37 minute read
EVERYONE IS A JEM
AROUND THE COMMUNITY
JEWISH HOUSE
Jewish House has responded swiftly to the latest COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the eastern suburbs.
Through its innovative COVID-19 crisis portal, clients can access their muchneeded online support and resources to help them through the lockdown.
Jewish House’s COVID-19 crisis portal was launched in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Its aim is to keep support and services to vulnerable people in the community ongoing 24/7, while simultaneously keeping people up to date with the most current information, fact sheets and resources to stay socially connected while in physical isolation.
Rabbi Mendel Kastel, OAM, the CEO of Jewish House, said that the organisation was determined to continue providing its services regardless of the circumstances it or its community are facing.
“The continuation of support for our clients is our primary focus here at Jewish House,” he said.
“We need to ensure that we are providing the same level of service no matter what the restrictions that we face are.
Jewish House responds to new COVID-19 restrictions
“The COVID portal uses the power of technology to offer our clients a reliable and up-to-date resource platform, giving them comfort and reassurance that there will be a constant source of giving and nurturing made available.”
Jewish House Covid Safe Food Parcels
Thanks to the generosity of Jewish House supporters Good Food Kosher Catering, Jewish House has provided its clients with COVID-safe food packs.
COVID-safe procedures and protocols play an essential part of Jewish Houses service delivery.
“Not only are the packs delicious, but they are an effective and a COVID-safe way of providing food to our clients,” said Rabbi Kastel.
“It’s a brilliant concept by Good Food Kosher Catering and we are so grateful to have the support of people like Tracy Freinkel, who is always so generous.”
Early in the pandemic, the World Health Organisation recognised the potential for COVID-19 to impact mental health and wellbeing.
Studies have shown a drop in homelessness across Australia as the pandemic took hold has begun to reverse, as government income and housing support are wound back.
Jewish House provides care to people in the Jewish community and all other communities irrespective of religion.
It offers a safe place and support for people who have or are experiencing trauma and personal crisis by providing individuals and families with a range of services. These include access to temporary and crisis accommodation, day-to-day living support, children's services, addiction support, reemployment services, living-skills workshops, mental health clinicians, case managers and food and clothing.
Everyone is a JEM
JEMS
As COVID-19 cases keep climbing and the virus has spread, the city has slowed down and people are staying at home more.
Jems is always looking to find ways to brighten up the community. It decided to tackle many ready-made projects to make individuals and families happier.
As soon as lockdown began, Jems and Obk began a Grand Challah Bake via Zoom. Families could collect readymade dough and join in the fun.
For Motzie Shabbat, Jems was responsible for a Grand Havdala.
The following week, Jems offered those in isolation contactless delivery as part of a Grand Babka bake. More than 100 families participated.
Then a Jems’ staff member came up with a great idea. As, at the moment, we cannot get together with friends to celebrate a birthday, Jems gave the community the opportunity to nominate someone to receive a special birthday pack. Within 48 hours of that idea going live, there were 100 requests – a fabulous result. A huge thank you to all those that helped with the packing and delivering. It means the world to so many in these trying times.
Feel free to contact us for sponsorship or to help with more activities.
Jems.org.au
My trip to Surfside: Angels who help
ISRAEL NEWS
YAKOV SAACKS THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
A few days after the terrible news that a building had collapsed in Surfside, Florida, and learning that one of the founding members Brad Cohen together with his brother Gary were among the missing or unaccounted for, I decided that if I am the empath I feel myself to be, then I have to visit with the families – and the Cohen family in particular.
I arrived at the reunification center at the Seaview Hotel where the families were gathered awaiting further news of the status of their loved ones. After going through much scrutiny and showing my chaplain badge every five feet, I finally entered the big hall.
There were two observations that struck me immediately upon entering. My first thought was how quiet it was. While families were either sitting or standing together, they were, for the most part, just silently and painfully waiting for news. While some families would welcome any news at that stage, others would welcome only good news. I took on the role of offering a smile and a bottle of water to the waiting families and only engaged in conversation if the family engaged me first.
The second thing I noticed was the incredible amount of support in the room. There were tables of “vendors” offering their services and help to those assembled. These were not your typical vendors selling their wares, but rather vendors offering their help at no charge.
The vendors
Aside from the expected angels at the Red Cross who are always at the forefront, there were also so many good, kind and caring people who simply were there to help in any capacity. Examples would be a company like Verizon offering free international calls, or local organizations, religious and not religious, offering money, housing and other necessities.
