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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, September 2, 1M*
PLAIN TALK—by Alfred SefRl
4// About “Kitchen Judaism"
Oh, I’m so thankful to Rabbi
Samuel Rosinger of 2355 Rusk
Avenue in Beaumont, Texas,
who’s doing this column for me
It’s a hot mid-summer day and
I’d much rather be out there in
the breezy coolness of a lake or
river than to be sitting at my
typewriter trying to think of
something for the column. It’s a
tough life, writing a column,
particularly on a day so hot!
Well, I was laboring in vain,
in all this heat, wrestling for an
idea when, all of a sudden, 1
remembered Rabbi Rosinger of
Beaumont. Sometime before he
had sent me a piece titled ‘‘Kit
chen Judaism” which was both
scholarly and full of fun all
about kneidlach, lokschen soup,
borscht, etc.
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Rabbi Rosinger thus was re
sponding to one of my columns
in which 1 had written senti
mentally about ‘‘Kosher Grand
ma’s Cooking ’’ I dug through the
heap on my crowded desk and
there, deep in it all, lay Rabbi
Rosinger’s essay on ‘‘Kitchen
Judaism.”
This column hasn’t room for
it all, but I feel so thankful to
have Rabbi Rosinger’s wisdom,
smiles and eye-winks with which
to fill this column on this hot
day Says he: "There was a time
when protagonists of Reform Ju
daism contemptuously hurled at
Orthodoxy the epithet of ‘Kit
chen Judaism.’ This phrase con
tains a sneering allusion to the
large place the dietary laws oc
cupy in the the scheme of tradi
tional Judaism I, for one with
out being an epicure, consider
the slightest slur on the Jewish
kitchen as bordering on blas
phemy .A treatise of pro
found scholarship could be writ
ten on the influence of the Jewish
kitchen upon the Jewish soul. I
am convinced that while Abra
ham’s piety had a great deal to
do with the visit of the angels
to his tent, the irresistible fra
grance of Sarah’s freshly baked
cakes floating in the air, was in
no small measure responsible for
the landing of the winged mes
sengers under the terebinth of
Mamre.”
Rabbi Rosinger goes on with
a delightful wink. (I like to sec
rabbis winking rather than just
looking scornfully at our poor
sins.) the rabbi winks: “And so
throughout Jewish history piety
and pastry maintained an inti
mate connection. The reason why
Austria Bars Display
of Medals Bearing
The Swastika
VIENNA, (jtA) — The Aus
trian Government ruled last
week that government officials
must not wear decorations won
during the Nazi regime and
during the fighting in the Ger
man army in World War II.
The Austrian Ministries of De
fense and Interior declared that
such decorations may not be
worn by an Austrian govern
ment official. Other Austrian
citizens will be able to continue
to wear German decorations
that do not bear the swastika
Germans See Films
Of Nazi Atrocities
In Warsaw; Shocked
BONN (JTA) — Authentic
documentary films of Nazi atro
cities against Jews in the War
saw ghetto arc now being shown
in Germany to the public for the
first time since the fall of the
Nazi regime, making a deep im
pression on thousands of Ger-
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The films were taken by Nazi
authorities in the Warsaw ghetto
in 1942 for the enlightment of
Nazi officials, however, they were
suppressed because it was feared
that they might provoke pity for
Jews even among Nazis. They are
nbw incorporated in a two-hour
documentary anti-Hitler picture
which carries the title “Mein
Kampf” and is attracting large
audiences in West German the
atres.
The producer of “Mein Kampf”
is an expatriate of Berlin named
Erwin Leiser. His film is a strict
ly commercial enterprise made
with no subsidy from the West
German Government. He assem
bled his material from cinema
libraries in the archives of vari
ous countries. The film depicting
the Nazi atrocities in the Warsaw
ghetto —- and the misery under
which the Jews lived there
was discovered by the producer,
who is now a Swedish citizen, in
an East Berlin library.
It NOON
Gentile critics persist in regard
ing the Rabbinic Sabbath with
its intimate observance and re
striction Ti day of unrelieved
gloom, is due to their ignorance
of the supreme delight with
which the superb Sabbath dishes
saturated the soul of the Jew
What Jew who has tasted the
chalent and kugel and other die
lectable dishes which Kitchen
Judaism created, thinks of the
Sabbath otherwise but as a dav
of intense joy and pleasure .?”
The rabbi brings up Purim
the occasion when we’re so thank
ful to Queen Esther, the Jewish
girl, whose persuasions saved
the Jews of Persia from that
awful Hainan The rabbi
says “The beauty and grace of
Esther, yes but the strudel
and the bagels 'and the fladels
which Esther fed her royal spouse
who dares deny? • must
have had their due share in
changing his majesty from a rabid
Jew-hater into a passionate pro-
Semite. What male* 1 pray,
would not have a warm heart
for a people that can product-
such heavenly pastry?”
Then Rabbi Rosinger looks at
Jewish homes all around. So few
divorces in them! He exults: “If
you want to know the truth, the
felicity and permanency of Jew
ish marriages are due to the
Jewish kitchen. If Gentile-worn
en could cook as well as Jewish
housewives, the divorce evil, the
solution of which baffles imprac
tical moralists, would speedily
vanish from the land, Kitchen
Judaism far from being an epi
thet of scorn, is a crown of
glory!”
Yes, and more, the rabbi says,
even the Reform Jews are tak
ing up Kitchen Judaism which
they used to scorn. Says he'
“Ever since the community cen
ter has become a vital adjunct
of Reform Judaism, Kitchen Ju
daism is very much evident in
the temple precincts, and from
all indications, it bids fair to
loom larger in the Reform
scheme of salvation than the
place it has ever held in the
Orthodox discipline Ask any Re
form Jew or Jewess what are the
most effective means wherewith
to induce people to attend meet
ings of the congregation or of
any club or organization con
nected with the Temple. Is it to
invite a silvertongued speaker, u
thrushthroated singer or any
other distinguished entertainer 7
People have to be pulled with
ropes to listen to the performers
They are surfeited with speeches.
But let the Temple sisters pre
pare a good dinner or supper!
The sensitive Jewish nostril in
stinctively responds aroma
of the traditional dishes. Af‘n6
time are the members in a more
receptive mood to listen to presi
dential messages, reports of com
mittees and appeals for charities
than after the consumption of the
delicious courses.”
And the rabbi adds: “It is a
wonder to me that Reform rab
bis who constantly complain of
the chronic emptiness of the
pews, have not yet hit upon the
idea of asking the Sisterhood to
serve after services an old
fashioned rneal ”
Well, this is about all the room
this column has for Rabbi Ros
inger’s wise and winking piece.
I'm so thankful to him for en
abling me to put in this column
something better than ushal, but
especially it saves me so much
of my own time away from the
suffering of this hot day. Thanks,
thanks again to Rabbi Rosinger.
All through with this column, I
can now stretch out comfortably
on the couch under the air-con
ditioner in our living room.
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