Amira's Posts

Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

Pongal 110 Lexington Ave., Manhattan, (212) 696-9458 Madras Mahal 104 Lexington Ave., Tel. (212) 684-4010 Udipi Palace, 103 Lexington Ave. Tel. (212) 889-3477.

Walking down Lexington Ave. between 28th and 27th streets in New York, one might reasonably ask, “How is this kosher vegetarian Southern Indian restaurant different from the others on the block?” The truth is that they are pretty much the same, and all have kashrut supervision, attracting a mix of southern Indians, yeshivah students and locals from the Murray Hill neighborhood.

Madras Mahal, the oldest of the three, has been serving southern Indian dishes along with fare from Punjab, in the north, and Gujarat, in western India, for nine years. Slow-moving waiters shuttle about the narrow restaurant, filling shiny metal cups with water, clearing our papadam appetizer (spiced thin lentil wafers, served with chutney), and serving specialties like its masala dosai — spiced onion, potato and other vegetables in a two-foot-long fried crepe.

We enjoyed two curries: alu gobi (cauliflower with tomato and mild spices) and chana masala (chickpeas with onion and cilantro), served over perfectly cooked white basmati rice.

Pongal, with nicer dcor, warns diners on its menu that “our chefs require 20 or 25 minutes.” The food is worth the wait. I’m a sucker for the masala cashew nuts (fried and spicy) and the vegetable pullav (fragrant rice cooked with vegetables and mild spices). For those who want to counter the spicy dishes, order a bland item or two, like idly (steamed puffy cakes of lentil and rice) or vadai (fried lentil donuts).

Udipi Palace is more spacious, but its interior is more casual, typical of a fast-food joint. The pakora appetizers (chopped fresh spinach-and-onion fritters coated with chickpea flour) were crunchy but somewhat greasy, while the potato masala and accompanying sambar (vegetable sauce) were well-spiced but not overpowering.

If the ambience varies slightly, the food — and the prices — are remarkably similar in the three restaurants.

Prices range from $3.95 to $5.95 for appetizers, $5.95-$8.95 for dosai and $8.95 for curries. All in all, a welcome break from more familiar kosher fare.


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Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

Anne Frank would have been 75 this year, had she survived. When I put her name into a search at http://www.google.com I got exactly 4,930,000 hits. Mining this abundance of material on her and her diary is an appropriate way, for Internet freaks and others, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day which begins on Sunday, April 18.

This famous young victim’s diary has been translated into more than 67 languages and has sold more than 31 million copies since its publication in 1947. On the “official” Anne Frank homepage, at http://www.annefrank.nl, you’ll find links — in English, Spanish and German — to a brief biography and to material about her hiding place, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, now a much-visited museum.

The website of the Anne Frank Center USA, whose stated aim is “to inspire the next generation to build a world based on compassion, mutual respect, and social justice” (at http://www.annefrank.com), includes links to centers in Berlin, London and Basel and info about traveling exhibits, educational programs and special events. On a more informal note, http://www.surfnetkids.com provides crossword puzzles and trivia games. Some sample questions: Who was Anne’s older sister? What was the name of the woman who helped hide Anne and her family? What was Anne’s age when she began keeping a diary?

Those enamored of the comics genre might be amused by “Anne Frank Conquers Moon Nazis,” at http://excelsiorstudios.net (click on the box labeled “Anne”). Personally, though, I wouldn’t recommend it for younger children.

On the other hand, interesting educational materials abound, since many teachers around the world still use “The Diary” in lessons about the Holocaust, bravery and even journal writing. Daniel Barkowitz of Boston has created a course for 8th through 12th graders. The outline for 12 one-hour classes is posted at http://www.remember.org

Anne Frank’s diary is now part of the curriculum, too, in North Korean junior high schools. A TV crew recently discovered that Pyongyang doesn’t use the diary to teach how Anne suffered at the hands of the Germans, but to warn the students how they could suffer at the hands of “American Nazis.” A transcript of the shocking report, aired in the U.S. on CBS-TV’s “60 Minutes,” is available at http://www.cbsnews.com

Some people may mark this Yom Hashoah by helping their children imagine what 6 million looks like. When I was in fifth grade, we tried to collect soda caps, but we only got a few hundred thousand. How many times would you have to fill up the Great Lawn in Central Park or Yankee Stadium to see what even 1 million people look like? Right now, there’s an Internet chain letter making the rounds, hoping to reach 6 million people before Yom Hashoah.

When I got it in late March, almost 500,000 people had seen the message.


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Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

ACCORDING TO A MIDRASH, THE JEWS WERE redeemed from bondage in Egypt because they retained their Hebrew names. These days, Jewish kids outside Israel aren’t given Hebrew names in addition to their Bradleys or Brittneys as a matter of course, as they were once – unless, of course, they’re called something like David, Joshua or Rachel instead of Shawn or Ashley.

And even kids who do get an Avraham, Sarah or Hayah early on don’t have a clue as to what it is: The name exists in the memory of some elderly relative, on a piece of paper, or in a drawer next to other “important” family documents.

