Kosher

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WADI REIR. Typical vegetarian dish of the Negev’s Bedouin. (photo credit: Courtesy the establishments)

The mouthwatering photos of dishes are an intrinsic part of Savory Flavors, along with old photos of Jewish communities.

The only detail not clarified in the title of Ron Diller’s new book, Savory Flavors: A Culinary Journey through the Middle East, North Africa, East Africa, South Asia, Balkans, and Caucasus Regions, is that all 67 of the ethnic restaurants it showcases are located in Israel.

Savory Flavors is part coffee-table book and part guidebook. The colorful sacks of spices and grains featured on the cover of the comprehensive and informative Savory Flavors hint at what is to come in the 19-chapter, 263-page book with 258 photos. It features fascinating conversations with the owners or chefs of the restaurants, along with essays about the history of the original regions and ethnicities of the dishes. It is not a book of recipes.The mouthwatering photos of dishes are an intrinsic part of Savory Flavors, along with old photos of Jewish communities. Maps are also provided to help find recommended off-the-beaten-track establishments, such as in Rahat, Ramle, Kfar Kama, Nazareth, and Peki’in. 

A labor of love for delicious and diverse food

The project, which took Diller two years to complete, is clearly a labor of love and the result of his life-long connection to unique food establishments.His grandparents, immigrants from Poland and Austria, opened Diller’s Strictly Kosher Restaurant in San Francisco, California, during the Great Depression. It became the largest and most popular kosher restaurant in the Fillmore District, with people driving over an hour from San Jose to sample its authentic Austro-Hungarian Jewish cuisine. The restaurant functioned for 35 years. 

SHIMON THE SOUP KING, Tel Aviv. Yemenite cuisine: Beef soup with hawj. (credit: Courtesy the establishments)
SHIMON THE SOUP KING, Tel Aviv. Yemenite cuisine: Beef soup with hawj. (credit: Courtesy the establishments)

While a student at San Francisco State University, Diller wrote a never-published guide to small, ethnic, family-owned restaurants in San Francisco. The manuscript, titled A Cab Driver’s Guide to Gourmet Dining, featured what Diller described as “some 50 affordably priced, ethnic food, off-grid, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, including Chinese, Peruvian, Nicaraguan, and Salvadoran cuisines.”

In 1993, however, Diller set aside work on his book and moved to Israel. Subsequently, he wrote From Darkness to Light, a 2021 book featuring the testimonies of six Holocaust survivors who rebuilt their lives in Israel. He also founded Investor, a publication he describes as “the first English-language international venture capital tech magazine.”

Savory Flavors represents a return to Diller’s passion for out-of-the-ordinary restaurants. In the 24 months he spent researching it, he visited and dined at each of the 67 affordably priced venues and engaged the owners and chefs in conversations about their former lives in their motherlands, their immigration and absorption into Israel, and their ongoing connection to traditional family recipes.  

The photos and captions accompanying each historical essay provide readers with a feeling of being in each place at that particular moment in history. There are even pictures of the Yemenite Quarter in Tel Aviv (est. 1906) from Israel’s National Photo Archives. One photo, on page 250 of Savory Flavors, is captioned: “Shlomo, working at his trade (as shoemaker) since 1932, outside his niche at the roadside entrance to Carmel Market Tel Aviv, circa 1975.” There are also pictures of “recently arrived children from Yemen in the Rosh Ha’ayin camp near Petah Tikva, circa 1949” and photos of Yemenite manuscripts and documents from 1580 and 1645 (page 258).  

Diller makes delightful discoveries in each ethnic group. On page 91, to introduce the 12-page chapter on Georgian (Caucasian Region) cuisine, he provides a photo of 12 kippah-wearing boys and a bearded hat-wearing rabbi captioned: “Immigrant students from Georgia during a Hebrew lesson at the Chabad yeshiva school in Lod, circa 1971.” The chapter concludes with an essay by Eli Goldstein of Ashkelon Academic College titled “Historic Profile of Georgia’s Jewish History.”

