 3D technology, the project aims to create an accessible and enduring archive of survivor stories.
Museum representatives said, “This initiative represents a major step forward in historical preservation,” noting the ability of 3D tools to maintain personal testimonies in an interactive and engaging format for future generations. The current group
By Benjamin Weiss
represents the project’s first phase. The museum plans to expand the archive as technology develops, continuing to document local survivor history through immersive media.
A separate community effort is underway through the mitzvah project of 13-year-old Levi Finkelstein, a student at Orange Grove Middle School in Tucson, who will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah at Kol Ami Synagogue on
December 13.
Levi and his mother, longtime educator Aimee Finkelstein, connected with six Holocaust survivors: Andrew Schot, Sidney Finkel, Wolfgang Hellpap, Severin Szperling, Annique Dverin and Theresa Dulgav. The connection was made with the help of Sharon Glassberg, Holocaust Survivor Services Coordinator at Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona (JFCS).
Levi wanted a project that was both personal and meaningful, which led him to design an interview process that incorporated art. During each visit, Levi interviewed survivors while guiding them through an art activity inspired by the style of famed modernist artist Marc Chagall. The format was intended to help survivors feel at ease while sharing their stories. All six participants signed their artwork.
Levi hopes to enlarge and sell the pieces to raise funds for Holocaust education, and he plans to maintain relationships with the survivors beyond the project.
Aimee, who taught Holocaust literature for 25 years to more than 2,000 students, most of them not Jewish, emphasized the importance of education. She noted that many students described the unit as life-changing. “Many of my students told me that learning about the Holocaust changed their lives and made them more tolerant,” she said.
Now teaching Jewish 7th graders, she expressed concern that many are unfamiliar with basic Holocaust history, which underscores the urgency of continued instruction.
“It is so imperative to teach children and adults about what happened,” she said. “Levi feels strongly that people remember and honor those who have passed and those who are still living.”
Both the museum’s initiative and Levi’s project highlight Tucson’s ongoing commitment to documenting, educating and preserving Holocaust history, especially as survivor testimony enters its final generation.
1. What do you do in a nutshell?
I am an Oncologist (a cancer specialist). In addition to treating patients with skin cancers and head and neck cancers, I direct the Banner University Cancer Center’s program focused on improving patients’ lives during and after cancer therapy. That includes a focus on physical and mental health using traditional and integrative medicine tools.
2. What got you into this line of work?
I always wanted to be an Oncologist because it allows me to build deep, meaningful relationships with patients and often their families while tackling some of the most complex and challenging medical problems. The specialty combines advanced and rapidly evolving science with compassionate, long-term patient care. I find purpose in supporting patients and families through emotionally difficult journeys, and above all, I value the opportunity to make a profound impact on both survival and quality of life.
3. What’s your favorite part of the job?
Seeing my patients smile when we have good results from treatments.
4. What have been your biggest challenges?
Realizing that change is incremental.
5. How has the industry changed since you started?
The change in oncology has been mind-
boggling since I finished my training. New treatments, such as immunotherapy, targeted therapies, and other innovations, have revolutionized the field and now deliver many more cures and a much longer quality and quantity of life for many patients.
6. What’s something exciting on the horizon?
New and more effective cancer treatments are introduced into clinics almost monthly. In addition, the field of Integrative Oncology has developed into an evidence- and science-based discipline. Specialists in Integrative Oncology now work alongside their colleagues, incorporating lifestyle interventions and rigorously tested practices and supplements to help patients live better lives as they walk along their cancer journey.
7. What do you do outside of work?
My husband and I dance Argentine tango, and we also love classical music, traveling, and reading.
8. What do you love most about Tucson?
The mountains and the sense of community.
9. What’s your go-to comfort food? Gelato.
10. What’s a piece of advice you live by?
My grandfather, of blessed memory, taught me never to quit something that is meaningful to me.
and alongside practi-
cancer tango, Tucson?
By Feigie Ceitlin
Just as there are many varieties of potatoes in the world, there are also countless ways to make latkes for Chanukah. This recipe is the one we use at home, perfect for smaller batches. It isn’t the easiest, but it’s absolutely worth the effort. We fry them in a parve pan so they can go with either a dairy or meat meal—though, to be honest, very few ever make it to the actual table. They have a habit of disappearing from the cooling rack, swiped by anyone passing through the kitchen.
Makes 10-14 latkes
INGREDIENTS:
3 large potatoes
1/2 large onion
4 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup ice water
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
by?