At a recent American bar mitzvah, the mother related that James was named for film character James Bond and singer James Taylor; she only noted in passing the boy’s Hebrew name (I forget what it is, but James could be Ya’akov, or Jacob).

Some parents, of course, care dearly about giving Hebrew names. Today, in addition to advice and wisdom from family members, expecting or new parents can surf for a name. For advice on baby namings in interfaith families, and links to lists of names, visit http://www.jewishbabynames.net For example, it suggests Batyah or Bruriyah for Bettina, and Dov for Dylan.

For helpful hints on naming your Jewish baby, with sections on ancient Biblical and modern Israeli names, try http://judaism.about.com

At http://www.tricityjcc.org the user-friendly JCC of Tempe, Arizona site, there’s a section on “look up a Hebrew name” and a search engine to find names starting with each English letter. At http://www.ritualwell.org ritual.html?docid=164, the “ceremonies for Jewish living” website, you can learn about birth and naming symbols (henna, for one), and reasons for giving tzedakah at a baby naming.

And how do you make sure your Bradley and Brittney will never forget their Hebrew names? You can write it down in the front of a family Bible, or at http://www.jewishbabynames.net you can order “The Hebrew Birth Plate: a unique birth certificate on ceramic, carrying your baby’s Hebrew name and Hebrew birth date inscribed on a lifelong keepsake,” for $25.90-$35.90, depending on size.

Unfortunately, there is always the chance the name will not match the child’s personality. For a hilarious look at this problem, check out the new children’s book “Shemot Muzarim” (Strange Names) by Shari Dash Greenspan (with illustrations by The Report’s Avi Katz) by following the link to Children’s Books from http://www.urimpublications.com If you can’t read the original Hebrew, there’s a translation, at http://www.jbooks.com where you’ll meet Keshet (Rainbow) who only loves black, Binyamin (Son of My Right Hand) who’s a southpaw, and an entire kindergarten class with names that couldn’t fit less.

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Original Article Published On The Jerusalem Post

Ask an American Jew in his 40s or older to name his most memorable Jewish experience, and there’s a good chance he’ll say Sandy Koufax sitting out the first game of the 1965 World Series on Yom Kippur. Ask the same man how many Jews have ever played Major League baseball and he’ll have a hard time filling the fingers of one hand. He’ll instantly name Koufax, Hank Greenberg and maybe Moe Berg, and might come up with Ken Holzman and Shawn Green.

And yet, 142 Jews played in the Major Leagues between 1871 and the 2003 All-Star break. Remembering their names is one thing; finding baseball cards to teach your kids about them is another.

Like many American boys, Martin Abramowitz, Boston Jewish community professional and baseball fan, collected baseball cards as he followed the New York Yankees and Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers in the 40s and 50s. At some point, he stopped collecting, starting again only when his youngest son became interested. When Abramowitz dug out his dusty cards, he couldn’t stop thinking of those 142 Jews.

Abramowitz did his homework: He learned that Jews make up 0.8 percent of the 16,700 men who have ever played major league baseball; they’ve had 22,246 hits, 2,032 home runs and 10,602 RBIs, and they boast a combined.265 batting average (three points higher than the averages of all players in the same time period). The pitchers compiled a win-loss record of 1,134-1,114 with 810 complete games (164 shutouts) and 11,632 strikeouts. Sandy Koufax and Ken Holtzman account for five of the 230 all-time no-hitters (Koufax: 3; Holtzman: 2).

And 42 of the 142 have never appeared on a baseball card. Who, Abramowitz thought, would tell the story of Reuben Ewing? Ewing was born Reuben Cohen in Odessa in 1899, and emigrated to Connecticut in 1901. He joined the St. Louis Cardinals in 1921 and appeared in three games at shortstop; he was flawless in his one fielding opportunity and hitless in his only at-bat.

Or Henry William Scheer, a part-time infielder who played in 120 games. “Heine” served as a second baseman for the 1925 Reading Keystones of the International League, where he combined with then- shortstop Moe Berg as the only documented Jewish double-play combination in the history of professional baseball.

To give all these guys their due, Martin and his 11-year-old son, Jacob, decided to create a set of Jewish baseball cards. Harrison Grass, a Camp Ramah buddy of Jacob’s, had amazed bunkmates with his extensive card collection – and with the fact that his father Roger was president of Fleer Trading Cards. After the two dads found a few minutes to schmooze on Visitors Day, Grass was hooked.
Fleer offered to produce the set for the American Jewish Historical Association and to work with Major League Baseball and with the Major League Baseball Players Association to make it happen. The agreement was to produce 15,000 sets of cards. (Full sets can be ordered, for $100 and up, at http://www.ajhs.org) Abramowitz loves the sepia-colored photo of Moses H. (Moe) Solomon, standing on the field in his Giants uniform, his right glove hand extended in the air. “He’s in an obvious Statue of Liberty pose, looking longingly in the distance, symbolizing for me aspiration and the American Dream,” says Abramowitz. While Solomon appeared in only two games as an outfielder for the Giants in 1923, he had 3 hits in 8 at- bats – an impressive.375 average. And his 49 home runs as minor leaguer earned him the twin nicknames, “The Jewish Babe Ruth” and “The Rabbi of Swat.”

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