I was told by representatives of the Jewish Community Center that there is a whole network of snowbirds who are offering their Surfside homes to the displaced victims of this tragedy.
There was food, snacks and drinks available 24/7 as well as fully catered meals including glatt kosher meals. I have no idea who paid for this huge outlay of catered food. I assume it was the local community banding together under the leadership of Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar, who directs the local Shul, where many of the victims belonged. The Shul itself has been transformed into a huge clothing and dry goods facility where families can pick up anything they want or need while they await.
The Cohen family
Now came the hard part, visiting intimately with the Cohen family. I met with mom and dad as well as some of the family, including a spouse and an adult child.
There were a few reasons as to why this was a difficult task. For one, this is a family whom I have known for over 25 years. This hit very close to home. Brad used to move into my house every Shabbat for years while he was studying to be an orthopedist. I used to study, eat, schmooze and pray with him. I am only a few years older than him, so he was my contemporary as well as my constituent. I was the officiant at his wedding as well as his confidant.
Beyond that, even though I am a rabbi and have been for more than 30 years, I had nothing concrete to offer. I had no answers as to why this happened. No one does.
Even greats like Moses, Solomon, the Baal Shem Tov, the Rebbe have no idea as to what, why or how God works. I felt impotent and weak. I heard many ask the same question. Why would God do this?
I once heard an answer by the great Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the U.K., which resonates with me. He opined, “There is no way to answer as to why the Holocaust happened.” He continued, “I believe that the reason there is no answer is because an answer is hurtful. Can you imagine if there were an answer, then people would go around and say that so and so died because of such and such. This would be degrading, and it is better that we do not know why.”
Another reason I found myself in a very uncomfortable spot was that I was functioning in a very limited and narrow role. I would and could not give the family false hope. I am not a prophet and there is no way I could know what the future holds.
I could not be empathetic as I could barely wrap my mind around the magnitude of what happened. I did not want to be sympathetic, as who wants sympathy when they just want their loved one back.
So, what did I do? For the most part, I shut up and just nodded my head and listened. Every so often, I said that I am sorry for what happened and for what you are going through. Once in a while, I clandestinely brushed away a tear so as not to cause more grief as this is not about me. Lastly, we sat and we prayed together. My particular prayers were that God should have compassion, and grant these families strength.
Other tragedies
I acutely remember 9/11 – how can we forget. While I also remember praying at the site where bodies were being brought to shore after TWA Flight 800 went down, I do not remember feeling so much raw pain.
This does not mean that I was not feeling hurt, scared or lost. I was; I just do not remember the intensity that I felt during my visit at Surfside.
I guess I matured.
Humbled, raw, sick and lost.
Rabbi Yakov Saacks is the founder and director of The Chai Center, Dix Hills, NY. The Chai Center has been nicknamed by some as New York's most Unorthodox Orthodox Center.
TORAH THOUGHT
RABBI LEVI WOLFF CHIEF MINISTER, THE CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE
Millions around the world tuned in for the UEFA European Football Championship (aka Euro 2020) earlier this month with its dramatic, almost operatic finale. Italy emerged victorious and almost immediately thereafter, soccer fans, including my nearest and dearest, began projecting hopes and aspirations for the World Cup which will be held next year. Given this, it seems like the ideal moment to pause and reflect upon some invaluable Jewish life lessons garnered from soccer, known throughout most of the world as ‘the beautiful game’ of football.
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, the wise eighteenth century founder of the Chasidic movement, famously taught, “from everything that a person sees or hears, he or she should derive a lesson in their service of the Creator.” So too, in addition to the game’s display of athleticism and entertainment value, there are some significant take-home messages to be gleaned from the hidden spirituality within soccer.
In a powerful speech given in 1980, the Lubavitcher Rebbe cited the above teaching and proceeded to explain how the game of football can serve as both a model and metaphor for our mission in life.
He began by observing that the objective of the game is to move a ball in between two designated goal posts. Very doable, except for the reality of opposing team players whose raison d’etre is the prevention of goal scoring. Then again, if there was no opposing team, the full extent of the players’ dextrous skills and power would never be actualized.
The Rebbe also explored how we are each tested and simultaneously confronted by our own negative traits and habits. These attempt to derail our advancement towards our real goals, and seek to move the proverbial ball in the opposite direction. Adversity and challenge ultimately bring out the best in us!
Another key factor in achieving victory is speed. The most skilful player will be ineffective if his or her movements are slow, sluggish and unenthusiastic. Similarly, a person’s life must be woven with alacrity, enthusiasm and joy for deeds to translate into goals, thereby having a true impact upon our world.
