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What Hailey Bieber smoothies and instant matzo ball soup reveal about American Jewish taste
It has become exceedingly difficult to get a bowl of kosher matzo ball soup in my L.A. neighborhood. I’m reminded of this every few months, when a cold or a craving reminds me what we lost when Pico Kosher Deli, established in 1968 about a mile from my apartment, closed for good early in the pandemic. It’s not just the soup, of course. It’s the whole kosher deli experience — bulging pastrami sandwiches, a waitress with a notepad, frilly toothpicks.
The traditional kosher deli is dying, if not dead, and not just in L.A. Kosher Ashkenazi fare is officially passé, a cuisine category today’s balabustas — at least my millennial Modern Orthodox cohort — have abandoned. At the kosher markets, Manischewitz products are relegated to a dusty corner, the “kosher aisle” of the kosher grocer. And at surviving delis like Katz’s and Canter’s, kosher is not a religious certification. It is, simply, a nostalgia cue immediately preceding the word “style.”
Fortunately, a wave of new, smartly packaged foodstuffs capitalizing on that nostalgia has arrived to restore my Ashkenazi birthright, or at least my former sodium levels. In the years since my neighborhood deli closed, direct-to-consumer brands have launched to hawk kosher potato latke crisps, kosher matzo chips and kosher jarred charoset (lovingly named Schmutz). The newcomer that I sprung for was a kosher instant matzo ball soup called Nooish. A box of four stout, colorful soup cups arrived about a week after I ordered them online.
To find out why these shelf-stable products have taken off while delis languish, I called Nate Rosen, whose official title — creator of the consumer brands newsletter Express Checkout — obscures the coolness of his job, which largely consists of reviewing new snacks on TikTok. According to Rosen, the kosher renaissance was part of a broader surge of food startups during the pandemic, when free time and disposable income were suddenly in abundance. It was inevitable someone would find the Jewish angle on the trend.
“There’s a market for it,” Rosen said. “There’s dedicated spots for it [on shelves]. And I think especially now, people are proud to be Jewish and proud to show that off a little bit.”
Nooish’s instant soup, ready in just a couple minutes, doesn’t come with booth seating. But taste-wise, comfort-wise and deli-wise, it’s a worthy adaptation of the experience. The kneidlach — three to a cup, each a bit larger than a Ping-Pong ball and floating in a salty brown broth, hold their form but obey your spoon. (There’s no chicken, and the soup is certified pareve.) At four-for-$36, the instant soup is probably too pricey for your kid’s lunchbox, and not substantial enough for an adult meal. But in a pinch — say, a cold or a craving — it can be transporting.
If the kosher deli is out, what’s in? The answer awaited me at Hatch Kitchen, a new kosher meat restaurant, where earlier this week I watched a barista prepare a fancy smoothie. Elaborate, astonishingly expensive and often named after celebrities, fancy smoothies are an L.A. institution, the lifeblood of the influencer class. The most notorious of these drinks, the upscale grocery chain Erewhon’s Hailey Bieber smoothie, contains strawberries and dates but also vanilla collagen powder and something called sea moss gel. It costs $20.
Hatch, I was told, makes something similar, the strawberry-based “Or-gan-ic” (the middle syllable also the Hebrew word for garden), which the restaurant calls its “most viral smoothie.” No sea moss gel, but the menu touts “anti-inflammatory” ingredients that include flax seeds and hibiscus. It’s $12, which sounds like a lot if you’ve never spent $20 on a smoothie before, and like a bargain if you just did, and for that one you’d had to look a cashier in the eye and utter the name of Justin Bieber’s wife. (At Hatch, you order from an iPad.)
Hatch’s fancy smoothie — which is also a photogenic one — models the dominant trend in contemporary kosher dining: pop-culture mimicry. Across from where the Pico Kosher Deli once stood, you can order a kosher crunchwrap supreme — a Taco Bell menu item — from a Mexican street food place called Lenny’s Casita. Kosher cafes still serve bagels, but people go for the avocado toast. It’s kosher dining’s hypebeast era, if you can afford it; Lenny’s crunchwrap with beef runs $30. I’m not sure how close the knockoff is to the real thing, or whether proximity really matters. Most customers will never taste the alternative.