1. Peel the potatoes and onion. Using the shredding blade of a food processor, grate both. Add the eggs and give the mixture a quick mix. Remove from the processor.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan while you prepare the batter.
4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add the oil, ice water, salt, and pepper. Mix until combined.
5. Place the batter in a strainer set over a bowl and press to remove as much liquid as possible.
6. When the frying oil is hot, spoon in a heaping tablespoon of batter and flatten it slightly. Add more, without overcrowding.
7. Let cook undisturbed until the bottom forms a golden crust. Flip and cook the second side until crisp.
8. Remove and place on a wire rack to keep the latkes crispy.
Enjoy!
Bah-rookh ah-tah ah-doh-noi eh-lohhay-noo meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm boh-ray pi-ree hah-ah-dah-mah.
Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the earth.
Rebbetzin Feigie Ceitlin is the program director of Chabad Tucson and head of school of Lamplighter Chabad Day School. treatments monthly.
2. Switch to the “S” blade. Return the shredded mixture to the processor and pulse until it reaches a smooth, batterlike consistency.
1. Jews Have Lived There Since the Dawn of Our Nation
Before G-d called on him to travel west to the Holy Land, Abraham, the father of our nation, lived in what is now Syria. Years later, King David captured much of that territory, which attained a status of quasisanctity, not quite like the Land of Israel proper, but not like the Diaspora either.
2. There Are Halabi and Shami Jews
The two greatest centers of Jewish life were in Aleppo and Damascus. Aleppo is referred to in Hebrew as Aram Tzova (pronounced Aram Soba by Syrian Jews). Its Arabic name is Halab (which was mangled into “Aleppo” in English), and its people are referred to as Halabi.
Damascus is referred to among Syrians as AlSham, and the Jews of Damascus and their descendants are referred to as Shami.
3. There Were Many Notable Syrian Rabbis
The classic collection Likdosim Asher Baaretz by Rabbi David Laniado lists hundreds of notable Syrian scholars, each of whom contributed to the advancement of Torah learning.4 Here is a sampling of some of the best-known scholars, some of whom called Syria home and some who just passed through:
Rabbi Saadia Gaon (c. 882-942): Brilliant leader of the Babylonian Torah academy who rendered the entire Torah into flowing Arabic, and whose teachings and traditions remain central to Judaism today. While in Aleppo, he was instrumental in preventing the Jewish world from fragmenting into a situation that would have involved different places using different calendars.
Rabbi Yosef Bar Yehuda (c. 1160–1226): A student of Maimonides, he was an outstanding scholar, physician, and philosopher in Aleppo, where he lived for many years. Maimonides wrote the Guide to the Perplexed to assist him in his efforts to reconcile his philosophical beliefs with belief in G-d.
The ancient Jewish community that lives on in Israel, the U.S. and elsewhere
By Menachem Posner
The Dayan Family: As their name indicates (dayan is Hebrew for “judge”), successive members of the Dayan family, direct descendants of King David, served as rabbis in Aleppo for centuries.
Rabbi Shemuel Laniado (--1605): Born in Aleppo to Sephardic parents, he studied under Rabbi Yosef Karo in Safed before returning to his hometown, where he served as chief rabbi for four decades. He was known as the Baal Hakelim, because the titles of many of his published works began with the word keli.
The Great Aleppo Synagogue (known locally as al safra, “the yellow”) was actually a complex with several synagogues, including an outdoor sanctuary that was used during the dry summer months. It had seven holy arks on the southern wall, consistent with the tradition that synagogues face toward Jerusalem (Aleppo is north of Jerusalem).
now housed in the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.
6. They Were Joined (and Dominated) by Sepharad
In the wake of the Catholic persecution of Jews in the Iberian Peninsula, which culminated with the Spanish expulsion of 1492 and the Portuguese expulsion of 1496, Spanish Jews (Sephardim) streamed into the relative tolerance of Muslim Arabia, including Syria. The Sephardim were originally separate from the native Jews (Musta’arabim), forming their own communal infrastructure and maintaining their own traditions. In time, Sephardic customs and traditions dominated, and all Jews of Syria identified as Sephardic.
7. Their Language Was Arabic
The synagogue was destroyed during the 1947 violence that broke out after the UN’s declaration of the partition of Palestine. It has since been partially restored but is rarely, if ever, used.
5. The Aleppo Codex Was Their “Crown”
For more than five centuries, the Jews of Aleppo were stewards of a priceless annotated text of the entire Tanach, known as Keter Aram Tzova (“The Crown of Aleppo”) or the Aleppo Codex, thus named because it was bound as a book (“codex”) as opposed to the traditional scroll format.
