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Nashim - A Women’s Day Symposium

 

   The Women’s Cabinet of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater would like to thank everyone who participated in Passover Treasures: Building on Our Traditions held on Sunday, April 3rd.

   It was a day of friendship, camaraderie and unity. Over 100 women, (grandmothers, mothers and daughters) enjoyed tasting charoset from around the world while hearing the speaker’s stories of why their family recipes reflected their native country and culture (see pictures below). We learned the meaning behind some of the new traditions. By knowing their meaning and combining them with our forefather’s traditions, we will have the opportunity to make our Seders much more meaningful. We heard Cara De Silva speak about the importance of memories and how those memories were lifelines to those who clung to their Jewish heritage. By holding on to these memories, they were able to survive another day.

The Cabinet would like to thank the Nashim committee members: Laurie Feldman, Bobbie Baker Fisher, Farideh Goldin, Sharon Goretsky, Jeri Jo Halprin, Sheila Josephberg, Phyllis Lannik, Lisa Finkel Leon, Vivian Margulies, Laura Miller, Miriam Brunn Ruberg, Kim Rubin, Annie Sandler, Terri Sarfan, Terri Waitzer and especially Nashim’s co-chairs, Sandra Porter Leon and Rita Mallenbaum.

A special thank you to our featured speaker, Cara De Silva, and to all of our breakout session speakers: Hilde Deutsch and Joan Joffe, Farideh Goldin, Dinah Halioua, Seena Mahgerefteh, Yeda Strasser and Miriam Brunn Ruberg for enlightening us and helping us to enhance our Passover Seders in years to come.

Cara De Silva

Cara De Silva is an award-winning journalist who specializes in writing about food, travel, culture, and ethnicity. Most recently, In Memory’s Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezin, which she edited and brought to fruition, was voted one of the most noteworthy books of the year by The New York Times Book Review.

For a decade, Cara was a writer for Newsday/New York Newsday, one of the largest papers in the country, where her beat was ethnic New York and her food - and - culture column, “Flavor of the Neighborhood,” was a popular feature. While there she won First Prize for Food Feature Writing in the United States from the Association of Food Journalists. In addition to Newsday, Cara’s articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, Food & Wine, Eating Well, Martha Stewart Living, Cuisine, and Diversion magazines. As an editor, she has worked on cookbooks, scholarly books, and novels, and as a teacher she has taught courses in food and culture at the City University of New York.

Cara has been featured on local, national, and international television and radio shows, among them “The News Hour with Jim Lehrer” (PBS), “The Morning Show” (CNN), “All Things Considered” (NPR), the Television Food Network, and “The Voice of America.”