To advance the ball towards its goal, we make use of the full array of our faculties, from head to toe — incorporating our minds, our capacity for feeling, our talents and our physical energy. Our feet, whether dribbling a soccer ball or otherwise, represent our capability for both action and obedience. It is our unequivocal commitment to the divine will, and the physical action of the mitzvot that has the greatest impact on our world and the most powerful force for its advancement and ultimate realisation.
The beauty of soccer is that no one body type excels over another – from ectomorph to mesomorph to endomorph! Whereas, for example, with a sport like basketball, it is immediately clear that there is a significant advantage
to be gained by an impressive display of height. Having said that, the Italian Euro 2020 goalkeeper in the final, Gianluigi Donnarumma, is a cool six foot-five – go figure!
All world-class soccer players have their own unique makeup when it comes to mental and physical attributes. This is one reason why two of football’s GOATS (greatest-of-all-time) Messi and Ronaldo, both thrive despite their vastly different body types. We need to each remain true to who we are, recognise our strengths and weaknesses and cultivate our own style. Note to self: that passion project close to your heart helping others is waiting.
Chemistry is one of the most underrated facets of a team’s composition, and yet it is the single most critical factor to determine success. Ultimately, it is not the team with sensational players, as much as it is the players with a sense of team spirit. As a Jewish people, Gemilut Chasadim, the giving of lovingkindness, coupled with our strong sense of community have been the glue that binds us.
Even for those who don’t profess to be soccer aficionados, everyone knows it requires endurance and patience. As a low-scoring game, the value of each goal has tremendous implications for the result of a match. Players must expend their energies effectively to last the full ninety minutes, and often beyond that in extra time, or else risk burning out in the early stages. After all, as they say, life is a marathon, not a sprint.
In the spirit of examining soccer and spirituality, as a Jewish people, our ‘team’ has been working towards a goal of redemption. It has now been close to two millennia; we are almost there.
This is the ultimate collective test of endurance and we can’t give up. While we may feel like we are running on adrenalin in extra time, we continue to aim for that final goal! Nike signed English player Marcus Rashford, (who just played in the Euros), when he was just eleven years old, so as the longstanding slogan states: Just Do It!
Euro 2020: soccer + spirituality
FOODIES CORNER
REBECCA BALKIN SWEET CHICK
Director and owner of KA-certified Sweet Chick, Rebecca Balkin, has kindly stepped into the Sydney Jewish Report's ‘recipe space’ for this July edition. Below, she generously shares a recipe of one of their most popular treats made on repeat. Enter: Zebra Cookies.
As you’ll see, these pareve pictureperfect morsels are delicately double rolled in icing sugar before they are baked. Quick-as-a-flash, soft-centred cookies emerge from the oven with a zebra-like, cracked and crunchy exterior. Oh-so-morish!
Sweet Chick offers artisanal baked goods and fine foods with an impressive range of sweet and savoury options including cakes, tarts, slices, confectionary, biscuit boxes, Spanakopita, spiced pumpkin and fetta ‘sausage’ rolls and so much more. All is lovingly made using best-quality ingredients by talented pastry chefs and bakers. During Sydney’s lockdown, Sweet Chick has also compiled “ISO” meals and specials.
You should also try the famous Honey Jumbles. Available daily as well as each Friday at the Sweet Chick's Pareve Pop Up located at Pita Mix, 502 Old South Head Road, Rose Bay, between 10am1pm.
Back to these delectable Zebra Cookies, if they aren’t ‘wolfed’ down immediately, they will conveniently keep for up to one week stored at home in an airtight container.
This is such an easy recipe to make for Shabbat or any day of the week – a true crowd-pleaser and loved by all ages. Try it during this Covid Lockdown – make for family and friends – they will absolutely go wild for them (couldn’t resist the jungle pun)! [Visit www.thesweetchick.com.au to order Zebra Cookies, ISO meals and so much more.]
INGREDIENTS
300g plain flour 400g white sugar 100g cocoa powder 1 teaspoon salt 60ml vegetable oil 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Icing sugar, for coating
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (or 160 degrees using a fanforced oven) Combine flour, sugar, cocoa and salt. Add oil, vanilla & eggs; then mix well to form a dough. Portion into tablespoon-sized balls and roll in icing sugar to coat. Re-coat with icing sugar before putting them in the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Voilà! Sweet Chick’s Zebra Cookies.
