Blog Posts Related to the American Jewish Community

  • Recipe in Spotlight - Kosher for Passover Brownies

    Editor's note: This post is part of a series spotlighting different family recipes used by members of the White House staff for Passover.

    This Passover recipe comes from my mom. When I was a little kid, I had these Passover brownies at a friend's house. I liked them so much that I had my mom call my friend's mom to get the recipe. She has been making them every year for me since. They are so delicious I would even eat them not on Passover.

  • Go-Go's Chicken Matzah Ball Soup

    Shira Miller's Matzoh Ball Soup

    Go-Go's Matzah Ball soup recipe, March 28, 2012. (Photo by Shira Miller)

    Editor's note: This post is part of a series spotlighting different family recipes used by members of the White House staff for Passover.

    Passed down for generations in my father's family, this recipe is a time-honored tradition at our Passover Seder.  For as long as I can remember, my father has spent the days leading up to our Seder planning and preparing to make my Great Grandmother Go-Go’s Chicken Matzah Ball Soup from scratch.  Last year I made it myself for the first time and shared it with friends at a Passover celebration here in Washington, DC!

  • Recipe in Spotlight - Apple Kugel

    Editor's note: This post is part of a series highlighting Passover recipes used by members of the White House staff.

    This recipe has been in my family for at least five generations. Esther Jacob, my grandmother, brought it with her when she arrived in Ellis Island from  Alba Iulia, Romania in 1932. She made her home and life in the Bronx, New York, and every year her family eats this kugel at our seder. Over the years, the size of the family and the seders have grown, but we take time to tell the stories of how our grandparents and great-grandparents made the difficult choice and hard journey to America in search of the very freedom that we celebrate on Passover.  

  • Chosen Food - A Celebration of Jewish Food and Culture

  • Remarks by Antony Blinken to J Street Conference

    Peace and Security for Israel

     Remarks as Prepared by Antony Blinken, Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President

    J Street Conference, Washington, DC - March 26, 2012

  • An Unbreakable Bond with the State of Israel

    Yesterday, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, addressed over 2,500 attendees at the J Street Conference in Washington, DC. There, Valerie reiterated the President’s iron-clad commitment to Israel’s security and shared stories of her personal connections to the Jewish people. Attendants at the J Street Conference also heard from Tony Blinken, the National Security Advisor to the Vice President.

  • A Visit with the Beren Academy Stars

    Jarrod Bernstein with Beren Academy Basketball Team

    White House Director of Jewish Outreach Jarrod Bernstein with Beren Academy basketball team in Houston, TX, March 16, 2012. (Photo from Robert M. Beren Academy)

    Last Friday, I had the privilege of visiting the Robert M. Beren Academy Stars basketball team in Houston, TX. The team received attention after they chose to forfeit the Texas state semi-final for high school basketball rather than playing on Shabbat. After receiving attention in thenational news, the league eventually agreed to move the game and the Beren Stars were allowed to play in the state championship.

  • White House Celebrates Purim with Megillah Reading

    White House Purim Celebration

    White House and Agency staff celebrate the Jewish Holiday of Purim with a Megillah Reading, March 8, 2012. (Photo by Daniel Ensign)

    On March 8, Jews around the world celebrated the holiday of Purim, made famous in the Book of Esther, which tells the story of the Jews of ancient Persia overcoming a murderous plot by Haman. White House and Agency staffers from all faiths and backgrounds gathered in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to celebrate the holiday. In partnership with Rabbi Levi Shemtov of the American Friends of Lubavitch, staffers were led in a reading of the Megillah by Rabbi Shua Hecht.