Temple Beth El Blog

Ingredients for cake:

• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 and 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for Ava’s frosting:

• 8 ounces of cream cheese
• 1 to 1  1/2 cups of powdered sugar
• (It can vary to how sweet you like it)
• 1/4 cup of salted butter
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk
• (I always use 2 tablespoons of 2% milk or whole milk)

Directions for cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin in a bowl until well blended.
3. In a separate bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt using a fork or spoon.
4. Little by little add in the dry mixture to the wet ingredients using the electric mixer. 
   • Tip: Don’t add a lot of flour in at one time, otherwise it will explode in your face and make a huge mess!
5. Pour into a greased jelly roll pan/sheet pan. (15x10x1-in) 
   • Tip: If you prefer not to use butter, then you can just line it with parchment paper and it will still work fine. If you don’t mind using butter, then it is a good idea to put butter first then parchment paper then butter again for triple precaution to make sure that it won’t stick!
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes. (My oven took 25 minutes but it depends on how fast your oven bakes.)
7. After your cake is out of the oven, make sure to cool completely at room temperature and then transfer to fridge.
   • Tip: Do not put the cake right into the fridge after it is taken out of the oven, otherwise it will become crumbly. 

Ava’s Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in a small bowl. (Make sure to scrape the sides every once in a while to make sure all of the ingredients are mixed in completely.)
2. Add in the milk to reach your preferred spreading consistency.
3. Spread the frosting over the sheet cake and put in the refrigerator. When they are cold, you can take them out and cut them into rectangles. Make sure to store them in the fridge when you’re not eating them! :)
4. Enjoy!

Ingredients: 

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ½ cup flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup cornmeal (I like to use ¾ cup fine cornmeal + ¼ cup coarse cornmeal)
• 1 cup milk
• 4 Tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

1. Blend eggs and sugar until very clear. Combine dry ingredients and add to egg/sugar mix alternately with milk.
2. Add melted butter.
3. Spoon batter into either:
   • A greased and heated 10” cast iron pan
   • or a greased and floured (or lined) muffin cups or a 9”x9” pan.
4. Bake at 350 until toothpick comes out clean (~25 minutes for the full pan, less for the individual muffins)

Notes:

•  ½ recipe works well in an 8” cast iron pan.

The three bottom lines of this message are simple. All the rest is commentary. Come and learn:

1. If you—members of our TBE community—need financial support for food, medicine, housing, or any other necessities to keep you safe and alive, please contact me immediately by email at rabbi@tbemadison.org or by phone at 608-238-3123.

2. Our community has great resources available. If you need help identifying other resources available in this community, please contact me through the channels mentioned above.

3. If you are a TBE member who can support our fellow members through your financial beneficence, please consider making an immediate donation to the Tzedakah Fund for these purposes.

Why do I turn to my Temple community for help?

Jewish law mandates that we preserve our own lives in almost every circumstance; in Hebrew, this concept is called piku’ach nefesh, the “saving of life.” Although we Jews practice selflessness, we are also to ensure that we take care of our own and ourselves, for in Leviticus (19:16) we learn that “we shall not stand idly by while another member of our community bleeds.”

In this spirit, I hope that if you are in need, you will move beyond pride and let me know of your distress. We have some funds available to help, we know of community resources to meet other needs, and we are willing to help. Private or public suffering is something that we need not abide. As Hillel wrote in Pirkei Avot (1:14), “If I do not support myself, who will support me?” We need to be present for one another, so that no one is left behind, forgotten, or injured by conditions beyond their control.

Again, if you need food, medicine, housing assistance, or other necessities to keep you safe and alive, please contact me immediately at rabbi@tbemadison.org or 608-238-3123. We will not leave your side.

A wonderful film entitled “My Favorite Year” (an homage to the era of totally live television of the late 1940’s and 1950’s) contains a precious line: “Jews know two things: suffering, and where to get great Chinese food.” Stereotype or not, Jewish families have – on Christmas eve – have ordered Chinese food and gone to the movies: the theaters tended to stay open, and the only restaurants open were the Chinese ones. 

This year, as we face closed theaters, we still might want to eat Chinese food and watch a movie, but here is a suggestion to make our own and watch an old favorite film at the same time. 

So here is a recipe for your consideration, shown on the December 24 edition of Beth El’s Quarantine Kitchen, followed by a list of TBE Staff favorite films and snacks to eat after dinner. 

