But this April, families celebrated the tradition while isolated inside of their homes. 

Because of the coronavirus pandemic that has overwhelmed the nation, households have been observing long-established traditions through computer screens. Families are using platforms like Zoom to celebrate in isolation. 

Rabbi Gavriel Bellino, the rabbi of Sixth Street Community Synagogue in the East Village, experienced the struggle of families who yearned to celebrate but couldn’t risk contamination. 

“Because you know, people are used to these big family meals. They’re used to grandparents with their grandchildren,” he said. “It was like ‘your grandchildren are going to kill you.’ It became the inverse of the normal Passover, and we define it by community and we think about multi-generational, and it’s precisely those things that you couldn’t experience.” 

Synagogues across New York have closed their doors in fear of spreading coronavirus, and at a press conference on March 27, Mr. De Blasio said that synagogues holding in person services would be met with enforcement agents.

“I want to say to all those who are preparing for the potential of religious services this weekend: If you go to your synagogue, if you go to your church, and attempt to hold services after having been told so often not to, our enforcement agents will have no choice but to shut down those services,” he said. 

But in late April, mourners gathered in Brooklyn for a funeral to honor a prominent rabbi who died of coronavirus. It was held by Hasidic and Orthodox communities of Williamsburg, and over 2,500 people attended. According to Yeshiva World, the funeral was for Rabbi Chaim Mertz, and was the first event in which Mr. De Blasio personally participated in dispersing crowds, and posted on his Twitter page. 

“My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed,” he said. “I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.”

Rabbi Bellino, who struggled with the closure of his own synagogue, said that generalizations about a group can be harmful even if the mayor is trying to protect them. 

“I understand the desperation, when you’re trying your best to keep people safe, and you see people flagrantly violating that you lose your mind,” he said. “No good can come of broad stroking a whole group of people. Even if he just said the ‘Hasidic’ community, it would have been offensive because a lot of the Hasidic community is taking this very seriously.” 

Like other traditions, synagogues have been organizing memorials at home to grieve through Zoom. 

For Rabbi Bellino, his synagogue wanted to honor the death of their music teacher and conducted the memorial online. 

“He had passed away last year and they had planned this memorial event, to remember him and honor him on the anniversary of his passing and so they did that on Zoom,” he said. “They’ve limited the number of people that can attend a funeral. There are no funerals being held, or the burial event is limited to two or three people and the rabbi.”

Because of the restrictions on holding funerals, Rabbi Bellino said that people are holding “Zoom Shivas.” “Shiva” is where families mourn together after the burial of the deceased. 

But for many people, Shiva hasn’t been the same in isolation. 

“Obviously part of the tragedy is either people being taken away from us way too quickly, suddenly, but also to lose people that just died because people die who then can’t be mourned according to these traditions, these ways that people find meaning in,” he said. “They can’t do that or they can’t have that connection and next thing you know, they’re gone and there hasn’t been that system of dealing with them.”

But he said that Zoom Shiva has been an alternative for people who have no other way to honor the deceased. He said that his friend had a Shiva for his father. 

“They did not Zoom the burial or funeral, but they did have a Zoom Shiva. It was a little strange, but it was also really nice.” 

But some people found it impersonal to be honoring a person through technology. Specifically, when a friend suddenly dies from COVID-19. 

“It was horrible that he died.  It was tough to attend his memorial service via zoom, rather than in person,” said Eric Morris, a synagogue member in Syracuse, New York. “It was really hard.” 

Morris said that he hadn’t seen his friend in a long time so it was difficult saying goodbye to him online, but he said that he enjoys continuing some traditions on Zoom.

“My wife attends Saturday morning service on Zoom with our synagogue,” he said. “We had a Friday night service. We meet people from our synagogue about two to three times per week online.” 

He said that Orthodox families are still holding funerals but are abiding by social distancing guidelines. 

“A friend called me and asked me to come. We were all six feet apart, everyone was wearing masks,” he said. “It was a regular funeral, less than 20 people attended.” 

He said that it was important for the family to commemorate death with an in-person ceremony. 

“Instead of a zoom, the Orthodox rabbi requested an in-person funeral. It was just immediate family, and they had to do it in-person.” 

But some synagogue members are embracing online resources, and are joining online clubs with Chabad groups to stay in communication.

“It’s a Jewish women’s group, it’s a book club, it’s for current events, and they talk about helping out people in the community,” said Robin Gersen, a native New Yorker. “I had this mahjong game I used to play periodically, and now they are playing online.” 

She said that her uncle died of coronavirus complications and her family had a Zoom memorial to honor him. 

“My uncle Al was 70, and he passed away in mid-April. He died in a nursing home in Queens,” she said. “No one was able to see him in the nursing home, so that was the hard part.” 

But she said that technology helped her family cope when it was all too clear that being together wouldn’t be safe. 

“In March, they wouldn’t allow any visitors. His wife and daughter weren’t able to go visit him for the last month of his life, but he was able to speak with his grandchildren on FaceTime.”  

