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I Am Party Mix
By Ruby Marez
I started writing this intro after a particularly horrific experience. I had just broken up with a Hispanic guy after he told me he didn’t want to join me and my Israeli friends on a trip to Coney Island because he didn’t want to “go to the beach and hang out with Shylock and Company.” My jaw had never dropped harder to the floor. Not knowing he secretly harbored resentment and prejudice towards Jews I was stunned, horrified, and in a panic. Without a second of hesitation I told him off and dumped him right there for perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes, callously dismissing and putting down my friends, and mostly for disrespecting himself.
You might think this situation would send me running back into the muscular arms of my “chosen men.” While it may seem “easier” to marry someone Jewish to avoid a situation like this again, that is not the reality. No matter who I am with, if he harbors any prejudice towards any group of people, I am immediately disgusted.
When I asked my dad about marrying a non-Jewish Puerto Rican woman, he said that for him it was a non-issue, that she did everything she could to learn about Judaism to pass it on to her kids. My Puerto Rican mother, who became the leader of Shabbat in our household, says she was not intimidated by my father’s differences but rather intrigued. She embraced them and together they made their own special blend of culture and faith. In our house we had fusion food before it was a chi-chi, overpriced concept. Latkes with rice and beans was my lifestyle (and it was delicious). This taught me the simple (and slightly corny) lesson of “don’t hate, celebrate.”
My monologue comes from that lesson along with my struggle to accept who I am and where I came from. I wouldn’t call myself an ethnic Jew because it sounds redundant…I would say I’m a multi-cultural Jew. A tapestry of several shapes and colors; a mixed salad with many different flavors. I am a Jew of European and Sephardic descent and Hispanic, and 1/8th African and from the mid-west, and a woman, and a brunette, and a wise-ass, and an actor, and a writer, and a comedian and at times, a lil’ crazy. I’m a friggin’ United Colors of Benetton ad-campaign.
As Agueda Ramirez, my best friend and fellow actor/writing partner said to me, “You’re a party mix. You’re not just potato chips. You’re a Dorito with a pretzel stick with a peanut, with whatever else is in party mix. Some people don’t like mixing their chips with their party mix. And that’s okay. You just keep being party mix.”
I-am-party mix. Dig in.
Read more posts from issue #16: Diverse Jews
Ruby Marez is currently living in New York City and pursuing her self designed Masters from Antioch University-McGregor in acting and writing. Come see her writing and acting skills in her upcoming sketch show, “Internet Stalkers: We’re Not Creepy!” at The Magnet Theater. Ruby is one member of the duo improv team RuBin, They host and perform a duos-only improv show on the last Monday of every month at The Creek in Long Island City. Ruby also performs musical improv with Los Banditos Del Canto (The Bandits of Song) all over the city. Become our fan on facebook!
Tailgate Shabbat
By Bennie Cohen
From the beginning of time, back when college football started, there has always been tailgating. People got together in the stadium parking lots and in front of their homes (if they were lucky enough to live close to a stadium). For the most part, college football is played on a Friday night or Saturday, AKA: Shabbos time. Being a fan of college football, tailgating, and Shabbat, I decided to combine three of my favorite things and came up with “Tailgate Shabbat.”
To me, Shabbat is all about community. Mine consists of a bunch of buddies (mostly Jewish) from college, who get together for home games to see our beloved USF Bulls. We grill, talk, and welcome all to our tailgate (very Jewtastic if you ask me). For games that fall on Friday nights, it is important to myself and others to make sure we have a challah, candles, and wine glass complete with wine. Our menu will consist of: chicken, ribs, onion dip, beer, shrimp, anything that Publix has on sale, really. There isn’t any rhyme or reason to what we put on our grill; it doesn’t even have to be kosher, although we always have kosher options available (Hebrew National is not one of them). If you truly want a different Shabbat experience try a Tailgate Shabbat. Why Not??
You don’t need to spend Shabbat in your home, at your Synagogue, or even with your grandma. Shabbat can be spent in front of your favorite stadium with the people you consider family. For me, that’s what Shabbat is all about: community, and welcoming people into your home – people who wouldn’t have a place to go otherwise. Same goes for tailgating. When you open your tent and grill, you open your heart.
For those of you interested, here’s my favorite tailgating burger recipe.
Veal and Lamb Burger
- ½ lb ground lamb
- ½ lb ground veal
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 clove chopped garlic (you can use dry garlic if you wish)
- ½ chopped Sweet Vadialia onion
Form into patties place on grill, DO NOT over cook.
