There’s something extra special about a mother cooking her son’s or daughter’s favorite dish during the week, on Shabbat or during the holidays. The fawning, the pampering and tender loving care of a mother bringing a smile to his or her hungry face is priceless. But what happens when tragedy suddenly strikes? In Israel, thousands of mothers have lost their sons, daughters and other close family members to suicide bombings, terror attacks and war. Those special moments in the kitchen and at the dining table have been wiped away forever.
However, at the OneFamily center in Jerusalem, where victims of terror and war come to rehabilitate and reinvigorate themselves through a variety of programs, cooking classes actually represent a therapeutic experience. During the course of the summer months, several visiting women’s groups from across North America who came to the OneFamily center in the heart of Jerusalem were able to actually partake in the cooking classes with bereaved mothers. These emotional culinary encounters allowed the mothers to tell their heart-breaking stories to their guests, while explaining how and why cooking allows them to heal just a bit.
Last year, OneFamily published a cookbook in Hebrew featuring the bereaved mothers’ recipes. The glossy cookbook, entitled A Taste for Life, Ta’am L’Chayim, features 124 favorite foods of sons and daughters killed in terror attacks or in war during the past 13 years.
Within the next few months, an English edition will be available in North America as well. It is our pleasure to offer you a sneak preview.
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Suzie Weiss – Mother of Ari, z”l
From a very young age, my children grew up on deli roll as a first course, because who doesn’t like deli? My late son, Ari, would open the Shabbat eve meal by cutting himself the biggest piece from the deli roll. After he enlisted in the IDF, I would make him a roll and store it in the freezer in case he suddenly came home, or in case it would be possible to send it to him at his base.
Even now, every Friday, my children wait breathlessly for me to make it, and every Friday, when the aroma of the deli fills the house, I hope that the scent that he so loved goes up to him in Heaven. Ari used to say that he hopes in the Next World, this is what he would get as his reward for all the acts of kindness he did in his life.
Sgt. Ari Weiss, 21, the son of Rabbi Stewart and Suzie Weiss (formerly of Chicago and Dallas) was killed in October 2002 when his IDF unit engaged in a gun battle with terrorists in Nablus (Shechem).
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Ari’s Deli Roll
Serves 8
Ingredients
1 strip of filo dough, 25×40 cm (10×16 inches).
2-3 cups of mustard
10.5 oz of deli sliced and cut into cubes (any type of deli/cold cuts)
1 can of sauerkraut drained and squeezed
1 egg beaten
1 baking pan lined with baking paper
Directions:
- Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Roll out the filo dough until it is thin. Spread the mustard over the entire surface and spread out the deli cubes. If you are using various kinds of deli, layer them. Spread the sauerkraut on top.
- Roll the dough into a large roll and place it in the baking pan. Brush the egg over the top, and bake for 40 minutes until it becomes golden. Slice and serve.
“Every Shabbat Eve, when the aroma of this pastry spreads through the air, I know that Ari is enjoying it in the World to Come.”