Zebra cookies
BOOK REPORT
SARA YOHEVED RIGLER AISH.COM
Excerpts from Sara Yoheved Rigler’s new book, I’ve Been Here Before.
The Secret Society is so recondite that most of its members are unaware that they belong. The qualifications for membership are Holocaust-related recurring dreams, panic attacks, fearsome flashbacks, or phobias of trains, showers, or uniformed men. Most of its members were born between 1945 and 1961, in North or South America, Europe, or Israel.
Although members’ individual experiences are unique, the common denominator, the secret handshake of this society, is a childhood obsession with the Holocaust by youths unrelated to Holocaust survivors, who never heard it discussed, who never saw a Holocaust movie until after their dreams, flashbacks, or phobias were already haunting their young lives.
In 2013, at the end of my Aish.com article on “Reincarnation and the Holocaust,” I appealed: “Readers who have stories alluding to a Holocaust incarnation are invited to send them to the author.” Among the hundreds of emails to my website, I read the frequent refrain. “After reading your article on reincarnation and the Holocaust, I felt ‘normal’ for the first time in my life.”
The closet is crowded with people who fear exposing their haunting experiences to mockery and disdain. One purpose of this book is to open the closet door and allow these thousands of people to emerge into the daylight of respectability and acceptance.
From Where These Dreams?
A past life in the Holocaust appears in one’s dreams like an unexpected and unwelcome visitor. Upon waking, if the dreamer is an adult, or later in life if the dreamer is a child, one may want to decipher the identity of the visitor. Although the dreamer fully understands that “that was me,” she may seek to know more about who she was then or to corroborate her dream with historical facts.
A woman born to a Christian family in Australia in 1966 had a dream of a concentration camp that she considered “stupid” until she accidently found corroboration many years later.
I dreamed of a place that was being built. There was a lot of mud, and they seemed to be digging a lap pool. Myself and Joseph (I knew him in the dream, and we spoke a language that I understood in the dream but not awake) got out of a covered truck along with many others. I saw a woman and her two girls get out of a staff car, and one stumbled. I immediately went to help and ended up as a tutor/nanny but inevitably was gassed. I thought it was stupid. Whoever had heard of a lap pool in a concentration camp?
Years later, when the Internet was born, I was on a website about Auschwitz and, scrolling through, there was a picture of the lap pool!
NORE – No Other Rational Explanation
Since very young children do not read graphic Holocaust books nor see Holocaust movies, their dreams of Holocaust images would seem to corroborate that their dreams issue from a past life, or what I call NORE (No Other Rational Explanation). One of my subjects related that when she was a child, she walked into the living room while her mother was watching a Holocaust film, and her mother made her leave the room. Thus, the dream of a young Jewish, Los Angeles–born girl is particularly chilling:
When I was about nine or ten, I was sick with a fever. I had a dream in which I was tossed into a pile of bodies and was too weak to move. More bodies were put on top of me, and, after being unable to move from under them, my soul left my body.
Feverish prisoners being tossed onto piles of bodies when they were not yet dead was a common occurrence in the concentration camps. NORE.
Lauren Green, born to a Jewish family in Illinois in 1991, had to have six silver crowns put on her back teeth when she was just three years old. When her mother Karen was driving her home, suddenly little Lauren piped up, “I don’t like having silver teeth, because remember when we died together and those bad guys took our silver teeth?”
“I don’t like having silver teeth, because remember when we died together and those bad guys took our silver teeth?”
Karen was so shaken that she had to pull over to the side of the road. “Since we are Jewish,” she told author Carol Bowman, “I knew immediately that she was talking about the Holocaust… I knew that she was not playing a game. I could feel the truth of what she was saying…. The chances that Lauren could have known this detail are absolutely zero.” NORE
Sometimes the person having a dream is torn between the conviction that the dream must be a past-life experience and the taboo of believing in reincarnation.
I Know This Story
Mirelle Jane Millar, growing up in a small town in the cane farming country of North Queensland, Australia, did not know a single Jew. Born in Whangārei, New Zealand, in 1980 to Pentecostal Christian parents who were both pastors, the only thing Mirelle knew about Judaism was that Jesus was Jewish. She learned nothing about the Holocaust in school.
As a child of four or five, Mirelle would say peculiar things, such as, “I don’t eat ham,” and “I don’t eat bacon,” and “Saturday is the day of rest, not Sunday.” The child had a single phobia: German shepherd dogs.
