A recipe for remembering

Initially overwhelmed, then inspired by a visit to the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem a few years ago, Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway eighth-grader Emily Goldstein began to think how she could incorporate the Holocaust into her bat mitzvah project.

The exhibits at Yad Vashem, the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust, moved Goldstein, who loves to cook, to compile a cookbook that is comprised of stories and recipes from Holocaust survivors.

Through friends and family, including her grandmother and the Greater Five Towns JCC’s Survivor Circle group, Goldstein met Holocaust survivors and collected their stories and recipes.

The cookbook, which also includes several recipes from Goldstein’s friends and family members, contains a variety of recipes, those, which are traditionally European, and some more common recipes such as a Strawberry Banana Smoothie. The book also contains challah recipes and even special Passover recipes, including one of Goldstein’s personal favorites — Leah Friedman’s Passover Ice Cream.

Creation of this cookbook has taken the survivors’ stories and brought them to life in a completely different way for a new generation. “I want my generation to have a way to remember that this happened. I don’t want people to forget,” Goldstein said.

Proceeds from the cookbook go to Yad Vashem Children’s Programs and JCC Survivor Circles throughout the U.S. Cookbooks are $36 each and can be ordered by emailing ideas4me@aol.com.