Enjoy the goodness that is the veal and lamb burger.
Photo provided by Tedkerwin, licensed under Creative Commons
Kosher for Christmas
By Lila Miller
No one makes Christmas dinner like my dad. Turkey, brisket, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, brownies…my mouth waters just thinking about it now. Best Kosher Christmas dinner you’ve ever tasted. Just because it’s Christmas dinner doesn’t mean it has to be treif too, right?
It’s hardly breaking news that a Jewish kid grew up celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. But, when you’re Jewish and your maternal grandfather is an Episcopalian priest, Christmas takes on a particular significance. I have incredibly fond memories of going to church on Christmas, singing Christmas hymns, and being proudly introduced as the priest’s granddaughter (a very important association, I assure you). I can sing multiple verses of Silent Night from memory, and I bet I know the nativity story as well as most Christians.
Despite the years spent visiting Santa in the mall, going to church, and decorating our Christmas tree, there was never any doubt that Judaism was the guiding tradition. When my parents got married, my grandfather (the priest) told them: “Pick one religion and raise them right. Don’t do any of this wishy-washy crap.” So my sisters and I went to Jewish schools, spent most Saturdays at shul, and can chant Torah with the best of them.
But no matter what we did for Hanukkah, Christmas was the main event in the month of December. Over Thanksgiving this year, my 15-year-old sister bluntly quipped, “Christmas is clearly the superior holiday.” I sorta agree. Don’t get me wrong, I love Hanukkah as much as the next latke, but compared to the rest of the Jewish calendar, Hanukkah is nice but relatively unimportant. It’s hardly surprising that it would be over-shadowed by one of the most important holidays of the Christian tradition.
Now, come April, in the unofficial contest between Passover and Easter, my sister will tell you that Passover wins, hands down. And if you thought Kosher Christmas dinner was weird, just wait til you’ve experienced an Easter feast that is Kosher for Passover.
Photo by The Shifted Librarian, licensed under Creative Commons.
The Weekly Pita (1/8/2010)
This week we are excited to introduce the first installment of The Weekly Pita.
In the spirit of the new year, we thought it was time to try a little something different. So, we poked our heads up out of the snow (yes, we’re covered in it too), and took a look around at what else is going on in the Jewish world. You’ll never guess what we found; all over the internet, members of the tribe are not shy about sharing who they are and what’s on their minds. Today we bring you stories about hummus, yoga, music, and the media — but who knows what else we’ll find to stuff into The Weekly Pita.
…
1. Interview: Shohat’s dreams – The Jerusalem Post
2. Israel to U.S: “We also have humorless Jews” – HEEB
3. Is Yoga Kosher? – Tablet Magazine
4. A History of Israeli Cinema – Zeek
5. Israel aims for new record in the Middle “Eats” hummus war – Israel21c
Photo by VirtualErn, licensed under Creative Commons.
Judaism through Cholent
By Briana Goldman
Having recently been plunged into a world of Judaism previously unknown to me, I have struggled to grasp many of the defining terms in the culture and religion. Everyday life was a world where words like mencsh and cholent, unfamiliar holidays, like lag b’omer and yom hashoah and prayers like the birkat hamazon and modeh ani are foreign. As a result, I thought my lack of knowledge of Hebrew and yiddishisms excluded me from being in the club, made me think that maybe I wasn’t Jewish enough, made me feel as though I wasn’t part of the Jewish “inner circle.”
But then, something amazing happened. In a courageous leap of faith, I decided to declare my ignorance over a plate of cholent. Timidly, and slightly abashed, I asked “what is that?”
Much to my surprise, that question, (which comes out in various iterations multiple times a day), evoked an unexpected response. No one asked how it was that I had never tried cholent. No one burst out laughing and I wasn’t shunned. Instead, the people sitting closest to me smiled and explained that cholent, is a Jewish stew, usually eaten on the Sabbath.
“Oh,” I replied, as I smiled and took a bite. “It’s good.”
I have learned that some people connect to their Judaism through a shared culture. Lighting the Sabbath candles, holding Passover seders, making latkes…these are all parts of our shared heritage. While my house sang the kiddush, but didn’t do havdallah, and while we had bacon with breakfast on the weekends, but never had cholent, I now realize that what I do or don’t do will not make me any more or less Jewish. But asking the questions will. You see, when I asked my fellow diners what cholent was, we shared one of the strongest Jewish traditions there is – the passing of knowledge.
Photos by Aoife city womanchile and rusvaplauke, licensed under Creative Commons.
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