There’s a tension inherent in these appropriated menu items — affirming both the desirability of secular culture and the Jewish laws forbidding it. Cultural diffusion and communal retreat. Assimilation and resistance. Meanwhile, the ancestral cuisine, which emerged out of kosher dietary laws, has been simultaneously rejected and idealized. You can’t find too many kosher delis, but TikTok has popularized pickle fountains. (Wait until they find out about hamantaschen.)
I was sort of sad about this state of affairs until I spoke to David Sax, who was dismayed enough about the decline of delis to write a book about it. He explained that Jewish deli food developed as a way of transforming European deli methods and flavors, which were more often made with pork, into kosher adaptations. The corned beef sandwich was the original fancy smoothie, which means our kosher crunchwrap might become tomorrow’s matzo ball soup. The comfort food changes, but the people endure.
The post What Hailey Bieber smoothies and instant matzo ball soup reveal about American Jewish taste appeared first on The Forward.
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Lia Koenig describes her life as an actress, from Bucharest to Tel Aviv
צװישן די יאָרן 2018 און 2024 האָט דער ישׂראלדיקער טעאַטער־פֿאָרשער ד״ר יניבֿ שמעון גאָלדבערג פֿונעם בר־אילן אוניװערסיטעט פֿאַרבראַכט לאַנגע שעהען שמועסנדיק מיט דער באַרימטער ייִדישער אַקטריסע ליאַ קעניג. פֿון דעם איז אַרױסגעװאַקסן דאָס בוך די בינע פֿון איר לעבן, װאָס איז פּובליקירט געוואָרן אױף ענגליש דורכן באָסטאָנער פֿאַרלאַג „אַקאַדעמיק סטאָדיז פּרעס“. קעניג, שרײַבט גאָלדבערג אין דער הקדמה, איז אײנע פֿון די לעצטע לעבעדיקע ייִדישע אַקטיאָרן, װאָס האָבן זיך געלערנט זײער קונסט דירעקט אין דער טעאַטער־סבֿיבֿה אין מיזרח־אײראָפּע פֿאַרן חורבן.
דאָס בוך פּרוּװט, װי װײַט עס איז מעגלעך אין דער ענגלישער איבערזעצונג, אָפּצוהיטן דעם נאַטירלעכן טאָן פֿון די שמועסן. גאָלדבערג שטעלט פֿראַגעס און קעניג ענטפֿערט אױף זײ, אָפֿט מאָל מיט לענגערע אָנאַזײַטן, װאָס ציִען נאָך זיך װײַטערדיקע פֿראַגעס.
דער לײטמאָטיװ פֿון קעניגס מאָנאָלאָגן איז די אַנטױשונג, װאָס ייִדיש האָט ניט באַקומען קײן געהעריקע אָפּשאַצונג ניט — דעמאָלט אין אײראָפּע און ניט הײַנט אין ישׂראל. „זײ האָבן ניט קײן דרך־ארץ פֿאַר ייִדישע אַקטיאָרן אין ישׂראל,“ זאָגט זי מיט אַ טאָן פֿון ביטערקייט.
דער שמועס נעמט אַרײַן פֿאַרשײדענע תּקופֿות פֿון קעניגס לעבן. זי איז געבױרן געװאָרן אין לאָדזש אין 1929. אירע עלטערן יוסף קאַמיען (שטײן) און דינה קעניג זײַנען געװען באַרימטע ייִדישע אַקטיאָרן אין פּױלן. לאה איז געװען דרײַ יאָר אַלט װען די עלטערן האָבן זיך צעשיידט און זי איז אַריבער קײן טשערנאָװיץ מיט דער מאַמען, װאָס האָט געשפּילט אינעם דאָרטיקן ייִדישן טעאַטער. דער טאַטע איז פֿאַרבליבן אין לאָדזש און איז אומגעקומען אינעם חורבן.
װען די דײַטשישע חיילות האָבן באַפֿאַלן דעם סאָװעטן־פֿאַרבאַנד אין 1941 זײַנען זײ אַנטלאָפֿן קײן אוזבעקיסטאַן. דאָרט איז די מאַמע שיִער ניט געשטאָרבן פֿון טיפֿוס. דאָס זײַנען געװען די סאַמע שװערסטע יאָרן אין קעניגס לעבן, אָבער אַזױ האָבן זײ זיך געראַטעװעט פֿונעם חורבן.