The post Jewish traditions during a pandemic appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Gefilte fish, the classic though much maligned Ashkenazi Jewish appetizer, has been revived and modernized by The Gefilteria, a Brooklyn-based startup. With Passover coming up this Monday night, The Gefilteria team is racing to keep up with gefilte fish orders. Photo by Circe Hamilton

On Monday night, Jews across the globe will join for a ceremonial meal marking the first night of the Jewish Holiday Passover. There will be wine to celebrate freedom. Maror herbs to symbolize the bitterness of slavery. Matzo to remember how the Israelites fled Egypt. And somewhere along the dining room table will appear the most polarizing dish of them all: gefilte fish.

“I don’t even know where to begin,” Anna Perling, 21, of Park Slope, Brooklyn, said. “Gefilte fish is smelly and it is stored in this aspic-y, gelatinous substance. It was definitely a food of my childhood. Now it kind of grosses me out.”

Gefilte fish, the old-world Ashkenazi Jewish staple made from ground fish such as carp or pike, is a dish that modern Jews tend to associate with a grandmother who made it in their youth—but now stay far away from. The supermarket jarred variety preserved in a fish broth jelly has a lot to do with its notorious reputation.

But like with many ethnic foods that have experienced exciting revivals in the last few years—Greek yoghurt, Asian pork buns, the Mexican Cemita—The Gefilteria, the year-old Brooklyn-based startup, entered the food scene with big visions for Ashkenazic Jewish food too. By producing aesthetically-pleasing gefilte fish terrines using fresh and local ingredients, The Gefilteria transformed the highly maligned fish appetizer into something quite palatable, if not delicious.

“We are having a crazy response from people,” Elizabeth Alpern, 28, of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, one of the three founders of The Gefilteria, said. “This morning I realized how quickly we are going through our inventory. We are even shipping gefilte fish across the country for Passover.”

A culinary staple with peasant origins, gefilte fish was introduced to America in the early 20th century as a standard food for eastern European immigrants. Today it is the quintessential appetizer at Sabbath and the Jewish holidays.

One year into the business, The Gefilteria is rushing to keep up with gefilte fish demand. In a Kosher for Passover facility in Paterson, N.J., the trio has been busy preparing 100 times as many gefilte fish orders than Passover last year.

But it took a lot of experimenting in the kitchen for The Gefilteria to discover how to reclaim their culinary heritage in today’s hip food scene. The trio realized that for gefilte fish to make a comeback, it would take aesthetics, freshness and the sourcing of the fish.

“Our gefilte fish does not come in a jar,” Alpern said. “We made it look more like a terrine or fish pâté with a line of salmon down the center. It’s such a beautiful and exciting thing to have on the plate.”

With a focus on baking, blast-freezing and sourcing sustainably managed fish such as salmon, Steelhead trout and pike from the Great Lakes, The Gefilteria produces a much fresher and healthier version of gefilte fish, appealing to a bigger more health-savvy market.

“We took out the carp from the traditional recipe because of the high mercury levels,” Alpern said. “We also don’t use any matzo meal or fillers. Ours is gluten-free. So it’s a lot denser, tastier and better for you.”

Altering the recipe has meant some friction with gefilte fish traditionalists, who often compare The Gefilteria’s modernized creation to a grandmother’s old recipe.

“They get thrown off by the different appearance,” Alpern said. “But after they taste it, they usually like it. Many say that it reminds them of their childhood. So that is really special.”

Elizabeth Alpern (left), Jeffrey Yoskowitz (center) and Jacqueline Lilinshtein (right) are the entrepreneurs behind The Gefilteria, a Brooklyn-based food startup. Reclaiming the food of their Ashkenazi Jewish roots, they have revived and modernized the concept of Gefilte fish, the classic though much maligned Jewish appetizer. With Passover coming up this Monday night, The Gefilteria is racing to keep up with gefilte fish orders. Photo by Circe Hamilton.

As well as gefilte fish, which is sold for $16.50 per 12-ounces; or $28.00 per 24-ounces, The Gefilteria also has two kinds of fresh horseradish, sweet beet and spicy citrus carrot, the latter being a modern interpretation of the carrots traditionally served on gefilte fish.

Alpern on her journey to becoming a gelfite fish connoisseur
Gefilte Fish

Beyond the Jewish holidays, The Gefilteria has been working to expand its concept to other consumer markets. The team spent all summer at the Brooklyn Flea selling their “Old-World Sampler Plate,” which came with a slice of gefilte fish on melba toast, borscht, sauerkraut and naturally fermented pickles.

“Between the taco guy and the lemonade stand, we actually fit in,” Alpern said. “Now we are seeing a demand for our gefilte fish as an hor d’oeuvre at parties.”

With pickles next on the product line agenda, The Gefilteria also plans to distribute nationally in supermarkets and other stores in the future.

Along with Kutsher’s in Tribecca, the modern Jewish-American bistro that claims it is “making Jewish food sexy,” and Mile End, the recently opened hipster deli, The Gefilteria is part of a growing movement in New York that is reviving and modernizing Jewish food.

“I think we are seeing a rebirth of interest in food,” Alpern said. “Jewish food has always been really great and engaging. But now it’s just on a whole new level because now you’re getting so many more people excited about food.”

The post A hip, new twist on gefilte fish appeared first on Pavement Pieces.