At the age of nine, Mirelle was in a video store with her mother and older brothers. Normally she would pick Mary Poppins, but that day she noticed a video called Escape from Sobibor. She wanted to get it. Her brothers told her that it wasn’t for children, but Mirelle insisted she must watch it. Her mum, unaware of the horrific content of the television movie portraying the death camp where 250,000 people were exterminated, was curious, and rented the movie.
Sitting in their living room that night watching the video, nine-year-old Mirelle announced, “I know this story.” Her mother assured her that she didn’t, but young Mirelle was adamant that she recognized everything. In the scene where a German shepherd attacks a woman, Mirelle cried out, “That’s why I hate German shepherds!” In the last scene of the film, where most of the prisoners are killed during their desperate escape, Mirelle began to cry.
“I had this sense,” she remembered three decades later, “that I need to find the people who survived. I knew they were my people.”
I came to the conclusion that I have a Jewish soul and reincarnated into a non-Jewish family, and that my past life most likely had been in the Holocaust. For Mirelle, watching Escape from Sobibor was like opening a door to a dark tunnel. She started having recurring nightmares about the Holocaust that plagued her for the rest of her childhood and throughout her teenage years. She became obsessed with Jews (of whom she still had not met a single one) and with Israel. While none of her friends had even heard of the Holocaust, she voraciously read Holocaust books and saw films.
At the age of seventeen, she left school and went to spend a year in Israel. Eventually, she converted to Judaism.
I went through my conversion a few years ago, after years of trying to search for why I was so connected to Jewish culture, Judaism, the Holocaust, and Israel. I came to the conclusion that I have a Jewish soul and reincarnated into a non-Jewish family, and that my past life most likely had been in the Holocaust. As a child I knew things and had memories of things that were not told to me. During my interview with the rabbis prior to my conversion, they acknowledged my belief that I had a Jewish soul. Following conversion, it has been like my soul is at peace.
Tikkun – Rectification
Reincarnation assumes the existence of a spiritual entity, the soul, that continues to exist after the death of the physical body, and can enter a new body later in time.
The purpose of the soul’s descent to the physical world is, according to Kabbalah, tikkun or rectification of past mistakes. Just as every soul is unique, so every tikkun is unique, as illustrated by the stories in Part Two.
For some, a failure of action can be rectified through a single, glorious choice. For others, tikkun is a rectification of a character flaw; fear must be replaced by courage, selfishness by generosity. For still others, the disposition of anger – at God and at human beings – must be rectified by faith and love. Reincarnation replaces the fear of mortality with the assurance of immortality. This immortality has nothing to do with the youthfulness or fitness of the body. The body and all its accoutrements will indeed perish. Reincarnation, however, guarantees the eternal longevity of one’s core identity – the soul. Like a child who gets off a roller coaster ride and runs to get in line to do the ride again, our souls crave “another ride,” another chance to redress wrongs with clearer consciousness and more benevolent actions. Death comes with a ticket for another ride – although usually the line is very long.
ISRAEL NEWS
MICHAEL RAINSBURY THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
As a Jewish educator, the last place I imagined myself educating is the President’s Residence. Yet thanks to President Rivlin, that is where I can often be found. Here is my story.
In my role as director of two World Bnei Akiva gap year programs in Israel, I was looking for new paradigms to teach about the challenges and opportunities within Israeli society. At the same time, in a speech given exactly six years ago today, July 7, 2015, at the Herzliya Conference, President Rivlin formulated his vision for Israeli society, which he termed “Israeli Hope.” Recognizing the existence of four distinct tribes — secular Jews, Haredim, religious Zionists, and Arabs — he highlighted changing demographic trends, whereby each tribe will soon make up roughly a quarter of Israel’s population. Rather than being doomed to live together, President Rivlin viewed each tribe as being destined to live together, and he created frameworks and programs to build grassroots partnerships in education, academia, sports, and the workplace, with the aim of forming a more cohesive Israeli society.
In 2017, I made a hopeful phone call to the Office of the President with a proposal: to take the Israeli Hope framework and include the global Jewish community within it. President Rivlin had the most compelling vision for Israeli society, but it was not built to impact the Jewish world. To my surprise, this piqued their interest, and I was invited to present my plans in person.
Two years later, after many meetings and pilot programs, a fanciful idea had become a plan of action. I was tasked with developing English language tours of the President’s Residence, and workshops on Israeli Hope in conjunction with the nascent Visitors’ Center. Thanks to a unique partnership with Makom: The Jewish Agency for Israel Education Lab, specialists in the field of Israel education, Jews from around the world can now tour the President’s Residence and learn about this unique vision. In the past year, Jewish federations, synagogues, schools, youth movements, and gap year programs from many Jewish communities in North America, Europe, and the Southern Hemisphere have participated in these tours and workshops, either in person or online.