The book—which was produced by the famous Ben Asher family of Tiberia—came to Damascus along with a descendant of Maimonides, who treasured the Keter and consulted it in his own quest to identify the most proper and accurate Torah text.
Unfortunately, a portion of the Codex went missing when the Great Aleppo Synagogue was destroyed in 1947. The remainder is
Historically, the Jews in Syria spoke Arabic, similar to their non-Jewish neighbors. When Sephardim originally converged on Syria, they brought along their language, Ladino or Judeo-Spanish. However, after hundreds of years of becoming one with the existing Arabic-speaking locals, Ladino was largely forgotten among the descendants of the Spanish exiles.
8. Some Light an Extra Chanukah Candle
On Chanukah, some Syrian descendants of the Spanish exiles light a second shamash candle on the menorah, celebrating their ancestors’ safe flight from the Spanish Expulsion.
9. They Have a Rich and Unique Canon of Synagogue Music
For hundreds of years, Syrian Jews have woken early on winter Shabbat mornings to sing bakkashot (prayer hymns). Some of them were composed by the great Sephardic Kabbalists and are known across the Jewish community, but others were composed and are sung only in the Syrian community.
10. Syrian Jews Live All Over
The fabric of the Syrian economy began to
unravel in the mid-19th century when the Industrial Revolution and the opening of the Suez Canal meant that there was much less East-West trade passing through Syria. As Jews emigrated elsewhere, a Syrian diaspora sprung up in Israel, the United States, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Panama and elsewhere.
11. There Are Large Communities in Brooklyn and Deal
Since the early 20th century, Brooklyn, N.Y., has been home to a large and prosperous Syrian Jewish community whose grand synagogue, Shaare Zion, was among the largest Orthodox congregations in North America.
There is also a Syrian-Jewish population in Deal, a small town in Central New Jersey, where the overwhelming majority of the residents are Syrian Jews, served by a growing bevy of synagogues, yeshivot, and communal organizations.
12. They Famously Banned Conversion
Fearing that their rapidly assimilating community members would arrange perfunctory “conversions” for non-Jewish lovers, Syrian rabbis in Argentina—and later on in the US—decreed that no conversions would be performed and that no Syrian Jews
could marry converts.
13. Jews Were Persecuted Out of Existence in Syria
The 55,000 Jews in Syria after the establishment of Israel were severely restricted, and by 1964, there were barely 5,000 left. They were even more harshly persecuted, and they were not even allowed to travel from city to city. Their every move was watched by the Mukhabarat (secret police). The more they were tortured and confined, the more determined people were to leave Syria.
14. Many Were Saved by a Canadian Widow
A young widow with six children, Judy Feld Carr was a musicologist living in Toronto who learned of the plight of the Jews imprisoned in Syria in the early ‘70s. Known simply as “Mrs. Judy in Canada,” she secretly arranged ransoms, oversaw escapes, and orchestrated other daring operations to save as many as 3,228 lives.
Except for 20 or 30 souls, all remaining Jews left Syria when Hafez al-Assad opened the doors in the early ‘90s, and today there are no more than perhaps a dozen Jews left in Syria, mainly in Damascus.
One of the primary rules of kosher living is that meat and dairy are kept as separate as east and west—never the twain shall meet. This means that kosher culinary culture is divided into three camps:
Milchigs: Dairy. This includes everything made from milk, such as cheese and butter.
Fleishigs: Meat: This includes everything made from meat or poultry, including their schmaltz (rendered fat).
Parve: Things that fit into neither camp, such as fruit, veggies, eggs, fish, water, etc. These neutral foods may be consumed together with either milchigs or fleishigs. Note that fish is parve but may not be eaten with meat for reasons that are beyond the scope of this article.
General Neutrality: Beyond the kitchen, the word parve has come to describe anything neutral, so a political centrist can describe his political views as parve, and a door-to-door salesman who did not sell anything but was not thrown out the door outright can describe his reception as parve.
Dishes: The kosher kitchen has separate utensils for meat, dairy (and often parve), since in Jewish law, flavor can transfer from utensils. So make sure
to keep the milchig ladle out of the steaming pot of fleishig chicken soup.
People Too: After eating meat, we wait until the next meal (typically six hours, depending on one’s custom) to have dairy. During that six-hour period, a person can describe oneself as fleishig (but not fleishigs, see below for an explanation). Conversely, for a time after eating dairy (exactly how long depends on custom and circumstance) a person can be called milchig. And, you guessed it, when a person has had neither meat nor dairy, that person is parve.