Diller worked hard to track down color and black-and-white photos from the establishments, archives, and collectors. These are meticulously footnoted and credited throughout the book. In addition to photos, each chapter includes a box describing several favorite dishes, as well as the venue’s address, phone number, year of establishment, opening hours, and kosher status, and a map of the neighborhood. Diller indicates the kosher status of each restaurant by using three categories for kosher: “Yes,” “No,” and “Yes (no certificate).” 

LITTLE INDIA, Beersheba. Indian cuisine: Bhindi Masala. (credit: Courtesy the establishments)
LITTLE INDIA, Beersheba. Indian cuisine: Bhindi Masala. (credit: Courtesy the establishments)

The write-up for Little India, a kosher-certified vegetarian restaurant in Beersheba, established by Hanoch Stanker in 2006, features various types of samosa or pakora, and main courses, such as Malay kofta (dumplings), palak paneer (ground spinach), chana masala (chickpeas), and anda curry (curry potatoes) – accompanied by various roti (Indian breads) and ending with a dessert banufi (milk jam cake) or gulab jamun (milk powder ball). 

Famed for its delicious food, Shimon the Soup King is located in the Yemenite quarter at 28 Yehya Kapah St. in Tel Aviv. It was established in 1973 by Shimon Sa’ada and is now run by his daughter Yonit. Savory Flavors features photographs of its various soups and breads that will catch your eye and whet your appetite.

Another example of a legendary fare Savory Flavors listing is Oren Sasson’s Istabach Kurdish restaurant (est. 2014) at 1 Hashikma St. in Jerusalem’s Mahaneh Yehuda market, illustrated with colorful pictures of Kurdish shamburak with flavorful fillings of meat and spices.  

The clearly curious Diller has already set his sights on other projects, notably exploring the lives of Jews belonging to the 12 Lost Tribes of Israel.

His particular fascination is with the Bnei Menashe tribe, residing in India’s northeastern states Mizoram and Manipur, near the border of Myanmar. 

Diller notes that there are many more remote places in the world where Jews have maintained hidden connections to Judaism. We look forward to further volumes with his fascinating stories about their history and food. 

The reviewer is a freelance writer and contributor to The Jerusalem Post. He lives in New Haven, Connecticut. The book is available at Emek Refaim Books in Jerusalem.

  • SAVORY FLAVORS: A CULINARY JOURNEY THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST, NORTH AFRICA,  EAST AFRICA, SOUTH ASIA, BALKANS, AND CAUCASUS REGIONS
  • By Ronald J. Diller and seven other authors
  • Kindle Paperback
  • 276 pages; $ 23.50
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Original Article On The Jerusalem Post

These restaurants are not simply places for kosher travelers to fill their tanks with a quick falafel or a bad slice of pizza. These are high-quality establishments.

Walking the streets of Rome on a hot summer day and encountering a surprising number of kosher options in at least five neighborhoods, it is easier to understand the famous proverbs about Rome (“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”; “Rome wasn’t built in a day”; “All roads lead to Rome”; and “Fiddle while Rome burns”) than to make sense of why a city of only 20,000 Jews seems to have more kosher eateries than other world cities with substantially larger Jewish populations. Kosher burger restaurants, pizza parlors, gelato stores (okay, that one is obvious), and bakeries abound. 

And these restaurants are not simply places for kosher travelers to fill their tanks with a quick falafel or a bad slice of pizza. These are high-quality establishments where observant Jews can “in Rome, do what the Romans do.” They can sit in outdoor or indoor cafés or fine restaurants leisurely sipping coffee and eating pastries, pizza by the gram, handmade pasta, a large selection of meat, poultry, and fish and, of course, artichokes, a local favorite, prepared Jewish or Roman style.

Exploring the kosher culinary delights of Rome

As we set out on foot in the Piazza Bologna neighborhood in the northeast part of town, a 45-minute walk from the Trevi Fountain, we encountered more than half a dozen kosher dining options, food markets, and Judaica stores. Fonzie, the 1950s-style burger chain in four locations in the city, was closed on our 11 a.m. stroll. As they open from 12-3:30 p.m. and again from 7-11 p.m. each night, we would be back (fonzieburgers.com).

