With a name like ‘gefilte,’ it’s got to be good
Yes again, Passover is upon us. Time to celebrate the escape from bondage and eat the bread of affliction. But really, what were the folks in marketing thinking when they introduced a product named gefilte fish? Gefilte kind of means “ground up” in old German. Thus, poached and mashed pike fish is of around 13th century German origin. Germany, back then having a significant Ashkenazi population, Jewish Germans also acquired a taste for such a unique dish.
Briefly back to Passover. This is a significant moment when Jews and Christians have much in common. Jesus’s last supper was certainly a Passover seder. Some Bible scholars also say that, considering December 25th as Jesus’s birthday, he may have been conceived during Passover… discounting the assumption of his divine origin.
Thomas Sowell wrote in Ethnic America that over two million Jews came to the U.S. in order to escape the Pogrom of 1881. America was thus forever changed. Since the U.S. is much more cosmopolitan than its leftist critics say it is, immigrant Jews and their immediate progeny found important positions throughout the American cultural fabric. There was even a jazz number called “Matza Balls and Gefilte Fish.”
Just in case you haven’t noticed, antisemitism has found its way back onto the front page. This is largely because of the latest dust-up in the Middle East. I doubt that formerly tolerant people are just now becoming hateful… but, rather, the human tendency towards tribalism has acquired more impetus… leading to greater visibility of the attitude. Hate is not good, but should also be tolerated as long as it remains just a feeling and doesn’t lead to inflicted harm. Today’s leftists are particularly focused on hate… in fact they really hate people who do it. I’ve always scoffed at the existence of “hate” crimes. Somehow beating somebody up because of what’s in your heart is more criminal than just wanting to take their money and credit cards.
Further evidence of the cosmopolitan nature of Jewish existence in the modern world is found down south. Does the name Claudia Sheinbaum ring a bell? It so happens that she stands a good chance of becoming the next president of Mexico. Really? Well, she used to be the mayor of Mexico City and is a well-educated energy “expert”… in a country that has a huge stake in energy exports.
Back to gefilte fish. It is best eaten with horseradish sauce, known in Yiddish as chrain. The source root actually grows wild in vacant lots all over the place. Legend also has it that my grandmother’s homemade chrain could be used to strip the paint off of walls just by leaving an open jar in the room. It can definitely clear your sinuses.
Image: Edsel Little