Throughout the history of the Jewish people, food has served as a bridge between their ancient heritage and the present day.
Culinary Curator and Jewish and Israeli Food Specialist Naama Shefi’s latest cookbook, “The Jewish Holiday Table: A World of Recipes, Traditions & Stories To Celebrate All Year Long,” highlights this connection exceptionally well.
Hailing from Givat HaShlosha, a small kibbutz in central Israel, Shefi arrived in New York City in 2005, following a career path in film. While navigating the bustling pace of her new life in America, she turned to food to reconnect and strengthen her Jewish identity.
She began organizing various culinary events across the city, such as gefilte fish conferences, an Israeli Moroccan Seder and an Iraqi Jewish comfort food pop-up. These projects paved the way for the Jewish Food Society, a nonprofit that Shefi founded in 2017 that preserves, celebrates and revitalizes Jewish culinary heritage.
“Following the success of launching many delicious Jewish food events across the city, I started to imagine a home for Jewish food,” says Shefi, 43, of the nonprofit. A great inspiration was her husband’s grandmother, Nonna, who Shefi says opened her eyes to the connectivity, hospitality and spirit around the Shabbat table.
“I thought back to Nonna and realized there are countless cooks like her whose recipes tell the stories not only of their lives and those before them but also of their communities and Jewish experience. I knew that if those recipes disappeared, so would a crucial and irreplaceable part of our history and culture.”
At the heart of the nonprofit is an archive with hundreds of meticulously tested family recipes and the stories behind them, which the nonprofit brings to life through pop-up dinners, cooking classes and its podcast, “Schmaltzy.”
“There is no one standard definition of Jewish food, but I do believe it lives at the intersection of Jewish rituals and holidays and includes ingredients and techniques that Jewish people have encountered in 2,000 years of diaspora,” says Shefi.
Her book is strategically organized by the year’s seasons (according to the Hebrew calendar) and their respective holidays. Each holiday has traditional dishes from families from different countries, recipes and a personal essay about its history and journey.
“My good friend Mitchell Davis once said that food without a story is just calories,” says Shefi. Her book shares the stories that make Jews a people and brings to light cuisines and communities commonly unknown within the American Jewish community.
Shefi will be at the Palm Beach Synagogue talking about her book and the Jewish culinary experience on March 28 and will host a special Shabbat Happy Hour offering bites from her book at Miami’s Margot Natural Wine Bar on March 29.
Photo by Tomer Appelbaum
Naama Shefi
For more information about "The Jewish Holiday Table: A World of Recipes, Traditions & Stories to Celebrate All Year Long," visit jewishfoodsociety.org.
For more information on Shefi’s Palm Beach Synagogue event, visit tockify.com.
For more information on Shefi’s Margot Natural Wine Bar event, visit margotnaturalwinebar.com.
For more information on Jewish Food Society, visit jewishfoodsociety.org.