Flour Farina & Cucina on Via Padova 78 (flour-roma.com/) is the kosher bakery with perhaps the most user-friendly hours on the planet. They are open from 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., offered just what we needed on our arrival day in Rome for a series of academic conferences, and would serve as the daily go-to place and ideal spot to purchase food to break our upcoming 17th of Tammuz fast. Other than a kosher certificate behind the register and one local family with many kids wearing kippot, Flour appeared to be just like any other Rome café – a large outdoor eating area and tables inside with a few customers eating pastries and drinking coffee at the counter (this is apparently a way to save a few euros). 

FLOUR FEATURES delicious pizza, breakfast dishes, coffees, and pastries. Great hours with indoor/outdoor dining. (credit: HOWARD BLAS)

We were content to sample six different thin pizzas (with and without cheese – pesto, potato, mozzarella, and more) cut with shears, weighed on a scale on the counter, and quickly heated for our outdoor dining pleasure. The thinly sliced pizza was a perfect complement to our cappuccinos. We could have also chosen from a wide assortment of eggs (omelets, fried, poached, and “red” (shakshuka), as well as pancakes and chocolate, banana, and pine nuts that caught my attention, as did bagel scomposto (deconstructed bagel – with smoked salmon) and tagliolini (sea bass and lemon tagliolini, a type of ribbon pasta).

On subsequent daily visits to Flour – a convenient 12-minute walk from our Best Western Hotel – small sandwiches to go would be a life saver on long days exploring the city or sitting in a conference room. Carefully packed challot and an assortment of cookies purchased Thursday evening Italy time made it all the way back to the US for Shabbat dinner.

We returned to Fonzie, and it left us scratching our heads. How is it possible that Manhattan offers barely two or three burger joints, while Rome has a chain of four delicious, affordable restaurants with options for beef, chicken, or veggie burgers, along with crispy fries and onion rings? We chose the outdoor dining option, although the inside looked comfortable too. 

Talk about options! Burgers are available in four weight classes – 120, 150, 240, or 300 gr. Not sure where else in the world you can find a kosher chili beef bacon burger in the same restaurant as bagels with beef or chicken. For the less adventurous, chicken nuggets and wings are also on the menu. 

The next night, following a day of exploring old neighborhoods and touring the Coliseum, a night in the Jewish Ghetto was on our agenda. We wandered briefly in this historic district on the east bank of the Tiber River in Rione Sant’Angelo and sized up our many dining options. We decided on Renato al Ghetto, Cucina Giudaico Romanesca at Via del Portico d’Ottavia 5/16 (renatoalghetto.com/). Everyone advises travelers to sample as many artichokes as possible while in Rome. Carciofo alla giudia-artichoke (Jewish-style fried artichokes) at Renato ended up being the best of the three we sampled in as many days. The calamarata con pesto di basilico, pinoli e pomodorini confit (thick ring pasta with basil pesto, pine nuts, and confit cherry tomatoes); pollo con i peperoni (chicken with sweet pepper); and straccetti di manzo con rucola e pachino (strips of beef with rocket and cherry tomatoes), eaten at a relaxed outdoor restaurant pace, were delectable and left us wondering how we might prepare such dishes at home. 

The outdoor dining option allowed us to interact with – or tune out – nearby table mates. The Israeli one-year-old twins toddling on the cobblestones and their mom who visited our table proved irresistible. Their extended family of 30, in town from Elkana and Petah Tikva for a quick Sunday to Thursday trip, enjoyed a child-friendly grill and Israeli salads at the restaurant next to ours. 

We were not sure why the waiter handed us a paper bag at the start of the meal – then realized that each customer receives a similar bag and inside it is a soft bread. The section on the menu detailing 14 allergens was another nice touch. The restaurant offers a dine-in or takeaway option for Shabbat dinner and lunch: renatoalghetto.com/shabbat.

After one more day of touring in Rome, which included the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel, the Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain – on a very hot day – we made our way to Marlene’s Gelateria for some much-needed cooling off. We opted for this dairy delight before another meat dinner. Anything chocolate, coffee, or pistachio in a cup or cone is highly recommended. After a bit of strolling in the Ghetto, we were ready for another relaxing outdoor dinner – this time at Su Ghetto by Ba Ghetto (baghetto.com/en/restaurants/sughetto-kosher-restaurant-rome/).

