Q2 Outside Reading Post 5: Miriam's Kitchen

This week, I finished the book, Miriam's Kitchen.  This week, a very unfortunate even occured.  Elizabeth's grandma, or Miriam, died.  Elizabeth Ehrlic describes one memory as, "Buried: the box that held her body was set in a hollow dug for that box, and her remains covered with earth" (317).  This is obviously a memory that has stuck with her for a long time.  She seems to remember this scene very clearly because of all the descriptive words she uses.  Miriam seemed to be a huge part of Elizabeth's life.  Ehrlic keeps one special thing of Miriam's to remember her.  She writes, "The ripping cloth stays with me, an image that serves the bubbe" (318).  The cloth seems to be an important keepsake to Ehrlic.  By keeping it with her at all times, she will always have a part of Miriam, or her bubbe, with.  This chapter really shows us that Miriam was one of the most important parts of Ehrlic's life.

In one of the last chapters, Continuity, we really see how important family is to Ehrlich.  By writing this book, she could capture and remember all the sad, happy, good and bad times she had with her family.  Ehrlich writes, "The stories were remembered for a reason.  Family stories, they were told and retold because they contained essential truths" (351).  The word "essential" really shows how important her family stories are to her.  Without them, life wouldn't be the same for her.  We also get a sense of how religion influenced her life.  She states, "Religion is a story that tells us how to live" (351).  By saying this, Ehrlic is saying the Judaism has made her who she is today.  She lives her life based off all of those rules and has been a huge part of her life.  By reading this book, one would be able to see the true meaning of religion, family, and memories to Elizabeth Ehrlich. 

Outside Post #4

In pages of the book, Miriam's Kitchen, that i read this past week, we find out some information about how the family celebrated the sabbath.  The sabbath is on each friday of the week and it is basically a rest day for Jews.  It starts at sunset and ends at sunset the next day.  During this period of time, Jews will go to Friday and Saturday services at Temple or rest at home.  Elizabeth Ehrlich writes, "I want to create a home of rightness and wholeness, to establish the percussion beat of work and Sabbath," (291).  This quote shows that Miriam wants to have a good Sabbath and make sure everything turns out right.  The sabbath is supposed to be a very holy time for a family so Miriam is making sure that everything is in place.  Miriam also seems to treasure the Sabbath.  Ehrlich says, "The Sabbath is a gift: you give over twenty-four hours to contemplation, rest, and praise" (293).  After a long week or hard work, the Sabbath is needed for most people.  It's a time to reflect on the past week, and many people cherish the time they have to catch up on their rest that they haven't had since the past week.  Since Ehrlich describes the memories she has of the Sabbath days, it shows us more about her families Jewish traditions.

Elizabeth Ehrlich also describes the views on Jewish marriage.  All Jewish mothers want their sons and daughters to find a person who they love, but they would prefer them to be Jewish.  Ehrilich states, "When your child marries a non-Jew, it is as if that child is dead" (314).  This really gives a good view point of a typical Jewish mother.  They'd almost rather you not get married at all if it is to a non-Jew.  They feel like keeping the Jewish traditions is a necessity.  Jewish mothers also seem to get angry with the thought of intermarriage.  Ehrlich also writes, "Such is the anguish and fear with which intermarriage has been regarded by a besieged and defensive people" (314).  This shows that Miriam and Elizabeth can't imagine having an intermarriage.  It is almost as if one is an embarrassment or disappointment to the family if they don't marry a Jewish man or woman.  Ehrlich does a very good job at getting the view point of a Jewish mother, and we find out more about her family life through that.

Q2 Outside Reading Post 3: Miriam's Kitchen

 In the reading I did this week, there was a very big conflict where someone had to chose on what was ethically right.  Miriam told a story about how she knew that their christian neighbors were hiding a Jewish family from the Nazis during the Holocaust.  In this situation, the neighbors thought it was ethically right to not tattle on the family and tell the Nazis that the family was Jewish.  If the family would've ratted them out, the family most likely would've been killed.  This was a very brave step that the Christian family took and if anyone found out, they could have been banned from the city they lived in, lost all their friends or even worse, get killed.

If I were in the Christian family's place, I would've done the same thing.  My grandparents were in the Holocaust and so I have heard some pretty disturbing stories on how they were always trying to find a place to hide.  If hiding someone in my house meant saving their lives, I would do it.  Even if it would bring threats to me, it would be worth it because I would know that deep down I am doing the right thing and that it would pay off in the end.

On the Waterfront Post

In the film On the Waterfront, we find out about how characters feel about being tattle tales.  The biggest example in the film is when Terry rats out his "friends" in the mob.  The mob were a group of men who were very dangerous.  Whenever they found out someone was going to stand up to them or tell their secrets, they would kill them in a very sneaky way.  Terry was not afraid of them and realized that they were hurting society so much that it was worth it to tattle on them.  In the end, the mob is very angry and Johnny Friendly, the leader of the mob, beats Terry to the point of death.  Even though Terry got very hurt, he showed that if one has secrets that are hurting, or in this case killing, others, than it is better to tattle on them than to have society get more hurt.  Who knows, if Terry wouldn't of stood up to the mob, so many more people could have gotten killed.

In my personal opinion, I think it is okay if one tattles on someone else if it is hurting society or someone else.  Here is one example that many teenage girls deal with.  There friend confesses to them that they're anorexic, but makes you SWEAR not to tell anyone or else your friendship will end.  Although it could risk you friendship, if you tell someone about her problem, you will be saving her life.  If someone has a secret that doesn't hurt society, someone, or something, then there is no reason why one should rat them out.

