Cooking classes offer opportunity to share the memories -- and recipes
Dr. Jeffrey R. Cossin, of Longmeadow, blasts the shofar, or ram's horn trumpet, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah last year at Sinai Temple in Springfield. The two-day observance ushers in a new year for increasing years on the Jewish calendar and begins at sundown Sept. 28The Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah begin at sundown on Sept. 28. The two-day observance ushers in a new year for increasing years on the Jewish calendar as well as a 10-day period of reflection that ends with Yom Kippur, a day of repentance and fast.
No work is allowed on Rosh Hashanah and synagogue services are held where those in attendance hear blasts of the shofar or ram’s horn trumpet. Many Jewish people like to eat sweet foods to celebrate Rosh Hashanah that this year begins the Jewish year 5772.
“You pray for a happy and sweet new year, so it’s typical to eat sweet foods,” said Rochel Leah Kosofsky, Judaic studies teacher and family life coordinator at Lubavitcher Yeshiva Academy in Longmeadow.
To help people begin their new year on a sweet note, the academy will host a free hands-on cooking program during which families will create Rosh Hashanah favorites: honey cake and apple treats.
The program — open to persons of all ages — is the first in a four-part holiday-related cooking series at the academy geared toward parents and their children.
“Cooking holiday treats with your family is a fun activity that offers memories as well as enhances the holiday celebration,” said Lilia Luzhanskiy, early childhood director and coordinator of Cooking With Parents.
The Rosh Hashanah program will take place on Sept. 19, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the academy at 1148 Converse St., Longmeadow.
In addition to cooking, there will be related projects and games and books from the PJ Library, which provides free Jewish content books and CDs to children six months to eight years of age being raised on Jewish values by their family.
“Starting (the new year) with a positive attitude is so important,” Kosofsky said. “We hope it will be a positive, productive year and go the way we want it to go.”
Tamar A. Helfen of Northampton has attended several cooking programs at the academy with her family.
“It’s a nice chance for the kids to be with their parents” and engaged in a cooking activity, she said, noting that her three-year-old son, Menachem, learned to crack an egg at one of the programs.
“Cooking is a universally connecting activity,” Helfen said. “It’s nice to be part of something that has a united outcome.” She likes that the programs involve children in taking responsibility.
“They learn to take turns and to take charge,” Helfen said.
Kosofsky said the academy promotes hands-on learning.
“It is our hope that families will have a great experience together and will take that back home,” she said of the cooking programs.
The cooking program is open to anyone interested.
“We love having guests,” Kosofsky said.
Other cooking programs include food for the eight-day festival of Chanukah foods on Dec. 12, Tu B’shevat, the New Year for trees that determines what first fruits can be eaten, on Feb. 6, and Shavuot, cooking with dairy foods since dairy is eaten at least once during this festival of weeks, on May 21.
The programs are funded with support from the West Springfield-based Harold Grinspoon Foundation.
For more information or to register, call the academy at (413) 567-8665 or e-mail info@LYA.org. Visit
Apple kabobs Ž
3 apples
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon
2 tablespoons margarine or oil
Skewers
Wash and dry apples, do not skin. Cut into large chunks or slices. Place slices on skewers, leaving a small space in-between each chunk. Melt margarine and brush (if using oil do not heat) over kabobs. Combine sugar and cinnamon and lightly coat kabobs with part of mixture. Bake for 5 minutes at 450 degrees on each side. Vary time for softer or crisper apples. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon mixture on apples and serve.
Honey cake Ž
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
4 to 5 cups flour
1 pound honey
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup strong coffee
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
In large mixing bowl, beat eggs and honey. Add sugar and mix again. Mix in oil and coffee. Add baking powder, flour, and cinnamon and beat together well. Pour into greased, 9 X 13-inch cake pan. Bake for 55 minutes to an hour at 350 degrees.