It was another night of tough choices. We went with dishes we are not likely to create at home. Our two appetizers included more artichokes, carciofo alla Giudia (Jewish artichokes) and alette di pollo laccate al miele con suGhetto harissa (honey-lacquered chicken wings with spicy harissa sauce), which were larger and more flavorful than those typically served at American bars to football viewing patrons. We strategically chose three entrees for two people with the idea that handmade ravioli – even cold – would serve as a great 4 a.m. pre-fast meal. 

The filetto di spigola in crosta di patate (sea bass fillet in potato crust), agnolotti al ragù (small pieces of flattened pasta with Bolognese sauce), and raviolone patate e tartufo saltato con pomodorini e basilica (big ravioli filled with potatoes and truffle in cherry tomatoes and basil sauce) exceeded our expectations and left our taste buds smiling. Su Ghetto also offers Shabbat dinner and lunch options, as well as cooking classes.

As we were finishing our meal, we watched a female patron in a bright pink dress briefly leave her table and her party of 15 or so at a nearby restaurant to photograph our restaurant and other ones nearby. We realized this semi-celebrity was BusyInBrooklyn, the cookbook writer, food blogger, and Instagram star Chanie Apfelbaum, leading a kosher-food tour of Italy.

OUR FEW days in Rome showed us that there is simply an abundance of kosher restaurants – especially in the Jewish Ghetto. Many have predictable names like Ba Ghetto Milky, Bellacarne, Caslino, La Polleria, and, of course, Bona Pizza and Daruma Sushi. 

Friends recommended Yotvata (yotata.it), a family-run dairy restaurant with fish, pasta, pizza, and, naturally, fried artichokes served in booths in the Ghetto. We will have to put this – as well as kosher restaurants in the Tevere, Monteverde, and Marconi neighborhoods – on our list for next time.

One member of our party attended a conference where the kind point person went overboard in ordering kosher food so that one individual would feel comfortable at an otherwise  non-kosher banquet. The conference organizers ordered an overabundance of tasty food from Bellacarne (bellacarne.it/en/food-menu-2023), which included tabbouleh, fried fish and salads, charcuterie, hummus and mushrooms, spaghetti and meatballs, and of course – an artichoke! The large green delivery bag was useful for taking food back to the hotel in a cab at the end of the evening.

The final taste of Italy came on my United flight from Rome to Newark, where I enjoyed a meal and a snack by Rustichelli Faenza. While the chicken and side dishes were tasty, the cardboard box with sayings from the Midrash, Talmud, A.D. Gordon, and Fran Lebowitz kept me smiling. ■

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The kosher world continues to grow and diversify

If your bubbe had been one of the 6,000 members of the kosher food industry to attend the recent Kosherfest trade show in Secaucus, New Jersey, she would have barely recognized a single product on display at the nearly 400 booths. Even staples such as gefilte fish and matza have been updated. Gefilte fish long ago moved from jars to loaves (including tricolor plain, salmon and dill). And Passover matzot are now available with pictures and logos, courtesy of 2017 New Product Award-Winner Matzohgram Printed Matzos.
Two long days of walking the eight long, crowded aisles of the Meadowlands Exposition Center provided a unique window into “kosher in action”: new products in search of distributors; store owners inquiring about case prices; kosher certifying agencies, ranging from Sydney to London, explaining the certification process (the OU even has literature available in Chinese!); caterers and restaurant owners looking for that one new item to add to their menus this year.

And there was the massive sampling. Perhaps the toughest decision for attendees was whether to keep to dairy or meat products on a given day, so as to avoid violating the kosher prohibition of mixing milk and meat.

Exciting kosher products on display included Jack’s Gourmet turkey bacon, GranolaChik granola, Mikee Indian and Korean Sauces and Marinades, FreshBox Farms hydroponically grown leafy greens, Westminster Bakers Co.

crackers (oyster crackers, Sriracha seasoned crackers, and more), La Pastilya Home Style Appetizers (parve Moroccan cigars, kubbeh, empanadas, and more), Asian Star surimi fish (for imitation scallops, shrimp, lobster and crab), Angelic Bakehouse bread crisps (7-grain with sea salt, for example), and Ron Hot Sauces for the Brave – best washed down with Pernstejn Beer from the Czech Republic, or some of the 22 wines from Kosher Winery Argentina.