All My Sons Post

In the play, All my Sons, we see many examples where characters chose which is more important, fulfilling the needs of their society or the needs of their family.  There seems to be so much drama that gets to the characters heads.  All the drama makes them realize what really is important in their life and forces them to make decisions on very rough subjects.  In the Keller family there is a lot of drama.  Larry, one of the sons, has died in the war and Kate, the mother, won't come to realization that he is dead.  Chris, another of the sons, plans on marrying Larry's lover, Ann.  Joe, the father, is found guilty of lying about a huge crisis.  "I'm askin' you.  What am I, a stranger?  I thought I had a family here.  What happened to my family?" (Miller 75).  This shows that the Keller family hasn't been focusing on what the needs of the family were.  They've been more worried about what society thinks and have almost forgotten that they have a family to take care to.  George, Ann's brother, in the play, put his view of his families needs first.  He hated the Kellers because he was convinced that Joe Keller was involved with the scandal that left George and Ann's father in jail.  "You're not going to marry him" (Miller 53).  George obviously loves his family so much that he is willing to take away Ann from her love, Chris, because he hates the Kellers so much.  He is putting what he thinks are his families needs first in this situation.  As you can see, there are many different scenarios where society comes first or family comes first.

In my opinion, I think it is more important to put the needs of your family first.  Your family are the ones you love and the ones who you are supposed to be there for.  If they are in trouble, you should always try to do everything you can so they can be better off.  The only situation where you would have to put society first is if your family committed some kind of crime or did something that hurt society.  Even if your families beliefs are different than those in society, you should always stick by your family.

Q2 Outside Reading Post 2: Miriam's Kitchen

This week I read pages 62-120.  In the beginning we learn about Miriam's style of baking.  Before this, we knew that she loved to bake but in these pages we learn her style.  "There is no food processor, apple corer, mixing bowl, measuring spoon, basting brush, egg beater, wine coaster, or tomato knife.  Miriam, in general, does not aquire kitchen equipment... She knows exactly what she has and what she needs, because Miriam's repertoire is a dependable selection.  It is Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven, with a little Chopin, Dvorak and Irving Berlin added in over"(63).  This shows that Miriam doesn't use fancy utensils to bake.  This also shows that she isn't a perfectionist when it comes to measuring but thinks that the taste of something matters more.  We also learn more about how Miriam likes to add what she thinks would be right in a recipe.  "My instinct is to improvise" (64).  This shows that she likes to change up some of her recipes to make it her own.  

In these pages we also learn a little bit about Miriam's childhood.  She was a jewish girl, who was growing up in Germany area.  We learn that she loved where she lived.  "Her mother's youngest sister, spared at Auschwitz, was raising a family next door.  Down the road were friends from the old village.  There was dazzling warmth and sunlight..." (67).  This is a good description of what the town was like and really shows why Miriam loved Germany so much.  Unfortunatley, she was forced to move because of the war.  Her family, along with many others, wanted to go to America for the same reason; freedom and a better life.  "But her mother and her husband wanted America, they wanted prosperity, and Miriam packed up to begin again" (68).  We see that if Miriam, had a choice, she wouldn't of necesarily wanted to move because she loved her home town so much.  This quote also shows that she seems to have been moving around a lot.  Overall, in the pages we get more information about Miriam.

Q2 Outside Reading Post 1: Miriam's Kitchen

For this quarters outside reading, I am reading the memoir Miriam's Kitchen by Elizabeth Ehrlich.  In the memoir, Elizabeth is talking about her childhood.  She grew up in New York like any Jewish family.  Went to synagogue, kept a kosher house and had a grandmother who was always cooking.  We learn that Miriam loves to cook.  "They cooked twenty-one meals a week, fifty-two weeks a year, all their adult lives" (17).  This really gives you a good idea on how much Miriam really did cook.  Like most Jewish grandmothers, they are always cooking meals for their family.  Also, every chapter would be named a different type of dish.  Then, in that chapter she would describe the time when Miriam made the food.  "One autumn in Brooklyn as we visited for the holidays, I watched my grandmother in her kitchen day after day... she made a cabbage borsht or soup that season, sweet-and sour" (59).  This chapter was called stuffed cabbage.  As you can see, Elizabeth is describing the setting of where she was when this dish was made.  Then she describes the taste.  By doing this, you really get information about the flavors in the dish.  Once in awhile, there will be a recipe following the chapter.  I think this is a good addition to the book because it makes the book seem real, and you get a better understanding of what the dish is, since a lot of the foods she makes have Yiddish names.  On page 27 there is a recipe for cholent which is a type of meat.  This follows the chapter "Cholent" which is when Elizabeth meets the man she will one day marry.

In the pages, we also learn about Elizabeth's family and their religious views.  They are conservant Jews so they keep a kosher home, where milks and meats don't mix, and go to services often.  There is a chapter about the Jewish Holiday Yom Kippur.  That is when God judges the Jewish people on how they acted the past year and the people reflect on how they acted.  People go to services to pray for the day and also fast.  "The repetitions of prayer and emotion echo and rise in every place of Jewish worship:  We will die, we are sinful, we are not worthy of the privilege of life" (11).  This is what a temple would usually sound like.  People are telling God that they messed up in the past year and didn't act how they should've.