Oracle School Foundation event attendees included (left to right) Randy Greene, Abby Greene, Judy Weiner, Joel Weiner, and Betsy Levenson.
Betsy Levenson
Chalk up another winner for the Oracle Schools Foundation’s series of fixed price “Something for Everyone” events: an opportunity for friends and neighbors to meet, socialize, and partake of ethnic gourmet food, all while supporting crucial preschool, developmental, and literacy programs at the Mountain Vista School in Oracle.
Not to be outdone by our friends who celebrated the food of Italy, Spain, Greece, and Michigan, the group that gathered at the Levensons’ house on Nov. 11 wandered back in history to feast on the staples of the old European Jewish diet: knishes, chopped liver, matzo ball soup, brisket, noodle pudding, challah, Israeli salad, apple cake, and rugelach—all made or donated by members of the Jewish Friendship Group and the Institute of Judaic Services and Studies.
Unlike our ancestors, if our guests wanted to go home and make some of the food themselves, they didn’t have to “taste and guess,” as was the tradition generations ago. Coordinator Sherry Kaplan provided guests with production expertise provided by Linda Lyons, a cookbook containing the recipes for the food served that night.
The highlight of the evening was the opportunity for each of us to think back in time, through the generations, and share our own family’s story of migration to the United States. It was an incredible—and touching—experience, one that cannot be described on paper, with words. You had to be there.
The evening ended with full stomachs, new friends, and a deep sense of gratitude to our forefathers who had the courage and fortitude to leave all that was familiar and make the difficult journey to this wonderful country.