Visitors are always pleased when booths give out tote bags for carrying giveaways such as pens, pads and packages of Sunrise Popcorn (seven flavors), Jelly Belly jelly beans (blue-and-white, Happy Hanukka packaging), Launch Energy bars, Setton Farms Pistachio Chewy Bites (pistachios and blueberry infused cranberries with coconut) and Hayes Datiles (Medjool dates from Mexico).

Trends at Kosherfest 2017, organized by Lubicom Marketing Consulting since 1987, included an increase in organic, gluten-free and vegan products, a rise in convenience packaging and “on-the-go” products, and countries showing products from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, France, India, Italy, Mexico, the Philippines, Peru, Russia, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.

Kosher goes data-driven Kosher is big business, and it is no longer driven by guesswork. Kosherfest kicks off each year with a breakfast and “state of the industry” address by Menachem Lubinsky, president & CEO of Lubicom Marketing Consulting.

“We used to guess who we were targeting – more or less. Now, in the new, digital age, we can find our customers!” he said. Companies are spending more to properly market their products.

Lubinsky went on to explain that kosher is a $12.5 billion industry with nearly 250,000 kosher products in the US.

“Almost all products that can be kosher are now kosher – the US is virtually a kosher country,” he said. Kosher products are now available in stores such as Costco, Target, Walmart and 7-Eleven. “It is not a favor to local rabbis to offer kosher products – kosher products sell!” “If you are an ingredient country in Thailand or anywhere, you are effectively ‘locked out’ if you are not kosher,” reports Lubinsky, who notes that 99 countries now produce kosher-certified products.

Yarden Horwitz, a trendspotting lead for Google, was a new addition this year, invited to deliver a keynote address titled “Using online food trend to develop and market winning products.” Horwitz suggested ways the kosher food industry can use data to better understand their customers and to market and sell products accordingly.

“We are sitting on a gold mine of data about what consumers are searching for, in over a billion searches a year,” she said.
Horwitz identified three main times of the year when consumers search for kosher products, and she pinpointed where they are searching from: April (pre-Passover), searching mainly from New York, New Jersey and Washington, DC; July and August, searching for kosher hot dogs (Nevada is the top search location); and November (Thanksgiving in the US), searching in large numbers from Florida. “We are always looking at risers [water is a riser, she noted] and decliners [e.g., juice], we are asking what is going to be the next Greek yogurt [French yogurt is showing promise], and we follow trends during the week [people tend to be focused more on healthy eating during weekdays and are more indulgent on weekends],” she said.

Israel at Kosherfest While long known for its agricultural exports, and more recently for wines, Israel exhibited a diverse range of products at Kosherfest. Lubinsky stressed Israel’s role as a leader in the worldwide kosher food industry.

“Israel is developing cutting-edge technologies and using new, innovative tools. For example, low sugar and low fat. Just eight or nine years ago, $150 million in kosher products was exported from Israel. Now, it is $246m.,” he said.

There are more than 1,700 plants in Israel that produce food, employing 64,000 workers. The five largest food companies are Osem, Strauss, Unilever, Tnuva and the Central Beverage Company. The export of wine and beverages to the US in 2016 was $32m., a 7% increase over 2015.

Benjamin Bauer, an importer of fine kosher wines, proudly showed wines from Hevron Heights Winery, including a $200 bottle of Ezekiel wine.

“People are looking to support Israel. They will take an Israeli wine over a French wine. And wines from Hebron were especially popular [a few weeks ago], when we read about it in the weekly Torah portion,” he said, pointing to a bottle of Makhpelah wine.

Debbie Smith, associate director of sales and marketing for Marzipan Bakeries, gave out samples of hot marzipan, well known in Jerusalem for 40 years, and available in the US for the past two years.