What can I say? Enjoy, enjoy! 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce 
• 1/2  c. orange juice 
• 2 tbsp. vegetable stock 
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch 
• 2 tbsp. sriracha (more or less to taste) 
• 1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger 
• 2 tbsp. crushed garlic 
• 3 tbsp. peanut or olive oil 
• 1 whole white onion, cut into large chunks 
• 1 whole red bell pepper, seeded and cut into large chunks 
• 1 whole yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into large chunks 
• 2 whole garlic cloves, sliced 
• 2 whole medium zucchinis, cut into 1/4 inch slices 
• 1 15-ounce can baby corn, drained and halved crosswise 
• 1 head broccoli, cut into bite-size florets 
• Cooked brown rice 
• Sesame seeds and chopped green onion, for garnish 
• OPTIONAL: animal or vegetable protein 

Directions:

1. Prepare brown rice per package instructions; usually 45 minutes are required for simmering. 
2. In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, orange juice, stock, cornstarch, sriracha, crushed garlic, and ginger. Set aside. 
3. About twelve minutes before the rice is done: 
4. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and peppers, and stir, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sliced garlic and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute more, stirring continuously. Add the zucchini and stir it around, cooking it for 2 minutes more. Add the baby corn and broccoli and cook for a couple of minutes, then, after the broccoli has turned a brilliant green and while the veggies are still firm, pour the sauce into the vegetables. 
5. Stir the veggies in the sauce, cooking for 1 to 2 minutes more, or until the sauce is very thick. If it needs to be a little saucier, pour in 1/4 to 1/2 cup hot water and splash in a little more soy sauce. Serve over noodles or brown rice, with a sprinkling of sesame seeds. 

Tips:

• Prepare the vegetables and make the sauce up to 24 hours ahead of time. Keep in separate containers in the refrigerator.
• White rice, noodles of various kinds, and other starches can be used in place of brown rice depending upon your tastes.

Movies – TBE Staff Picks! 

The following movies are recommended for your holiday watching pleasure by members of the Temple Beth El staff. They may be streamable for free or for a small rental fee: 

• August Rush – Amazon Prime 
• Back to the Future (1985, plus sequels) – Netflix 
• Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb 
• Dances with Wolves 
• Few Good Men, A – Amazon Prime  
• Fiddler on the Roof – Amazon Prime  
• Gandhi 
• Grease – Amazon Prime  
• Happy Gilmore – Hulu and Amazon Prime 
• In and Out – Amazon Prime 
• Inherit the Wind (1960) – Amazon Prime 
• It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World – Amazon Prime 
• Lawrence of Arabia – Amazon Prime, On Demand TCM 
• Manchurian Candidate, The (1962) – Cinemax with Prime Video 
• My Favorite Year – Amazon Prime 
• Pretty Woman – Amazon Prime 
• Pride and Prejudice – Netflix and Amazon 
• Princess Bride, The – Amazon and Disney+ 
• Right Stuff, The (1983) 
• Tangled – Disney+ 
• To Be or Not To Be (1983 or 1942) – Starz with Prime Video 
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit? 

Movie Snacks from the TBE Staff 

And here are some great movie snack suggestions for you. Enjoy this special holiday break! 

• Assorted raw vegetables and yogurt dip (for those who are watching calories)  
• Chex Mix variations 
• Pistachios 
• Plain M&M’s in different flavors 
• Popcorn mixed with the different flavored M&M’s 
• Popcorn with Parmesan Cheese 
• Popcorn with Zaatar 
• Twizzlers 

Your annual contribution ensures that Temple Beth El will thrive and grow in ways that reflect our foundational values. Please mail your membership renewal form or renew online now at tbemadison.org/form/renewal2021. Renewal

Our new Temple Community Contribution program encourages you to view your annual financial contribution in a new way. This new program honors the meaning of your contribution, rather than recommending a percentage of household income as in the past. The new contribution model is based on shared values and affirms our mutual responsibility to one another as we pursue meaningful Jewish experiences.

Please contact Stefanie Kushner at exec@tbemadison.org or 608-238-3123 if you have any questions or would like assistance in determining your membership contribution for 2021.

Looking to volunteer? Need a b’nai mitzvah project? Here are ways to help people in our community.

Meals for Catholic Multicultural Center
The Catholic Multicultural Center meal program provides grab-and-go meals from the center’s parking lot. Our volunteers drop off food every other Wednesday to meet the growing need. We cook for 80+ people by sharing recipes and dividing up the work. If you are interested in preparing food at home for delivery to the center, please use this SignupGenius link. Contact Sue Levy if you have any questions.