My story fits into a greater paradigm shift that to some extent has defined the Rivlin presidency. While at the start, President Rivlin’s focus was on Israeli citizens rather than the Jewish world, this changed with time, partly through visits and partly as a culmination of his natural tendency to seek dialogue and harmony where it is most needed. In a speech to the Jewish Federations in 2017 — notably his first major speech to the North American Jewish community outside of Israel — he said: “In order to meet this challenge [of the Four Tribes] we need the partnership with you, the fifth tribe, the Jews of the Diaspora.” Global Jewry was now an integral part of his flagship mission.
In recent barely noted remarks, President Rivlin described himself as the “president of the Jewish people.” Whether one agrees or not, this statement reveals the personal journey President Rivlin undertook throughout his presidency. Given the fraught nature of the Israel-Diaspora relationship in recent years, the optics of an Israeli “sabra” president, not blessed with fluent English, pivoting his perspective to look towards the Jewish world is highly significant. And this desire for engagement was borne out with every tour and workshop that took place.
Many will describe President Rivlin as a visionary. However, I prefer to see him as the Jewish world’s greatest educator, who turned the President’s Residence into a place of education for Israelis and Jews around the world alike. Rather than dictate an answer, an educator’s job is to challenge, encourage, and empower. President Rivlin has done exactly this for Israeli society and global Jewry. He has laid out the challenges and opportunities, created the framework to achieve partnership and empowered people like me to take a role in making it happen. As we reflect on a successful term of office, it is time for us, his students, Israelis and Jews around the world alike, to pick up the baton and rise to President Rivlin’s challenge.
Michael Rainsbury is an Associate Director at Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi, a modern Orthodox Anglo yeshiva in Jerusalem. Originally from London, he made Aliyah in 2013. Michael has held many roles in Bnei Akiva, serving as Educational Director and National Director in the UK and running the movement's gap year programmes in Israel. A teacher by profession, Michael has a Masters in Jewish Education and also runs Poland trips for JRoots, a leading provider of Jewish educational heritage tours. All articles are written in a personal capacity.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and his wife host children who are entering first grade – August 31, 2017 (Mark Neyman/GPO)
CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES
Friday, Jul 16, 2021 Shabbat ends , Jul 17, 2021 Friday, Jul 23, 2021 Shabbat ends, Jul 24, 2021 Friday, Jul 30, 2021 Shabbat ends, Jul 31, 2021 Friday, Aug 6, 2021 Shabbat ends, Aug 7, 2021 Friday, Aug 13, 2021 Shabbat ends, Aug 14, 2021 Friday, Aug 20, 2021 Shabbat ends, Aug 21, 2021 Friday, Aug 27, 2021 Shabbat ends, Aug 28, 2021 4:47 pm 5:46 pm 4:51 pm 5:50 pm 4:56 pm 5:54 pm 5:01 pm 5:58 pm 5:06 pm 6:03 pm 5:11 pm 6:07 pm 5:16 pm 6:12 pm
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Kosher KApers
KOSHER KA pers
RAMONA FREEDMAN THE KASHRUT AUTHORITY
This month, a new KAcertified boutique-sized bakery opened in our midst and it is an instant treasure. The Friendship Bakery is now officially welcoming customers, and it is a wonderful extension of The Friendship Circle. This kosher bakery is a unique social enterprise aiming to empower young people in our community living with a disability. Each participant is challenged to embrace the responsibility to bake and then sell their own products. Currently, each Friday, customers can pre-order and/or pick up on the day freshly baked challah and other shabbat treats. Given that the majority of items within are Dairy (Chalav Yisrael) including brownie fudge and raspberry custard brioche, staff are on hand to helpfully highlight exactly which products are Pareve if needed. You can also find delicate shortbread available in five varieties: tahini; chai; pistachio and lime; pecan; coca espresso, as well as choc chip cookie dough – the list goes on. Quantities are limited but every purchase is so supportive in so many ways and a true mitzvah.
Also new on the kosher scene, Mama Chen’s is an innovative KA licensee instantly adding some spice to our kosher landscape here in Kosher Sydney, with a selection of Pop Up Take Away authentic Asian dishes. Each is aromatic and flavourful including honey chicken; sweet and sour crispy beef; vegetarian Pad Thai; Chinese BBQ Chicken buns; vegan spring rolls and so much more.