“So many people love marzipan so much!” she said.
Yonatan Gershon and daughter Keren, owners of Neptune Foods of Beersheba, displayed a wide range of sauces and spreads, including pesto za’atar, sweet harissa and sweet pepper spread. Yonatan’s father was a spice importer from India. He developed blends, and the company now produces sauces, spreads and rice mixes.

“We believe Israeli companies can succeed in America – if we have good items at a good price. The US is the best market for Israeli products, and we are not only selling to the Israeli and Jewish market.”

Mahdi Aralan of Almahdi Sweets came to Kosherfest from Nazareth. He has had a store in Jerusalem’s Mahaneh Yehuda market for two-and-a-half years. He proudly shows off beautiful, carefully packaged gift boxes of baklava.

“Our baklava has 7-12% less sugar than most other baklavas, and we make 100 pieces per kilo,” he said.

Others reportedly make 50 per kilo.

El Nakhleh Coffee of Shfaram proudly displayed ground roasted coffee, with and without cardamom, in capsules for use in Nespresso machines.

Toot Food Industries is a Migdal Ha’emek-based company with a strong social justice connection. The maker of hazelnut date snacks, chocolate-covered almonds and pecans, truffles and marshmallows was in danger of closing and laying off 60 Arab and Jewish workers. American businessman and real estate investor Jonathon Weiner and his wife, Ayelet, bought the factory, hired manager Moti Goldstein and invested in new machinery. They are developing healthier products, for the local market and for export.

Weiner would like to see more Israelis proudly buying made-in-Israel products over often cheaper products made in China and elsewhere.

Shelly’s Natural Best, a three-year-old Israeli company, sells two different products – tiger nut butters, and freeze-dried sprouted legumes (lentils, mung beans, chickpeas). The company aims to “define new standards of quality, taste, aroma and nutritional value for the health-food industry.”

Other Israeli companies at Kosherfest included Al Arz Tahini, Dough’s, Tenta Topgum Sweets, Maadaney Yehiam, Jerusalem Winery, Mahroum Sweets, Matzot Aviv, Bare Juices, Pri-Chen, and J&G Pecans. Bare was one of the winners of the New Product Competition.

The Israeli companies at Kosherfest all expressed appreciation to Carol Nave, manager of food and beverages in the Consumer Goods Division of the Israel Export Institute/Israel Economic Mission, for helping them get to this important show.

“We come to Kosherfest each year,” said Nave. “We have all the latest food trends to offer – gluten-free, sugar-free, lactose-free, lean label.

“The kosher market is our natural market,” she continued. “We are also trying to penetrate the general market.”

The range of quality Israeli products at Kosherfest indicated she and her Israeli companies may be on the road to continued success.

A kosher export with an import twist If Barry Brucker has his way, he will import Aviv matzot and send them back to Israel – once he and his Matzohgram Printed Matzo company are done printing Stars of David, Seder plates and “Happy Passover” greetings on them.
Brucker wanted to do something nice for his synagogue Seder a few years ago. “We had printing equipment, since we are a printing company.”
People were so excited when they saw the matzot with pictures and writing. “People came out with napkins wrapping the matza to take home so it wouldn’t break!” he said.

He test-marketed the matza in Los Angeles delis, and it sold out in four days. “Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, had it on his table, and it was a hit. I have gotten similarly nice comments from other rabbis!” Brucker now hopes to introduce his matzot to the Israeli market.

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Original Article Published at The Jerusalem Post

With the location of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, it is only natural that there are also many Jewish stories at the tournament.

The final Grand Slam of 2016 is filled with all kinds of big and small stories – from Serena Williams’s quest for her 23rd title, and Djokovic’s for his 13th, to John Isner’s long, heartfelt embrace of 18-year-old Frances Tiafoe following their tough five setter on opening day. A personal favorite moment was watching Gael Monfils chase down a lob – and crashing into and breaking the on court scoreboard on court 17.

With the location of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, it is only natural that there are also many Jewish stories at the tournament, from players to food to minyan requests.

Israeli Players

Admittedly, there were not many Israelis in the main draw of the US Open singles tournament. One to be exact. And No. 80 in the world, Dudi Sela lost a tough five setter in the first round. But Julia Glushko and Amir Weintraub battled hard through the qualifiers, each winning first-round matches.

