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Sense Memories Really Ling(

lokeeittei.

-4114

I

t is my understanding that as one ages the memory
is the second thing to go; I have forgotten the first.
However, the senses seem to remain strong, especially
when teamed with nostalgia. I have, of late, been
remembering some interesting sights, tastes and
smells of my youth.
When I was quite young, my mother's parents
came to visit and I quickly learned about wigs.
I awoke one morning to see a hairy something
perched on my dresser, and I am sure it was staring
at me. Come to find out, Bubbie wore a sheitel, and
it was on a stand on the dresser as she still wore her
morning kerchief. Today, a wig is no great surprise;
but back then it was an eye-opener.
One sight that always left me shivering was a
food item. It was called pitcha, which was actually
jellied calf's foot. It came to the table like a large
square of gray jello with a slice of hard boiled egg
on top. Ugh!
Passover brought a sight that I always treasure: a wooden
barrel. This item was filled with straw and our Passover dishes,
which I was able to help unload. I loved the crispness of the straw
and the beauty of the dishes that had not been seen for a year.

JN CONTENTS

Some tastes cannot be replicated these days. Some because
they are no longer "safe" to eat. One such is a thick slice of
pumpernickel bread liberally spread with shmaltz and a light
dusting of salt. (To my cardiologist, Dr. Silverman: If
you are reading this, please remember that this is a
distant sense memory; that is all!)
My mother also made something called kuchen: a
multilayered baked item that contained apples, nuts,
raisins, jelly, etc. It was a real michal — a taste treat.
Kiddush lunches on a Saturday at shul cannot hold
a candle to the real orange pop and kichel that we as
kids were given.
To this day, I cannot abide the smell of vinegar
being heated as it was when I was little and Mother
made herring. (I hate herring, too.)
Readers these days take pleasure from their auto-
mated devices for reading books. Those do not,
however, come close to the smell of old books that I
enjoyed when helping my dad straighten his massive
library.
Well, when someone now tells me to come to my senses, I
have a wealth of nostalgic ones to draw on as my senses come
to me.

❑

theJEWISHNEWS.com

March 27-April 2, 2014 I 25 Adar II - 2 Nisan 5774 I Vol. CXLV, No. 8

Around Town
22
Arts/Entertainment ...53
Calendar
25
Community
38
Food
58
46
Health
Israel .. 5, 18, 42, 49, 54
JN Archives
6
Letters
5
Life Cycles
62
Marketplace
66
Mentsh of the Month ..78
Metro
8

Next Generation
40
Obituaries
72
Out & About
55
Points Of View
42
27
Red Thread
Sports
52
Staff Box/Phone List... 6
Synagogue List
44
Torah Portion
45

Shabbat Lights

Become an HFL Donor.
Click. Call. Give Now.
www.hfldetroit.org
248.723.8184

Shabbat: Friday, March 28, 7:36 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, March 29, 8:38 p.m.

Health. A fresh start.
A good education.
The next great business idea.

Shabbat: Friday, April 4, 7:44 p.m.
Shabbat Ends: Saturday, April 5, 8:47 p.m.

Times are from Yeshiva Beth Yehudah calendar.

Columnist

Danny Raskin

60

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"When I was young, my mom
was a single mother raising three
children," said HFL Board member
Carolyn Bellinson. "She didn't have
a lot of personal financial support,
but she made use of our Jewish
community resources, including
options available to help give my
siblings and I some great experi-
ences. Community support helped
us go to Hebrew school and summer
camp, and we had JELS loans for
college. Those JELS loans felt like
someone local believed in me."
Now as a member of the HFL
committee administering the William
Davidson Jewish College Loan
Program (WDJCLP), Carolyn remem-
bers that feeling, and it drives her
to participate in the community.
"Everything we do at HFL gives
me a strong feeling of giving back,
of validating those who believed in
me. I'm helping give our borrowers
that same feeling of support and
encouragement I felt," Carolyn said.
"This new college loan program
is a great added component to the
programs HFL offers. It will give
students real options for higher
education, and will raise the stakes
for our area," Carolyn said. "I'm a
mother, and I want the best local
opprtunities for my kids. For our
next generation, it is crucial to have
a strong vibrant Jewish community
in Detroit. We are enriching lives from
childhood through adulthood."

Cover page design: Michelle Sheridan.
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Highway, #110, Southfield, MI 48034.

Hebrew Free Loan gives interest-
free loans to members of our
community for a variety of
personal and small business
needs. HFL loans are funded
entirely through community
donations which continually
recycle to others, generating
many times the original value
to help maintain the lives of
local Jews.

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FREE * LOAN

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March 27 • 2014