JFCS Introduces Virtual Cooking Series
Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia has introduced Nourishing Community, a once-a-month virtual cooking series featuring top area chefs, home cooks and cookbook authors sharing recipes and kitchen tips, while raising money to support JFCS food relief programs.
The program debuted Feb. 2 with Frank Olivieri of Pat’s King of Steaks sharing recipes.
Upcoming sessions include Sara May, tasting room manager and head chef at South Hill Cider in Ithaca, New York, preparing a chocolate strawberry pie on March 16; Amelia Meath, songwriter, musician and home cook preparing borscht on April 27; Michael Solomonov, James Beard Foundation Award-winner and co-owner of CookNSolo Restaurants, and Olivieri preparing lamb shoulder shwarma on May 11; and Tamar Adler, contributing editor at Vogue and cookbook author, preparing scones on June 8.
Registration is required at jfcsphilly.org/events/nourishing-community.
Gratz College Announces Holocaust and Genocide Studies Advisory Board
Gratz College announced the formation of an advisory board for its Holocaust and Genocides Studies Program.
The board will meet once a year to discuss trends in Holocaust and genocide studies and to advise Program Director Monika Rice on curriculum direction, research gaps and emerging subspecialties.
Gratz first created an online master of arts program in the field in 2012 and added a Ph.D. program in 2017. About 100 students have graduated with a master’s degree or graduate certificate and about 120 students are now enrolled in the two programs.
The seven board members are Chair Antony Polonsky, emeritus professor of Holocaust studies at Brandeis University; Omer Bartov, the John P. Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History at Brown University; David Engel, the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies at New York University; Laura Jockusch, the Albert Abramson Associate Professor of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University; Steven Luckert, senior program curator for the Levine Institute for Holocaust Education at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.; Robert Melson, emeritus professor of political science and a member of the Jewish Studies Program at Purdue University; and Stephen D. Smith, Finci-Viterbi endowed executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation.
NMAJH to Screen Documentary About the Late Ladino Singer Flory Jagoda on Feb. 10
The National Museum of American Jewish History will screen online the 2014 documentary “Flory’s Flame” about National Heritage Fellowship Award winner and legendary Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) singer-songwriter Flory Jagoda at 1 p.m. on Feb. 10.
The screening will be followed by a short panel discussion and Q&A with Jon Lohman, a longtime friend of Jagoda, who is director emeritus of the Virginia Folklife Program and founder of the Center for Cultural Vibrancy; and musician Susan Gaeta, who apprenticed and toured with Jagoda for two decades.
Flory, who died Jan. 31 at 97, fled the Nazi invasion of Bosnia as a young woman, leaving with only the clothes on her back, her instrument and her songs. She spent decades in the United States and performed all over the world. She was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship in 2002.
Visit nmajh.org/virtual-museum for details.
Mayor Kenney Joins AJC’s Mayors United Against Antisemitism Initiative
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed on to the American Jewish Committee’s Mayors United Against Antisemitism joint initiative with The U.S. Conference of Mayors.
“We, the undersigned Mayors, express our deep conviction that antisemitism is not only an attack on Jews but an assault on the core values of any democratic and pluralistic society,” the statement reads. “In a world of global communications, where antisemitic ideas spread rapidly, a concerted and principled response is required to raise awareness, to educate, and to ensure decency prevails.”
The initiative statement affirms a core set of principles, including the condemnation of anti-Jewish hatred in all forms, and pledges to advance the values of respectful coexistence.