Except for the Milkman: When a person
and fleishig is a fleishig meal. So when you are deciding between the kosher pizza parlor (where there’s no pepperoni in sight) or the local deli (“corned beef on rye, please”), your choice is between milchigs or fleishigs.
Milchig or Fleishig. When these words are used following the food they describe, they appear in their simple form. So you can have a coffee that is milchig only six hours after your hamburger, which is fleishig. In this case, milchig and fleishig are classed as predicate adjectives.
is described as a “milchiger” it need not mean that he just had cheese blintzes or coffee with cream. Rather, it can (in theory, nowadays) mean that he is a dairyman, who either raises milk cows or delivers/sells milk.
Suffixes, Suffixes, Suffixes
These words appear in (at least) three forms, which English speakers often mix up. Ready to learn something new? Here goes:
Milchigs or Fleishigs. When followed by an “s,” these are nouns, referring to the food itself. Milchigs is a milchig meal
Milchige, Milchiger, Milchigen, Fleishige, Fleishiger, Fleishigen. However, if the sentence is structured differently, milchig becomes milchige, milchiger or milchigen; and fleishig becomes fleishige, fleishiger or fleishigen.
These differences have to do with the complexities of Yiddish grammar, and the words change depending on whether the nouns are classed as male, female, and neutral, on how you structure your sentence, and whether you are referring to a single item or many items.
Sorry. I can’t help you more than that without writing an essay so long that if you begin reading it while eating fleishige meatballs, you will become parve by the time you finish.
Born in Hanover, Germany, on December 23, 1854, Albert Steinfeld would eventually become known as Tucson’s Merchant Prince.
His family moved to the United States in 1864, but Albert’s journey to the Arizona Territory did not begin until he was 17 years old, when he went to work for his uncle, Louis Zeckendorf, in the family’s dry goods store in Arizona. The demanding trip began with a train ride to San Francisco, followed by a boat to San Diego, and finally a six-day stagecoach ride to Tucson.
It was 1872, and his first impression of Tucson after the exhausting journey was far from encouraging; he recorded in his journal that he cried himself to sleep upon seeing both the town and the store where he was to work. By the
next morning, however, he gathered his determination: “I was somewhat refreshed in the morning, the sun was shining warmly, and I made up my mind that I was going to make the best of the situation, and even if I didn’t like it, I was going to teach myself to like it.”
Steinfeld threw himself into improving the business. His energy and business instincts were so strong that within two years, his uncle made him a full partner and renamed the company L. Zeckendorf & Company. By age 26, Steinfeld was managing the store. In 1883, he married Bettina V. Donau, and their home became a hub of cultural, social, and philanthropic activity.
In 1904, Steinfeld purchased the store from his uncle and moved it to a new downtown location at Stone Avenue
and Pennington Street. His success was such that he became one of the first millionaires in Arizona.
Steinfeld and his uncle later expanded their business interests into mining. Unfortunately, this aspect of their partnership ended in a bitter legal dispute that reached the United States Supreme Court. Zeckendorf ultimately prevailed and the outcome fractured the family. The business they had built on Jewish family unity—mishpacha—was left irreparably damaged.
On March 14, 1906, the original Zeckendorf store at Main and Pennington Streets closed its doors for the last time. The next day, Albert Steinfeld & Company celebrated the grand opening of its new, modern department store on Stone Avenue.
Reports stated that 5,000 people—more than half of Tucson’s population at the time—attended, and the first 2,500 customers received souvenir silver bowls.
The Citizen wrote: “When Steinfeld arrived in Tucson, thirty-four years ago, the Zeckendorf business amounted to only $40,000 per year. It had just two clerks to wait on customers and keep the books. Now the annual business of A. Steinfeld & Co. aggregated $1,500,000 and required a force of 150 people.”
Steinfeld also found success in numerous other ventures, serving as President of Consolidated Bank, owning one of the largest cattle operations south of Tucson, farming in Safford, and managing properties statewide.
Despite all he accomplished, Albert never fully recovered from the emotional toll of the lawsuit that divided the Zeckendorf and Steinfeld families (his granddaughter, Bettina Lyons, published a book about it titled Zeckendorfs and Steinfelds: Merchant Princes of the American Southwest).
After his death in 1935, his children— Harold, Irene, and Viola—found that he had kept extensive papers and business records from the case. They chose to burn the entire collection in a bonfire behind the family’s residence, now known as the Steinfeld Mansion. The building still stands at 300 N. Main Avenue: its grounds are open for visits, while the interior rooms are used as office spaces.
