Ann Arbor's Best-Kept Secret

U-M Hillel serves daily, Shabbat and High Holiday meals

for students and the community.

High Holiday Eating

Zach Greenberg

Special to the Jewish News

Both U-M and MSU provide meals
to students and the community on
Rosh Hashanah and before and after
Yom Kippur.

Ann Arbor

L

ike every Jewish kid, I grew up
eating Bubbie's cooking right up
until the day I left for college at
the University of Michigan. Whether it was
the three kinds of chicken and homemade
challah on Shabbat, the surprisingly tasty
Passover treats at the seder table or the
gallons of chicken soup and matzah balls
whenever I was sick, I really loved my
bubbie's cooking.
Then a problem arose; I realized that it
would get extremely expensive to continu-
ally ship Bubbie's food to me for Shabbat.
Thankfully, I found an alternative when I
discovered Shabbat dinner at U-M Hillel,
with the fantastic kitchen staff under the
gifted executive chef Emil Boch.
From the always delicious soup to
the brisket and chicken reminiscent of
Bubbie's cooking, I'd found a good "home-
cooked" meal for Shabbat dinner each
week.
Thankfully, Emil does a fantastic job of
making sure there's always plenty of food
that always tastes great. He is a welcome
addition to the Hillel staff and is every-
one's favorite person when it comes time
for Shabbat. And because his meals are
open to the public, many in Ann Arbor's
Jewish community enjoy his cooking, too.
Rabbi Rod Glogower of the Ann Arbor
Orthodox Minyan, along with minyan
members and Hillel staff, supervise the
kitchen for meals and for catering.
I had the chance to ask some questions
of the man behind these delectable weekly
delights.

What got you into cooking?
Emil: I have always been interested in
food, and food as art, but I first started
working as a dishwasher/busboy when I
was 13 years old. It just progressed from
there and I started cooking on the line at
about 16 years old and seriously thinking
about a career as a chef around 18.

What brought you to Michigan
Hillel?
I answered an ad in the paper or on
Craigs-list or something. It was kind of a

A64

September 25 • 2008

JN

U-M
• Rosh Hashanah:
8:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29
1, 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept.
30
1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1
5:30 and 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, Oct.1
Reservations are required by Sept.
24.

Emil Boch in his element

stab in the dark that worked out wonder-
fully.

How do you manage to do all
that fantastic cooking for all
the daily kosher meals and
Shabbat meals at Hillel with
such little time?
I am the king of multi-tasking, and I work
really hard to be able to take pride in
making everything from scratch, from my
own recipes.

Meals At U M Hillel

-

University of Michigan Hille1,1429
Hill St., Ann Arbor, serves 13 glatt
kosher meals a week and is open to
the public.
• Weekday lunch: Noon-2 p.m.,
Sunday through Friday. Cost: $7/U-M
students; $9/non-students. No reser-
vations needed.
• Weekday dinner: 5:30-7:30 p.m.,
Sunday through Thursday. Cost: $10/
U-M students; $12/non-students. No
reservations needed.
• Shabbat meals: Call Hillel for
time. Cost: no charge/U-M students;
$15/non-students. Reservations
required by 5 p.m. Thursday.
To contact Hillel, call (734) 769-
0500.

Do you have a funny cooking
disaster story you can share
with us?
Not really; I don't find disasters very
amusing when you're trying to feed a
bunch of hungry Jews. They get scary
when there's not enough. ❑

Zach Greenberg, 20, is a University of Michigan
junior from Baltimore, majoring in aerospace
engineering. Shelli Liebman Dorfman, JN

senior writer, contributed to this story.

Meals At MSU

At Michigan State University's
Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel
Jewish Student Center, Shabbat
meals are served at 7 p.m. each
Friday night. Underwritten by the
Peter and Shirlye Heiman fam-
ily, there is no cost to students.
Meals are open to the community.
Saturday meals are not served.
Weekday meals are not served,
but Hillel provides meals for pro-
grams as well as Shabbatonim. A
monthly Sunday brunch is served at
no charge and is funded by the Sheri
and David Jaffa Sunday Brunch
Endowment. Reservations are taken
up to one day in advance. Call (517)
332-1916.

• Yom Kippur:
5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, pre-fast
dinner
8:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9 break-fast
meal
Reservations are required by Oct. 3.
Sukkot meal reservations are due by
Oct. 4. Shimini Atzeret meal reser-
vations are due by Oct.11. Call Hillel
for meal times.
Cost: lunches, $11; dinners, $14.

MSU
• Rosh Hashanah:
7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 29
6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30
No charge to students or members
of the community as dinners are
funded by Mitchell and Michele
Bleznak in honor of their parents
through the Richard and Phyllis
Bleznak Rosh Hashanah Celebration
Endowment Fund.

• Yom Kippur:
5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8, pre-
fast dinner
8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, break-fast
meal
No charge for Yom Kippur meals,
which are funded by Dennis Deutsch
in memory of his parents through
the Alfred and Bernice Deutsch
Yom Kippur Holiday Celebration
Endowment Fund. Reservations for
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
meals may be made up to one day
before the holiday. Call (517) 332-
1916.