נאָך דער מלחמה האָבן די מאַמע מיט דער טאָכטער זיך באַזעצט אין בוקאַרעשט, װוּ לאה האָט אָנגעהױבן שפּילן אינעם ייִדישן טעאַטער. אירע אײַנדרוקן פֿון יענע יאָרן אין דער קאָמוניסטישער רומעניע זײַנען געמישטע. זי לױבט דעם ייִדישן טעאַטער װאָס איז געװען גוט אָרגאַניזירט און האָט באַקומען אַ סטאַבילע שטיצע מצד דער רעגירונג. דער בוקאַרעשטער ייִדישער טעאַטער האָט געהאַט אַ פּראָפֿעסיאָנעלע טרופּע און האָט געשמט װי אײנער פֿון די בעסטע טעאַטערס אינעם לאַנד.
אָבער דער קאָמוניסטישער רעזשים האָט ניט דערלױבט קײן פֿרײַהײט ניט אין קונסט און ניט אינעם פּריװאַטן לעבן. דער ייִדישער טעאַטער האָט עקזיסטירט אין אַ מין „געטאָ“ בעת אין דער אַרומיקער געזעלשאַפֿט זײַנען געװען פֿאַרשפּרײט אַנטיסעמיטישע געפֿילן. אינעם יאָר 1961 האָט זײ זיך אײַנגעגעבן עולה צו זײַן קײן מדינת־ישׂראל.
אין ישׂראל איז דער מצבֿ פֿונעם ייִדישן טעאַטער געװען גאָר אַנדערש פֿון רומעניע. אין דער ייִדישער מדינה זײַנען געװען פּריװאַטע טרופּעס, װאָס האָבן אָפֿט געשפּילט „שונד“. די מאַמע האָט שטרענג געהײסן לאהן: „הײב אָן אין העברעיִש און ערשט װען דו׳סט װערן באַקאַנט, קענסטו טאָן װאָס דו װילסט אױף ייִדיש.“
לאה קעניג האָט געשפּילט אױף דער העברעיִשער בינע מיט אַ גרױסן דערפֿאָלג העכער װי פֿופֿציק יאָר. און דאָך זאָגט זי: „איך רעד העברעיִש אָבער מײַן אמת איז אין ייִדיש.“ העברעיִש איז „ניט קײן שפּראַך פֿאַר טעאַטער.“ זי קען ניט שפּילן שלום־עליכם אױף העברעיִש אָדער אױף ענגליש: קײן שום איבערזעצונג „רירט נישט מײַן נשמה“.
ערשט פֿיר יאָר נאָך איר אָנקומען אין ישׂראל האָט זי װידער אָנגעהױבן צו שפּילן אױף ייִדיש, טײלװײַז צוליב פּרנסה. דער פּריװאַטער ייִדישער טעאַטער האָט באַצאָלט בעסער אײדער די מלוכישע „הבימה“. אין די 1960ער און 1970ער יאָרן האָט זי גאַסטראָלירט אין אײראָפּע, דרום־ און צפֿון־אַמעריקע און אין אױסטראַליע. איר מאַן הירשל (צבֿי) שטאָלפּער, דער רעזשיסער פֿון זײער טרופּע, „האָט כּסדר געבױט אַ פּראָגראַם װאָס האָט זיך אָנגעהױבן מיט נאָסטאַלגיע נאָכן נעכטן, און דערנאָך זײַנען מיר אַריבער צו די הײַנטיקע ענינים,“ דערמאָנט זיך קעניג.
די שמועסן קערן זיך װידער און װידער אַ מאָל צו לאהס טאַטע־מאַמע. זײ האָבן געהערט צו דעם דור ייִדישע אַקטיאָרן, װאָס האָבן „אײַנגעפֿלאַנצט די ליבע צום טעאַטער אינעם מיזרח־אײריפּעיִשן עולם“, האָט זי באַטאָנט. אין מדינת־ישׂראַל, להיפּוך, איז די באַציִונג צו ייִדיש אַ ביטולדיקע.