–Presented in collaboration with the Tucson Jewish Museum to honor the city of Tucson’s 250th anniversary. For the full biography, visit tjmhc.org/profiles
By Mordechai Schmutter
We are lucky to be living in an age where we have products that can do things that our grandparents never even dreamed of, probably because they had actual priorities. They weren’t sitting around saying, “I wish I had a way to make Chanukah cookies into Chanukah shapes.” They didn’t care about that, as far as I can tell, because when someone bakes round Chanukah cookies, nobody says, “I don’t want to eat these. They’re round. What is this, Rosh Hashana?”
That said, nowadays, you can buy a package of cookie cutters that comes with a menorah shape, a dreidel shape, a Magen David, a shield, and a Maccabee. At least we think it’s a Maccabee. We’re not sure what the Maccabees looked like, but they probably looked like gingerbread men.
There are lots of awesome items with Chanukah stuff on them – not that you might accidentally forget that it’s Chanukah without them. Since nobody says, “We really need to buy oven mitts for Chanukah. The ones we own don’t have dreidels on them,” these must be strictly so people can buy Chanukah gifts that nobody needs or wants. There are lots of those things out there.
For example, one item I saw recently was a set of Chanukah print juggling balls. Really? This is what you’re encouraging near the candles? Maybe wait until after Chanukah.
And it’s not just Chanukah graphics. There are also lots of Chanukah messages. For example, I saw a mug that
says “Happy Chanukah” on it, but in one of those spellings that make it obvious that the secular world has no idea how to spell Chanukah. It’s different every time. But my point is that I am not sure why you’d want that message on a coffee mug in the first place. Who are you buying this for? Is someone buying it for themselves, because they want to wish everyone around them a Happy Chanukah, but they don’t want to stop drinking coffee? Or are you supposed to buy it as a gift for someone else? (“Well, I wanted to get you ‘World’s Best Bubby,’ but I didn’t want to offend my mother-inlaw. Happy Chanuqqah!”)
Also, you know those bibs and pacifiers and onesie undershirts that say things like “My First Chanukah”, like that’s not
plainly obvious?
“Oh, I couldn’t tell it was his first Chanukah. He didn’t say anything. I handed him a menorah, and he had no idea what to do. He was shaking it like a gragger. But now I get it! It’s his first Chanukah. I just have to explain things to him. Like, “We don’t eat the dreidel.” I thought he was just being difficult.”
Well, anyway, I saw a mug this year that said, “My First Chanukah.” Who is this for? Are you giving your baby coffee?
The good news is that there are tons of new products you may not even know about. For example, you can buy a donut maker. Because for years, people have been asking, “Why buy donuts at
the store when you can make your own donuts at home in only about 3-4 hours of patchking and trying to figure out whether to stick the jelly into the donuts or build the donuts around the jelly?”
So now you can buy a special sandwichmaker type device to make them in, and the best part is that the donuts you make won’t be as good as the stores’! The donuts you make at home can never be as good as the stores’, because if someone figured out how to make really awesome donuts at home, he’d be dead within the week.
Another product you can buy is dreidelshaped reusable ice cubes, in case you want to cool off your “Happy Honnikuh” coffee. They’re also great for parties. They come in several different colors, and they’re plastic, so they look like actual plastic dreidels. You just put them in your drink, and then you stand around at Chanukah parties with a dreidel floating around in your cup while the other person has to maintain eye contact and pretend nothing’s weird. At least until you take a sip and accidentally choke on it.
Another thing that you can actually buy is a set of 9 Chanukah candle finger puppets, which, if you put them all one at once, make it very hard to light the menorah. Especially since they’re flammable. But you could definitely wear them if your house is cold. It’s also great to wear with your fingerless gloves, and you still have one finger free to push your dreidel ice cube to the side while you take a sip of your coffee.
By Menachem Posner
1. Chanukah is mandated in the book of Leviticus
True
False
2. Chanukah is 8 days in Israel and 9 days in the Diaspora True
False
3. Chanukah is the only Jewish holiday that spans two months
True
False
4. The menorah is kindled every night of Chanukah
True
False
5. It’s customary to avoid dairy for the duration of Chanukah
True
False
6. On Friday afternoon, the menorah is lit before Shabbat candles
True
False
7. It’s a sin not to give gifts on Chanukah
True
False
8. The Talmud mandates giving chocolate gelt to children every night of Chanukah
True
False
9. Chanukah celebrates the downfall of evil Haman
True
False
10. We say Hallel (Psalms of praise) every day of Chanukah
True
False