Porchlight Wish List and Volunteer Opportunities
The Porchlight shelter continues to operate at Warner Park Recreation Center. They do nightly COVID-19 screening and monthly COVID-19 testing, and they offer flu shots. You can help by donating to the Porchlight wish list of hygiene supplies, household items, and cleaning supplies. Or shop locally and give Porchlight food products for holiday gifts. Porchlight also has current volunteer opportunities in health assessment and graphic design. Please contact Jessica Mathis for more information.

Healing House Meals Coming Up in February
Healing House serves individuals without homes as they recuperate from surgery, illness, or childbirth. TBE cooks meals for the residents and staff on a quarterly basis. Our next week will be February 28 to March 6, 2021. Volunteers are asked to assist by cooking and dropping off meals at the Healing House, 303 Lathrop St., Madison, WI 53726. To help with this mitzvah, please sign up here. Please contact Cathy Rotter if you would like to be on the volunteer mailing list. In the meantime, you can help by donating new items from their wish list.

Food Boxes for Madison School Families
The Thoreau Weekend Food Bag Program is part of the wider Madison West High Area Collaborative, delivering food to Madison school children from the 14 elementary schools in the West High area. Volunteers are needed to distribute 250 boxes of food each week:

• On Tuesday mornings, volunteers unload shelf-stable food and stock the pantry. 
• On Friday mornings, volunteers pack large boxes of food and household goods for that day’s delivery. Masks and social distancing will be maintained. This would make a great b’nai mitzvah project for a young person able to work in company with others.
• On Friday mornings, there are  no-contact volunteer opportunities for drivers to pick up supplies and deliver food boxes to family’s doorsteps throughout the west side of Madison. People with larger vehicles and those who are comfortable carrying moderately heavy boxes are encouraged.

Volunteers can sign up on the United Way’s website. At present no other registrations or background checks are necessary. Contact Vic Levy if you have any questions. Temple Beth El is scheduled to help at the end of December 2020 and January 2021, and we will provide a volunteer update if that becomes a reality.

Over 50 TBE members participated in our 2020 Civic Engagement Action Team, working to promote nonpartisan voter registration and education. We were pleased to have a share in making history: there was record-breaking turnout both nationally and in Wisconsin, and more Americans voted in this election than in any in the last century.

The TBE team was part of the national Reform Movement’s “Every Voice, Every Vote” campaign, working all year to ensure that people who are often disenfranchised could make their voices heard. The Reform campaign reached more than 560,000 voters, with a special focus on outreach to “low-propensity” voters in communities of color. It provided calls, texts, and postcards on successful state ballot measures: expanding Medicaid in Missouri and Oklahoma, defeating an abortion ban in Colorado, and fighting felon disenfranchisement in California. At Temple Beth El, 40 members wrote 1,800 postcards to encourage low-propensity voters in North Carolina, Texas, and Georgia to overcome their state’s voter suppression efforts and vote. Even now, members are writing postcards to encourage voters in Georgia to register and vote in their senatorial runoff election.

Closer to home, we joined forces with the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign, headed by Rabbi Bonnie Margulis of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice and Dr. Peter Bakken of the Wisconsin Council of Churches. Our members contributed hundreds of hours through this campaign to fight voter suppression and make sure every citizen was able to vote and vote safely.

Because voter registration in Wisconsin is more complicated than it needs to be, TBE members attended hours of training and presentations on how to combat voter suppression measures. Some members offered socially distanced voter registration at food pantries and colleges, while others shifted to staffing voter hotlines and distributing written information. We helped the Madison City Clerk by preparing a record number of absentee ballots, assisting with early voting, accepting absentee ballots at Democracy in the Park, and serving as poll workers in four elections. This was a successful and satisfying effort for the TBE team. We thank everyone who participated, and everyone who voted.

In 2021, the Wisconsin Interfaith Voter Engagement Project will continue its work to encourage voter engagement, fight voter suppression, and hold elected officials accountable. To stay up to date on this work, sign up for their mailing list. 

Hanukkah celebrates humanity's ongoing struggles for freedom and justice. Remembering our own experiences of persecution throughout history and today we stand in solidarity with those who share our yearning for a more just and equitable world. Each night of Hanukkah, may our conversations be richer, our advocacy be stronger, and our voices be louder as we commit to another year of justice and freedom for all. 

• Jewish Center for Justice: This guide provides easy, fun, and important ways to help enhance your Hanukkah experience and spark a discussion each night. 
• Religious Action Center: Sustaining the Light: A Social Justice Program Guide for Chanukah. This guide is focused on four issues for discussion: the environment, economic justice, children’s issues (child slavery, poverty and bullying), and religious liberty. 
• American Jewish World Service: Light one Candle for Freedom, Dignity & Justice. This is a short reading and prayer for social justice to accompany the candle blessings.
• Find addional suggestions and readings for incorporating social justice into your holiday in our Hanukkah@Home resources on our Hanukkah Page.  