אינעם יאָר 1986 האָט קעניג באַקומען די העכסטע ישׂראלדיקע פּרעמיע „פּרס ישׂראל“ פֿאַר דער הױפּט־ראָלע אין יעקבֿ גאָרדינס דראַמע „מירעלע אפֿרת“. די קלאַסישע ייִדישע דראַמע האָט מען אױפֿגעפֿירט אױף העברעיִש בײַ „הבימה“ אין תּל־אָבֿיבֿ. דאָס איז געװען אַ מאָמענט װען קעניג האָט דערפֿילט אַז זי געהערט טאַקע באמת צו ישׂראל, כאָטש זי האָט ניט קײן מענטאַליטעט פֿון אַ ישׂראלי.
נאָך דעם דאָזיקן דערפֿאָלג האָט „הבימה“ דערלױבט צו שפּילן „מירעלע אפֿרת“ אױף ייִדיש מיט די אײגענע אַקטיאָרן. דאָס איז געװען דאָס אײנציקע מאָל װען דער טעאַטער האָט אַרײַנגענומען אַ ספּעקטאַקל אױף ייִדיש אין איר רעפּערטואַר. אָבער דעם ייִדישן נוסח האָט מען ניט געשפּילט אינעם הױפּט־זאַל, נאָר אױף דער קלענערער בינע „בית־החיל“ („דעם זעלנערס הױז“).
דער גרעסטער טײל פֿון די שמועסן אינעם בוך זײַנען געװידמעט פֿאַרשײדענע טעאַטראַלע עפּיזאָדן און ראָלעס פֿון לאה קעניג אין ישׂראל. עס זײַנען דאָ אַ סך אינטערעסאַנטע עפּיזאָדן, פּערזענלעכע פּרטים און שאַרפֿזיניקע באַמערקונגען. צום סוף פֿונעם בוך געפֿינט מען ניצלעכע צוגאָב־מאַטעריאַלן װעגן לאה קעניגס עלטערן; די רשימה פֿון אירע ראָלעס און אַ היפּשע צאָל פֿאָטאָגראַפֿיעס.
אַלץ איז זײער אַ װערטפֿולער מאַטעריאַל, אָבער צומאָל װערט דער לײענער, בפֿרט אַן ענגליש־רעדנדיקער, פֿאַרפּלאָנטערט אין די פֿילצאָליקע פּרטים װעגן פֿאַרשײדענע אױפֿפֿירונגען אױף דער ישׂראלדיקער בינע. פֿון דעסטוועגן וועט דאָס בוך זײַן ספּעציעל אינטערעסאַנט פֿאַר מומחים פֿונעם ישׂראלדיקן טעאַטער. דער אַלגעמײנער לײענער װעט זיך באַקענען מיט אַ מערקװירדיקער פֿרױ, װאָס האָט געװידמעט איר גאַנץ לעבן דער ייִדישער קונסט און איז טאַקע מצליח געווען, ניט געקוקט אױף די שװערע נסיונות און האַרבע מניעות אױף איר לעבנסגאַנג.
The post Lia Koenig describes her life as an actress, from Bucharest to Tel Aviv appeared first on The Forward.
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Bondi gunmen condemned ‘Zionist’ actions prior to attack and threw bombs that failed to detonate, police say
The two gunmen who opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia last week, killing 15, recorded a manifesto video prior to the attack in which they condemned the acts of “Zionists.”
The description of the video, which was included in newly released documents from the Local Court of New South Wales on Monday, comes as one of the attackers, Naveed Akram, 24, currently faces 59 charges, including 15 counts of murder and one count of terror. His father, Sajid Akram, 50, was killed on the scene of the attack.
In the video, which was filmed in October and found on Naveed Akram’s cellphone, the pair sit in front of an Islamic State flag and four long-armed firearms and appear to recite a passage from the Quran. Later, the pair explain their motivation for the attack on Bondi beach, and condemn the acts of “Zionists,” according to the court documents.
“Police allege that the Accused and his father, S. Akram, adhere to a religiously motivated extremist ideology linked to the Islamic State,” the court documents read. “This is demonstrated by their videoed speech and use of Islamic State flags during the attack.”
