purim

2-side book opens on Purim

Posted

For one Cincinnati native who has relocated to Long Island, the upcoming Purim holiday and the fall High Holiday season trump Chanukah as perfect opportunities for gift-giving.

David Frankel, now residing in West Hempstead with his wife and three daughters, has published a unique two-sided book in tribute to his parents, Max and Gloria Frankel under the title, “Ha-Meir La-Aretz Ve-la-Darim.” One side of the book is ideal for Purim, featuring more than 40 mouth-watering shalach manos recipes that Frankel lovingly transcribed from his mother’s personal stash of care worn recipe cards.

“I can remember days long ago when Chanukah had barely ended and my mother had already converted my childhood home into a makeshift bakery that was reminiscent of the famous I Love Lucy episode in the chocolate factory,” Frankel said. “Her bakery was an orderly affair, but the cakes and cookies emerged from her oven without end.”

The other side of the book is described by Frankel as equally sentimental and includes 16 original Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur sermons that were written and delivered by his late father, Max “Meir ben Isak” Frankel, when the latter facilitated the High Holiday services in Cincinnati’s Golf Manor Synagogue during the 1970s and 1980s.

Much beloved by the Queen City’s Jewish community, Frankel’s father was known for his work as executive director of Cincinnati’s Bureau of Jewish Education from 1972 to 1997. At the time of his retirement, Max Frankel was the most senior in length of service of all directors of bureaus and central agencies for Jewish Education in the United States.

“My father’s High Holiday sermons were terrifically powerful at reaching a person’s heart and soul, but my mother’s Purim recipes reached even deeper. Nobody made shalach manos like our mother.”

Reflecting on the project of editing the 180-page book, Frankel eagerly welcomes feedback and personal reflections about his parents to be sent to DavidTFrankel@gmail.com. He also invites the Jewish community to visit the family’s website at YouTube.com/user/MaxandGloriaFrankel.

“The truth is, I edited this two-sided book as a way of honoring my parents and as a legacy gift for my children,” Frankel said. “That I’m also able to share it with the broader Jewish community and beyond is, well, icing on the hamentashen.”