Offering baked goods and catering, Perfect Pita is now KA-certified. Three baked products are on offer including the instantly popular Jerusalem Bagels; Regular Pita and Mini Pita. In addition, the catering arm is here to assist with any simcha (post lockdown) or even supplying families currently at home. The authentic Israeli fare on offer includes falafel; hummus; Israeli Salad; laffa; pickles; red cabbage; salsa; tabouli and tahini. In addition, wholemeal pita in both sizes can be pre-ordered too at any designated quantity. For delivery details, see below.
Whether we are in lockdown or not, milestone moments mercifully still occur, and stay-at-home celebrations are enjoyed as well as large noisy wonderful simchas when we are permitted. Fress, a KA-certified company that commenced specialising in exquisite Gourmet Gift Platters, in addition to fresh food platters and grazing tables – always adds a degree of elegance and sophistication. In this edition, The KA introduces a new vibrant dimension to allthings-Fress: kosher consumers will now be able to purchase kosher cakes; biscuits; cupcakes; frozen ‘cakesicles’; baked doughnuts; cake-pops, edible icing and more for the whole community to enjoy. Both Pareve and Dairy (not Chalav Yisrael) options can be chosen, and they are perfect for a Bar Mitzvah; Bat Mitzvah; wedding; birthday; anniversary; or any festival. You could even have treats specially made to wish an HSC student good luck in upcoming exams. If a kind soul has helped you recently, say thank you with these beautiful biscuits and more.
New kosher certified products are revealed constantly, and in this edition, we share that ‘Where The Wild Things Grow’ superfood smoothies are now KA-Certified. There are one dozen kosher products within the range, all handcrafted to nourish and energise. Each contains a rainbow of market fresh, locally sourced, plant-based whole produce - all clean, nutrient dense and full of fibre. And they taste great too! Each is cold-pressurised with no hidden additives – all you need to do is shake to activate. In one Super Green Smoothie for example, it impressively packs in ten ingredients: kale; spinach; pear; cucumber; celery; avocado; coconut water; lemon/lime juice; cinnamon and spirulina. In addition, there are also products such as almond, cashew and hemp milks.
In the last edition, we shone a spotlight on the newly certified Kura Sushi ginger in both Pink and Natural varieties. The feedback has been so positive, and we now add a new kosher Kura product: Certified Organic Sushi Nori. This is perfect for sushi, handrolls, as a topping or snack. This is classified as Grade A Gold, which is the highest quality available. Its deep colour reflects a smooth and rich taste, the true flavour of Japanese Nori.
Based in the heart of Darlinghurst, Simply Hummus Bar, now known as Simply Hummus, is a beloved KA-certified vegan, Middle Eastern restaurant with a huge range of gluten free dishes located close to the Sydney Jewish Museum. It has just launched a new take away and delivery menu and in addition, kosher consumers are able to utilise the recently launched Winter Catering offer which gives ten per cent off your first order. With a menu featuring delectable vegan dishes such as Smoky Cauliflower; Hummus plates; Sabich Salad; Baladi Eggplant; 8 Bowl falafel and more, whether you are eating in with your family or planning an event later in the year – their Falafel and Chips station might be the go-to for you. Simply Hummus will enhance your in-home dining experience along with your special event.
For the first time in Australia, you can now purchase the Amstelvelder range of naturally ripened traditional Dutch cheese. All are Chalav Yisrael (and also Kosher for Passover). All are produced in Holland and include sliced Dutch Gouda Classic; Gouda with Chives; Pepperjack; Muenster and Edam In addition, there are shelf-stable Dutch Gouda sprinkles – a great topping for popcorn, veggies, pasta and sauces. These premium cheeses are available at four Sydney Woolworths stores including Westfield Bondi Junction; St. Ives; Eastgardens and Double Bay. These Dutch dairy delights are a must to try next time to duck out to go shopping. Finally, here in Sydney we truly have the most wonderful, supportive community. This was personified recently by KA-certified The Bagel Co. which went above and beyond when it recently ran a generous Covid-relief chessed initiative to assist communal members in isolation. Many in need were aided in a quiet, yet dignified way, offered free mid-week bagels, a loaf of bread of choice and a complimentary Shabbat package including two challot, a six-pack of fish balls and one cinnamon or chocolate babka. Volunteer drivers also stepped up to assist with delivery all over town. A collective Toda Raba to The Bagel Co. for this and so much more. This genuinely made The Kashrut Authority … #kaproud.