Religious School may be virtual this year, but the generosity and love shown by our children and families is very tangible and very real. TBE families have once again collected cans and boxes of food for the Goodman Community Center, helping to fill baskets with all the ingredients needed for a Thanksgiving meal. Usually each grade brings in an assigned item, such as cranberries or stuffing mix, and the items pile up in the coatroom in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.

This year, we used the "front porch" method to collect the food. Families dropped off cans and boxes at one of the eight houses around town. Some members donated cash through the Goodman Community Center website to help buy turkeys and other perishable items. Working together, our TBE families helped the Goodman Community Center reach its goal of serving 4,000 families (22,000 individuals), by collecting a record number of 597 food items. 

Some of this success is due to two students who made food collection their b'nai mitzvah project.  Henry Riley and Gabe Staresinic are studying to become b’nai mitzvah this year. In addition to collecting food from TBE members, they reached out to neighbors and friends to join in. Henry said: “Thank you to everyone who donated items so families in need can enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. We collected 90 items and got many different kinds of food. I feel good about helping with this cause and hope that it brings joy to some families who otherwise may not have much for the holiday.” 

According to Gabe: "I picked this project because I wanted to help out families that can't afford this wonderful time each year. This year we also are in a pandemic and lots of people are struggling even more. Hopefully by raising all of this food we can give more people a great Thanksgiving dinner. Also, I hope this will make people receiving this food happy that people care for them, and the people who donated the food will feel good that their money and food that they gave is going towards a good cause.”

Thanks to all who contributed for giving so many grateful families a holiday meal to enjoy together! Special thanks to Henry and Gabe; to all our front porch families; to Pam Robbins, Julie Swedarsky, Rochelle Alpert, and Aleeza Hoffert for organizing; to Rochelle for also delivering some of the food; and to Laurie Borkon and Nicole Jahr for coordinating with Religious School familes. We also recognize Rabbi Jonathan Biatch for making a donation from his discretionary fund to help meet the extraordinary need this year. 

Rabbi Joshua Weinberg, a leading figure in American Reform Zionism, focused his 2020 Swarsensky Memorial Weekend presentations on the divisions among Israeli and Diaspora Jews over who should define what constitutes legitimate religious practice in Israel. Voicing the concerns of many Jews that the present arrangement is both politically undemocratic and liturgically uninviting, he proposed an updated Zionist project to reinvent the meaning of “being Jewish in the Jewish state.”

Across the globe, Weinberg argued, Jews regard Orthodox religious practice in the Holy Land as the standard against which other forms of Judaism are measured, whether rightly or not. This paradigm, he affirmed, is no longer tenable: it spiritually dispossesses many Israeli Jews by forcing them to identify as either Orthodox or secular, distresses most Diaspora Jews by demeaning their indigenous practices, and obstructs realizing a unified worldwide Jewish community.

These strains reflect tensions embedded in the original Zionist movement itself: should a realized Jewish state concentrate on protecting Jews from persecution while advancing secularized ideals of peace and justice, or should it function as a mechanism for instilling Jewish culture and religious practice? The State of Israel’s foundation entrenched rather than resolved these conflicts: it created a civil government premised in part on valuing religious freedom but ceded control over defining officially sanctioned religious practice to an ultra-Orthodox rabbinate determined to enforce their particular vision of Jewish tradition against all comers.

In opposition to the status quo’s cession of religious authority in Israel to this powerful minority, Diaspora Jews must, Weinberg urged, trumpet a counter-narrative that endorses their equal responsibility for defining Judaism and upholding Jewish values in Israel. Grounded as it is in the experience of Diasporic pluralism, Reform Zionism has a mission to promote religious openness and tolerance in Israeli society through concerted political action.

INGREDIENTS: 

• Canned biscuits (not the flaky ones)
• Powdered sugar
• Butter Jelly of your choice
• Plastic bag or piping bag

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the canned biscuits into the air fryer in one single layer, not touching and cook for 5–6 minutes. They are better eaten warm, so only do the following steps before eating.
2. Put powdered sugar in a bowl with a wide flat bottom.
3. Butter one side of the biscuit. 4. Dip that side of biscuit in powdered sugar.
4. Pour jam in a piping bag with a long cake frosting tip or cut the corner off of a sandwich bag.
5. Pipe 1 to 2 tablespoons of jelly into each doughnut.
6. You can reheat the biscuits in an air fryer at 320 degrees for 2 minutes, then do steps 2–6.

