Giles Coren has revealed that his great-grandfather went to cheder with David Ben Gurion, one of the founding fathers of the modern state of Israel.
On the latest episode of Let’s Talk: The JC Podcast, the food writer, author and JC columnist spoke about how his ancestor was born in Płońsk, then part of the Russian Empire, and was in Jewish school with David Ben Gurion.
Coren also joked that his great-grandfather "probably bullied" the founding father of the State of Israel saying that "everyone said Ben Gurion was the star of the cheder, but it was my great grandpa Harry"
The Times columnist also spoke about his desire to reconnect with his Jewish background by cooking traditional food for his family.
Giles' parents Alan Coren and Anne Kasriel were brought up in an Orthodox household but both drifted away from the faith in their adulthood.
Giles, said it was “ridiculous” he had grown so distant from his roots, and he hoped to teach his children about their heritage through food.
Coren discussed the motivation behind his efforts to master Jewish cookery, telling JC Editor Jake Wallis Simons: “It’s partly about my children but it’s also about me.”
Coren, 53, said: “It’s, ‘What can you do to be Jewish?’ because I’m 54 next month. Since I was about 28, I’ve been thinking ‘I must become Jewish again.
I must. This is ridiculous that I’m so deracinated.’”
Reflecting on his childhood, the writer said his family did not “do” Friday night dinner, but they did mark Pesach with a Seder.
JNV GILES COREN PORTRAITS 086
Giles consults Claudia Roden's famous Jewish cookbook ( John Nguyen)
Recalling his father singing and crying as he remembered his own father, Coren said: It was beautiful… I thought, ‘I must get it back.’”
He also likened celebrating Pesach to being a restaurant critic.
“Passover is just the annual re-examination of a meal,” he said.
“[We ask] ‘What does this meal mean… Why do we eat that? And that’s a question that I then ask of every meal.”
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