The KA is here to support Kosher Sydney – our bakeries, eateries, caterers and shops are working hard to help you – let’s continue to support them. We look forward to sharing more exciting kosher news with you in the next edition.
Here’s a snapshot of kosher news around town:
• The KA-certified Friendship Circle Bakery is currently open on Fridays 9am-1pm, visit 2a Laguna Road, Vaucluse. For more information, email: senderkavka@sydneyfc.org.au or SMS 0430 093 670. • Dave’s Food Co. is offering free delivery of premium gravlax boards and gravlax tubs every Thursday and
Friday to the Eastern Suburbs. This will continue for the duration of Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdown for all orders over $25. To order, email: david@davesfoodco.com or call Dovid Nussbaum on 0411 843 437. • The popular products on offer from KA-certified ‘7 Fat
Cows’ include Point End Pastrami, Chilli Chuck Burnt Ends and Spicy Brown Mustard, delivery to the Eastern Suburbs will be complimentary for the duration of Sydney’s lockdown. Visit 7fatcows.com.au to place your order or call Shimon Yisrael Abraham on 0414 922 736 for more information. • OMG! Decadent Donuts East Sydney is now offering home delivery on designated days each week for kosher gluten free and dairy free donuts – typically Wednesdays and
Fridays. To place an order, call Margaret on 0437272073 for latest up-to-date delivery dates - $10 for anywhere in the Eastern Suburbs, minimum 12 donuts. • Ordering @ Jesse's Bakery: If you would like to place an order for baked goods, it is best for you to SMS 0407371828.
FYI: The gluten free sliced bread & bagels sell out so fast. • For the remainder of Sydney’s Covid lockdown, The
Bagel Co. will be offering free delivery for all orders over $50 every Friday for the following suburbs: Bondi; Dover
Heights; Vaucluse; Rose Bay and Bellevue Hill. To place an order visit www.thebagelco.com.au . With any further queries, call 02 93717557. • To contact Perfect Pita, call Avi on 0418423545 or visit https://perfect-pita.square.site/ to place an order. For the duration of the Covid lockdown, delivery is free for all orders over $25 every Sunday-Thursday. • To see the latest offering from Mama Chen’s, visit The
Kashrut Authority’s Facebook Group “Kashrut Authority of Australia & NZ”. Orders are placed at mamachen. com.au and pick up for pre-ordered food is located at 1
Francis Street, Bondi Beach. • Contact Jodi Lyons at Fress to discuss your personalised creative cake, biscuit, cake-pop or cakesicle on 0422093211. • Where The Wild Things Grow products are available at
Harris Farm stores and other locations around town, visit: wherethewildthingsgrow.com.au for more stockist information. • For online purchasing or stockist information re: Kura’s organic Sushi Nori, visit premiumgourmetfood.com.au or call HBC trading on 02 9417 5525 for your local stockists. • Visit simplyhummusbar to see full menu and to access the 10% off your first Winter Catering order, enter the promo code “Simply0621”.
KA PRODUCT UPDATES
• Mendy’s Frozen Margherita Pizzas are now available at Jesse’s
Bakery – the size is 13-inch which is equivalent to a Mendy’s Mediumsized pizza. • Two new flavours of Chalav Yisrael
Serendipity ice cream have been produced and are available at Krinskys: Cookies & Cream &
Cinnamon Babka. The same CY special production also currently include three additional flavours:
Salted Caramel, Madagascan
Vanilla Bean & Double Chocolate. • New ‘Where The Wild Things Grow’ products include: • Superfood Smoothies Liquid Night 370ml • Superfood Smoothies Midsummer
Mango 370ml • Superfood Smoothies Nuts for
Cocao 370ml • Superfood Smoothies Rose-Berry 370ml • Superfood Smoothies The Super
Green Smoothie 370ml • Superfood Smoothies Tropical Green 370ml • Almond Milk Sweet • Cashew Milk Unsweetened • Cocotini 370ml • Hemp Milk Sweetened • Hemp Milk Unsweetened • Raw Activated Almond Milk
Unsweetened 750g
CLARIFICATIONS
* Tyrrell’s Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar chips KA Directory listing has changed from No Longer Produced to not acceptable. Please note you can still purchase the Tyrrell’s Crinkly
Crisps Sea Salt & Vinegar, certified by The Kashrut Authority. * Products found locally within the Knorr’s range incorporating instant cup-of-soups, seasonings and more are only kosher if they are produced in a separate kosher supervised batch and feature kosher certification on the packaging. Some of these kosher
Knorr’s products can be sourced at
Krinsky’s.
