A simple vegetable salad containing celery leaves and cranberries was picked by his uncle Nir for 17-year old Tomer Arava — murdered in his home on Nachal Oz —because “it has everything he liked”.
“Curbia” cookies were associated with 20-year-old soldier Yael Leibushor — who was also murdered at Nachal Oz — because those were what she had made and brought to her base on her penultimate Shabbat.
For Rotem Doshi — killed at Kfar Aza — it was malabi, a milky, rosewater-scented pudding. Doshi loved the dessert so much that his family found a note in his wallet for a malabi he was intending to try out.
Rotem Doshi loved malabi, a milky, rosewater-scented pudding[Missing Credit]
“When you see their faces and read a little bit about them you can really identify with that one person and that one family by what they liked to eat. The families want these recipes to be made — they want them to be remembered,” said Anna Coleman, director of operations at Tribe.
“For people not living in Israel [who might feel] that one step away, this is to bring them that bit closer to what’s happening in Israel and how people are feeling.”
Despite the emotional reaction it may induce, the aim is to help ensure that the victims’ “flavour is not forgotten”, with the term intended to reflect both their favourite foods and their individual essence.
“We want to help their memories live on,” Coleman said.
“This is supposed to be a connecting project to bring people together. The hope is that people will make these recipes as a group. Maybe a family project. [They might say] ‘Let’s bake these cookies’ or ‘Instead of watching television we’ll make this recipe tonight for dinner’.”
Tomer Arava's simple salad included 'everything he liked'[Missing Credit]
The Matkon im Zikaron concept was originally conceived by Israeli Eden Kohali in 2016, when working as an emissary for the Jewish Agency in Minnesota, the US, as a way to commemorate fallen IDF soldiers and Israeli terror.
Kohali’s job had been to build bridges with the community she was working in, but she had struggled to help them appreciate the importance of Yom Ha’Zikaron — Israel’s remembrance day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror — in the modern Israeli calendar. She then discovered that a combination of food and stories shared by the families of victims helped them identify more with the day.
She trialled a project along these lines in Minnesota in 2016 and, during that first year, more than 250 people in the community took part in cookery projects, preparing the recipes of the fallen and sharing their stories.
Back in Israel in 2017, Kohali continued this work, launching a website through which visitors could access recipes, and presentations about the dead, including photos and personal stories, as well as plans to host cooking sessions.
Now Tribe and United Synagogue hope people across the English-speaking world will replicate the recipes at home too.
Coleman said: “I see this as remembering the good stuff about someone — this is what they loved to eat.”
The full recipe booklet can be viewed and downloaded here while individual recipe cards can be found here. Limited printed cards are also available upon request via education@theus.org.uk.
Yael Leibishor's family contributed a recipe for the cookies she made on her penultimate Shabbat[Missing Credit]