Sushi, Gefilte fish and being Jewish in Japan

On October 16^th the LJCC will be holding a Family Sushi making workshop, giving the opportunity for families with young teenagers to learn a new skill together. “So what’s Jewish about that?” I hear you ask. “Since when did Sushi become a part of Jewish Culture?” And yet, if you type Kosher Sushi in to Google, your search returns 9,870,000 results.

One such result suggests that perhaps we should consider the possibility that Gefilte fish is a Jewish version of sushi, or maybe even the predecessor of it? After all, Gefilte fish, although cooked, does have the texture of raw fish, is boneless and shaped into a ball, and decorated with carrot.

Or maybe it’s just that in this shrinking world, cultures from across the globe are intermingling, as are its people and particularly as the Diaspora reaches the further flung corners, our culture embraces that of our adopted countries. After all gefilte fish, knishes and cholent all originated from Eastern Europe.

So what of the Jews in Japan? Jews have been living in Japan since at least the 1860s, perhaps much, much longer. The first settler we know of in modern times arrived in Yokohama in 1861, and synagogues were later established in Nagasaki (1889), Kobe (1937), and finally Tokyo (1953). Today there are approximately 2,000 Jews in living in Japan, excluding military personnel. Most reside in the Tokyo area with about 60 percent come from the U.S., 25 percent from Israel, and the rest from all over the world. There are also a handful of Japanese converts.

There are three active Jewish communities in Japan today, one in Kobe and the others in Tokyo including a reform synagogue and they are made up from local residents, business men, and travelers from around the world. One resident, when asked by the JC what it is like being Jewish in Japan replied "The answer depends on my mood. My negative response is that it is rather difficult (especially if you are kosher), since pork is the staple of the Japanese diet, and they also rather like their shellfish. But if I am feeling positive, the answer is that being Jewish in Japan is really not that different to being Jewish in any other place in the world. We have always been a nomadic people - where we go, our Jewish identity follows.”


And perhaps that is why, at the LJCC we see that making Sushi is not such an unusual thing for us to be doing, but we are just embracing the fact that there are Jews living all over the world, managing how they can and incorporating their host country’s culture in to their own.


If you are living in a small Jewish community around the world, or know of anyone we would love to hear your stories and to learn how you incorporate new cultures in to your Jewish customs.

Controversy in Jewish Art

“Artists must continue the conquest of new territory and new taboos"
- Norman Rosenthal, Director of the Royal Academy of Arts, London

New developments, trends and genres in the art world are often started by upcoming artists who explore new ideas and push boundaries. As time has moved on and contemporary art has moved with it, controversy has somehow always managed to keep up. Throughout the last century we can find examples of individual artists or groups who rock the status quo with innovation and often go on to be major contributors to the world of art, such as Picasso or Dali.

The Turner prize has almost become an annual acceptance of controversy in art. It was established in 1984 with the aim of acknowledging and supporting the work of contemporary artists based in the country and the exhibition of work by the short-listed artists and the announcement of the winner often sparks large scale controversy in the media.

Next week, a young and upcoming Jewish artist, Leo Cohen, will be in conversation at the LJCC. Raised in an Orthodox family, Cohen draws on his background to explore the place of homosexuals and lesbians in the Orthodox community. His art has been described as controversial. He has photographed himself tattooed with words from of the Shema and in his work he explores often sensitive topics such as the Holocaust and sexuality in religion.

In exploring these themes, Leo Cohen is pushing the boundaries of art and religion and he will be talking about how his background has influenced his work. He does not set out to be radical and disturbing, but intends to provide his audience with thought engaging works that encompass notions of modernity and social change.

Given the view quoted above by Norman Rosenthal, and based on recent Turner prize winners, controversy in art seems to be a platform from which to launch a successful career in the artistic world. 

We could be seeing a lot more of this artist. Catch him while you can.

Is traditional Jewish cooking under threat of extinction?

Latkes

In March of this year the government introduced a “Responsibility Deal”, a voluntary scheme to encourage healthy living and healthy eating. The deal comprises core commitments for action on food, alcohol, behavioural change, physical activity and health at work. Diet-related illness places a huge burden on the NHS. Direct costs are thought to be over £4bn a year and rising. The deal states: "public health is everyone's business. We aspire to good health and yet we persist in behaviours that undermine it".

As part of the deal, restaurants are being encouraged to clearly display calorie counts for each meal on their menu, so that diners can make informed decisions about their choices. Some restaurants are already doing this, and more and more are being encouraged to introduce it, as it has been met with considerable success already in the States, where consumers are choosing the healthier options. The truth is that having seen this done in a restaurant last week, the actual calorie count was quite shocking and certainly influenced my choice, opting for something that I didn’t really want.

However, the question is, are we being made to feel guilty about one of life’s pleasures? We often go out to a restaurant for a meal for a celebration or special occasion and there are many people who enjoy a special treat, having something they might not ordinarily eat and don’t want to think about the calories. There are of course those who eat unhealthy food all the time and are not concerned how calorific their choices are, and you could argue that these people won’t care whether the calories are marked on the menu or not.