Sela, who doesn’t play doubles very often, won a doubles tournament earlier this year and is entered in the doubles draw with Frenchman Stephane Robert. And, as expected, beloved Yoni Erlich is playing doubles – this time teaming up with Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico. Yshai Oliel, a top Israeli junior, will enter the qualifying tournament as he battles for a spot in the main draw of the junior event.

Jewish Players

We have come to expect a large number of Jewish Nobel Prize winners, far out of proportion to our numbers. But what about in the tennis world? There are a surprising number of Jewish players in the draw.

Many – like Americans Noah Rubin and Jamie Loeb (who happened to be mixed doubles partners) and Diego Schwartzman – are vocally proud of their Judaism. A few days ago, Rubin tweeted, “Later in the week, a spectacle will take place as the fighting Maccabees @jloeb308 and I play mixed double @usopen.

Who’s ready?” Schwartzman lost his first round match to fellow countryman and Rio Olympics sensation, Juan Martin del Potro.

There have been unconfirmed reports that a number of other players have Jewish roots, including Camila Giorgi, Elina Svitolina and Timea Bacsinszky. Even it has been reported on several occasions that Rafael Nadal of Mallorca descends from Conversos.

Israeli Matches

A US Open match featuring an Israeli player can best be described as an El Al flight-like experience.

People wander, talk loud, socialize, look for friend, make connections and use Protexia (connections).

During the Sela first-round match, I learned that the woman next to me was a party planner in the US and Israel. And by the start of the second set, I knew which Jewish day school her kids attend.

Half the fans seemed to sport credentials indicating they are a “player guest” of one of the Israeli players.

And people felt comfortable shouting unsolicited advice to Sela, referred to as “Dudi, Melech Yisrael!” (Dudi, King of Israel!).

When my seatmate spotted a man covered with an Israeli flag, she commented that her flag had been confiscated last year. And she asked the guard, “if the player was from Italy, would you have taken his flag?!” There is a wonderful sense of camaraderie and I suspect pro-Israel fans outnumbered pro-Uruguay fans (for player Pablo Cuevas) 10-to-1!

Kosher – and Kosher Style, Too

What is any sporting event without food – and without extraordinarily long lines? New York Brat Factory (certified Glatt Kosher) serves up wraps (tuna, turkey and chicken Caesar) as well as two types of Italian sausages with peppers and onions, overstuffed pastrami sandwiches, knishes, hot pretzels and of course, hot dogs (and pastrami dogs). The stand is closed on Shabbat, and the lines can be long.

This year, SoomSoom, a kosher store in various parts of New York City, has a kosher style booth at the US Open. The booth, outside of Court 17 (and next to Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream) serves up humus, falafel and more. The sign notes “Kosher Style” and workers explain that some food comes from their kosher stores and others are made on site, and that the stand is open on Shabbat.

Ballboys With Yarmulkes

At least one ballboy was spotted on the grandstand court of an important first-round match wearing a yarmulkes.

And the mother of an Orthodox Jewish day school student reports that her son, also a ballboy at the tournament, wears the Polo Ralph Lauren-issued hat to cover his head.

Minyan Requests and More

Friends, colleagues and others who know I am covering the tournament turned to me on Twitter and Facebook and more with their Jewish questions. “What are the chances of “chapping” (catching) a minyan at the US Open; I am a mourner and need one?” I directed him to the Sela match and the kosher food line.

VERY likely!

The New Retractable Dome

Spoiler alert, this is not really a Jewish story at the US Open, but long days and nights at Arthur Ashe Stadium, under the bright sun and inevitable rain, got me thinking – if the US Open can find a way to keep players in action and fans dry during the rain, why can’t our rabbis help us find a way to better enjoy the often rainy Sukkot holiday.

In much of the US, cold, rainy weather often makes for a somewhat unpleasant sukkot. Get to work, rabbis – and speak with the brains behind the amazing retractable dome.

And while you are at it, see if you can find Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur cantors with voices as great as the ones we heard on opening night at the US Open – Phil Collins and Leslie Odom of Hamilton fame.




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