January

In a series of interviews, Mel Gibson sought to combat his anti-Jewish reputation. “When I said the Jews were responsible for all the wars in the world, I meant that as a compliment. You know, it’s good to be responsible. But I was drunk, so I guess I wasn’t articulating clearly.” Gibson explained that the controversy was blown out of proportion by the media, “which everyone knows is controlled by a bunch of hook-nosed, money-grubbing Hebes.”

Rabbi Avi Weiss conferred the title “rabba” on Sara Hurwitz, a member of his synagogue staff. The RCA responded by conferring on Weiss the title “troublemaker,” “out of control,” and “off the deep end.” The president of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance was available for comment, which was “Yippee!”

Can hamantashen be a secret weapon for world peace?! Boys Town Jerusalem chef Avi Chamal (third from left) disclosed top-secret details of his own recipe for the Purim delights with members of the Philippine battalion serving with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Forces in the Golan Heights. The soldiers visited the Boys Town Jerusalem campus this week to attend a ceremony in which the school honored the humanitarian acts of the late Philippine President Manuel Luis Quezon, who in 1939 offered 10,000 visas for Jews to escape the Holocaust in Europe. Philippine Ambassador to Israel Petronila P. Garcia accepted the award on behalf of her government.

The following recipe is from the kitchen of the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel’s new Executive Chef Mordechai “Moti” Bochbut.

Filling Ingredients:

3/4 cup of milk
1 cup of sugar
3 tbsp. honey
7 oz. ground poppy seeds
3 1/2 oz. ground almonds
Zest from half a lemon

1/3 cup of raisins

1. Boil the milk, butter, sugar, and honey and mix in the poppy seeds.

2. Chill the mixture and add the almonds, raisins, and the lemon zest.

3. Refrigerate until needed.

Dough Ingredients:

1 level tbsp. dry yeast
4 oz. lukewarm milk
1/2 cup of sugar
17 2/3 oz. flour (use a standard measuring cup)
A pinch of salt
10 1/2 oz. margarine or butter
2 egg yolks
1 3/4 oz. sour cream
1 egg yolk

1. Mix the yeast with the milk and a teaspoon of sugar and let stand for 10 minutes. Add the flour, the salt, and the remainder of the sugar .

2. Add the rest of the ingredients. Knead until a supple soft dough is achieved.

3. Roll out the dough thinly and cut it into small circles.

4. Place a tablespoon of the filling in the middle of each circle and fold it into a triangle.

5. Brush egg on top and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.

Chag samayach!

Every time there’s a Jewish leap year, as is the case in 2011, Purim falls during the same week as St. Patrick’s Day. While St. Patrick’s Day is always on March 17, Purim this year begins at sundown just two days later, on March 19.

Far from the Emerald Isle, the Purim story is set in ancient Persia and bubbles with intrigue. Mordecai, a distinguished member of the Jewish community who suspected foul play within the king’s palace, maneuvered his niece Esther into the position of queen.

What’s Jewish about Valentine’s Day?

The day was first released from the purview of the Catholic Church in 1969, when Pope Paul VI declared that Valentine’s Day was no longer a saint’s day for universal liturgical veneration on the Catholic calendar. This restored Valentine’s Day to its original state, a traditional mating day of birds — and humans — in the English folk calendar.

But Cupid isn’t exclusively a pagan symbol.

LOS ANGELES – On President’s Day, while remembering Washington and Lincoln, perhaps take a minute as well for Stern.

Little known outside of bibliophiles and Civil War buffs, one of the greatest private collectors of works about Abraham Lincoln was a Jewish clothing manufacturer executive from Chicago named Alfred Whital Stern.

About three score and one year ago, in 1950, a world of time before shows such as “Antique Road Show” brought collecting to the public’s attention, and films such as “National Treasure,” put Americana in vogue, Stern donated his world-class collection of rare Lincoln books, papers and memorabilia to the Library of Congress.

TEL AVIV – From leafy eucalyptus trees lapping the shores of the Sea of Galilee to date palms in the desert to pine and oak trees in the North — many of which were destroyed in the Carmel’s forest fire last month — Israel celebrated trees on Tu B’Shevat, Jan. 19.

The holiday, which for centuries was a rather obscure festival mentioned in the Mishnah as the new year for trees, was revived by the early Zionists as part of their back-to-the-land ethos. It’s now a highlight of the Israeli national calendar, with tens of thousands of Israelis, most of them schoolchildren, pouring out across the country to plant saplings in celebration of the Jewish Arbor Day.

I am always excited to receive and use synagogue cookbooks, and it has been awhile since one came my way, so when “Favorite Recipes from Congregation Gesher Shalom” in Fort Lee was published, I was thrilled. The spiral-bound, easy-to-use cookbook edited by Paige Soltano and Rachel Schulman, with recipes by congregants, includes appetizers, soups and salads, vegetables, main dishes, breads, desserts, and traditional and holiday recipes.