Is this just the thin end of the wedge? Food plays such a large part in Jewish life. On Rosh Hashanah we eat honey cake, on Shavuot we eat cheesecake and blintzes, Friday night we eat chicken and chicken soup, Purim we eat Hamantashen and don’t forget the latkes, bubbalas, kreplach – the list goes on, but none of it jumps out as the healthy option. Are we going to be made to feel guilty about handing down the recipe for these traditional foods to our children? Will these recipes die forever as we are told to use low fat ingredients and don’t deep fry?

Lisa Roukin, a regular cookery workshop teacher at the LJCC thinks not "Just because a recipe uses lower fat ingredients or healthier cooking methods, should not mean that it will be any less delicious and a pleasure to eat. There are lots of recipes that you can use for every day cooking and use for special occasions that are not high in fat, but I still believe that the traditional recipes will continue to be used - they're just too tasty to be forgotten."

Attendance at last year’s Gefiltefest, our celebration of Jewish food, which is now set to become an annual event, illustrates how popular our traditional recipes still are and we don’t think they will be given up easily.

How do you feel about this new introduction into restaurants of calorie counting? Will it make you feel guilty? Do you think it will influence your choices?

Don’t miss Lisa’s next workshop on 25^th September entitled “A Healthy Start to the New Year” featuring delicious and healthy recipes to serve your family for Rosh Hashanah

Diana Athill at the Hampstead & Highgate Literary Festival

By James Spiro

As the audience takes their seat, so does 94-year-old Diana Athill. Poised, composed and confident, she fixes the microphone so that everyone can hear her. There is not an empty seat in the lecture hall – everyone is there to hear her story.

‘Out of all the interviews, this is the one I really fought for’. These words are from Trudy Gold - Executive Director of Education and Holocaust Studies at the London Jewish Cultural Centre which is currently holding a three day Literary Festival with the Ham&High. Her face gleans genuine excitement and respect for the author she is sharing her stage with.

Athill, known for being blunt, knows how to work her crowd. ‘I’ve never planned a book in my life. I don’t know what to write about until I start writing.’ With a career spanning almost 70 years, it becomes clear that the one-hour talk will not be enough time to talk about her life.

Diana Athill was one of the few women to have attended Oxford University in the 1930s. This lead her to a job in publishing with Andre Deutsch, and worked closely with authors such as John Updike, Jean Rhys and Brian Moore. Despite retiring at the age of 75 in 1993, she has continued to work ever since.

‘It keeps the mind young,’ she explains, ‘I find it harder to walk long distances, and I can’t listen to as much music as I could, but my life is just the same.’

The women in the audience are truly inspired. Inspired to write, to publish, to achieve goals they never thought they would or could.

‘Every time I think I can’t do something, I do it anyway. 50% of the time I realise I actually can, so it’s all worth it.’

Her mind seems just as sharp as it has always been. Reading an extract from one of her memoirs, her voice is clear; her style is fluent – she is totally and utterly lost in the life she created. What can a woman with such history claim as her highest achievement?

‘The fact I received an OBE, and have continued to write beyond the age of 80, is something that I thought would have been crazy.’ She says, smiling. ‘But look at me! It was a tremendous surprise, and honour.’

Despite leaving 20 minutes of question time at the end, it becomes clear that it is simply not enough time. One question, asked by a younger member of the audience, ‘are you going to see the new Hollywood film of ‘Jane Eyre’?’

Athill sits back in her seat, exhales, and simply answers, ‘Films of literature almost always make a nonsense of the real thing. It wouldn’t be fair.’

At the age of 94, Diana Athill really is a true inspiration. A woman with a career spanning 70 years, an OBE holder, and a true lady that shows that growing old, does not necessarily mean growing up.

A Reader's Review: The Stranger's Child.

Yesterday the shortlist for this year's Man Booker Prize was announced and Alan Hollinghurst's "The Stranger's Child" has sparked controversy in the literary world, by it's omission from the list, when it was a hot favourite.

Next week, Alan will be discussing his book at the Hampstead and Highgate Literary Festival, and given that everyone appears to be so amazed that it has not made the shortlist, it might be a good book to read before the festival and make your own judgement.

One reader has written in to us with their own opinion. What's yours?

"The Strangers Child, is a beautifully written novel. It spans the lives of two families from pre World war 1 to the early 21st century and the relationship they have with the poet Cecil Valance and the effect he has on them. It is a multi layered novel with some compelling moments and wry descriptions of both the characters and the lives they are leading.


The main themes of the book are the observed changes in society and culture, especially attitudes towards homosexuality, with both humorous and poignant prose as the reader looks on, on lives lost and lived and the turmoil of some characters who have never been able to live as they would choose to do. The observational style, dialogue and creativity behind this novel means that I am sure it will be a favourite on book lists for many months to come.


The research and detail that Alan Hollinghurst must have undertaken to write this tome is fascinating and I am really looking forward to hearing him in discussion at the Hampstead &Highgate Literary festival at the LJCC next week"


Has anyone else read it and what do you think?