Click to watch a demo.

4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne, or to taste
• 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes with their juices, coarsely chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, plus more as needed
• 5 ounces feta, crumbled (about 1 1/4 cups)
• 6 large eggs
• Chopped cilantro, for serving
• Hot sauce, for serving

Directions:

Step 1

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook gently until very soft, about 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook until tender, 1 to 2 minutes; stir in cumin, paprika and cayenne, and cook 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes and season with ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper; simmer until tomatoes have thickened, about 10 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Stir in crumbled feta.

Step 2

Gently crack eggs into skillet over tomatoes. Season eggs with salt and pepper. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until eggs are just set, 7 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with hot sauce.

SHOPPING LIST

• Eggs
• Matzoh meal
• Club soda
• Grapeseed oil
• Carrots
• Celery
• Onion
• Roasted chicken or prepared chicken stock

MATZOH BALLS

(makes 8 small or 4 large)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 eggs
• 2 TBSP grapeseed oil
• 1 tsp salt (if desired)
• 1/2 cup matzoh meal
• 2 TBSP club soda 

The matzoh batter can be made a day in advance.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Beat eggs until fluffy (1 min in mixer) using whip attachment.
2. Add grapeseed oil and mix for 30 seconds
3. Add salt and matzoh meal, mix for 30 seconds
4. Add club soda and mix lightly for 15 seconds, remove from mixer and finish mixing gently (don’t want to beat the bubbles out of the club soda)
5. Refrigerate batter for 3 hours or more.

SOUP: Easy Version

INGREDIENTS:

• 2    carrots
• 2    celery ribs
• 1/4    onion diced
• 1T    chicken fat or grapeseed oil
• 1/4 c  fresh chopped parsley
• 8 c   prepared chicken stock (boxed or using soup base such as Better than Bullion)
• Salt/Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Chop veggies, sauté onion in chicken fat or grapeseed oil.  When the onion becomes translucent, add carrots and celery, mix veggies together and sauté for 5 minutes.  Add chicken stock and bring to a roaring boil.  
2. Reduce heat slightly to gentle boil.  Add parsley (save a few pinches for garnish). 
3. Scoop matzoh balls from chilled batter (a 2 TBSP scoop makes 8 small matzoh balls) into broth. Cover pot with lid. 
4. Let matzoh balls cook at a gentle boil for 30 minutes (small) or 40 min for larger (3-4 TBSP scoop) balls
    

SOUP: Carimi NFL version (enough for 4 batches of matzoh balls)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 roasted chicken
• 8  carrots
• 8  celery ribs
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 c  fresh chopped parsley
• 2T  chicken fat or grapeseed oil
•  Salt/Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Homemade chicken stock:

1. Remove skin and bones from roasted chicken, dice chicken and set aside in refrigerator.  
2. Place bones and skin in cheese cloth.  
3. Place into large stock pot, add water (4 quarts), and bring to boil (remember to add juices from the cooked chicken into the pot, too!).  
4. Reduce heat and simmer for several hours.  
5. Remove cheesecloth (and contents) from pot.  Add salt/pepper to taste. Use this as your chicken stock for the soup.

Faster version:

1. Chop veggies, sauté onion in chicken fat or grapeseed oil.  
2. When the onion becomes translucent, add carrots and celery, mix veggies together and sauté for 5 minutes.  
3. Add water and chicken bones/skin (in cheese cloth) and bring to a boil.  
4. Let simmer for an hour (or more).  
5. Remove cheese cloth (and contents) and bring broth to a gentle boil.  
6. Add parsley (save a few pinches for garnish if you like).  Add salt/pepper to taste.
7. Scoop matzoh balls from chilled batter (a 2 TBSP scoop makes 8 small matzoh balls) into broth. Cover pot with lid.
8. Let matzoh balls cook at a gentle boil for 30 minutes (small) or 40 min for larger (3-4 TBSP scoop) balls. 

As Jews, we have always been concerned about the needs of the larger Madison community. Those needs have never been greater than they are right now! We are very close to meeting our High Holy Day Food Drive goal of $15,000. To help us reach that goal, a generous donor has offered to match up to $1,500 of new food drive donations received by the start of Shabbat on Friday, October 23.

Your donation will be doubled, so now is the time to donate again or donate for the first time. We are eager to meet this goal as soon as possible, so please make your donation before the match expires. You can donate online at tbemadison.org/payment.php and choose High Holy Day Food Drive as the payment type, or mail a check to Temple Beth El with "food drive" on the memo line.

Thank you for your support of our Madison community members in need.