During the attack, the pair also threw three pipe bombs and a “tennis ball bomb” that failed to detonate, according to the court documents. Another explosive device was also found on the trunk of their car.
The court document also alleges that the father and son had “meticulously planned” the attack for “many months,” detailing that the pair had engaged in: “Making an ISIS inspired video; Making of ISIS flags; Firearms Training; Making of pipe bombs and improvised explosive devices; Booking of accommodation as a staging post; and Transportation of firearms and ammunition for the attack.”
In October, the pair booked a house on Airbnb that was used as a “staging post” for the attacks and were also recorded conducting firearms training in a “countryside location” that police believe was in New South Wales.
On Dec. 12, two days before the attack, the pair were also seen on CCTV footage driving to Bondi beach and walking along the footbridge from where they would later shoot at the Hanukkah event.
Naveed and Sajid Akram allegedly traveled to Bondi Beach on Dec. 12 to plan for the attack on the Hanukkah event days later, according to surveillance video shared by law enforcement. (Local Court of New South Wales)
“Police allege that this is evidence of reconnaissance and planning of a terrorist act,” the court documents said.
On Monday, Naveed Akram was transferred from the hospital where he had been healing from injuries sustained during the attack to the Long Bay Correctional Complex in Malabar, a high-security prison facility.
The parliament of New South Wales was also recalled on Monday to vote on new legislation that would limit gun ownership for non-citizens and reduce the number of firearms a person can legally own to four.
Sajid Akram was an Indian national who had been living in Australia on a resident visa and owned six firearms.
The new legislation would also ban the display of terror symbols and place restrictions on protests, including giving police the power to remove face coverings during protests. The state government has also vowed to ban the popular pro-Palestinian slogan “globalize the intifada.”
“We have got a responsibility to knit together our community that comes from different races and religions and places from all over the world. We can do it in a peaceful way,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters outside of Parliament on Monday.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was booed at a vigil on Sunday at Bondi beach for the victims of the attack, underscoring growing pressure on the Australian leader to call a Royal Commission, Australia’s highest level of inquiry, into the terror attack.
Albanese has so far dismissed calls for a Royal Commission, arguing that it would take too long, instead announcing a review of federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
“Emotions were raw and a lot of people in the community are hurting and angry, and some of that anger was directed towards me, and I understand that,” said Albanese at a press conference on Monday. “As Prime Minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I’m Prime Minister. And I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Bondi gunmen condemned ‘Zionist’ actions prior to attack and threw bombs that failed to detonate, police say appeared first on The Forward.
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Toronto men, including 1 linked to ISIS, charged with targeting Jewish women for assault
Three Toronto men were arrested by Canadian police on Friday for allegedly attempting kidnappings targeting Jews and women.
Waleed Khan, 26, Osman Azizov, 18, and Fahad Sadaat, 19, of Toronto each face over a dozen charges, including two counts of sexual assault with a weapon and two counts of attempted kidnapping with firearm, according to the Toronto Police Service.
Khan was also separately charged with multiple terrorism offenses, including providing property to fund ISIS and conspiring to commit murder on behalf of a terrorist group, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The arrests stemmed from an investigation into two failed kidnappings allegedly perpetrated by the men several months ago. The attempted kidnappings stemmed in part from “hate-motivated extremism,” according to Toronto police, who said they found evidence in the suspects’ homes that they were “particularly targeting women and members of the Jewish community.”
The arrests were welcomed by Noah Shack, the CEO of Canada’s Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, who warned that the recent terror attack in Sydney showed that “we are one intelligence failure away from a devastating loss of life.”
“It is alarming that multiple Islamic State-related terrorist plots have been uncovered over the past two years in Canada,” Shack said in a statement posted on X. “This goes far beyond the safety of any one group. It is a matter of national security and public safety. There is a ticking time bomb in our country that our leaders must confront before it’s too late.”
In September 2024, a Pakistani man was arrested in Quebec for plotting to kill “as many Jewish people as possible” in an attack in support of ISIS in New York City. Months earlier in July, a father and son were also arrested in Toronto for allegedly planning an ISIS-inspired attack on the local Jewish community.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Toronto men, including 1 linked to ISIS, charged with targeting Jewish women for assault appeared first on The Forward.