tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post8473744141592504186..comments2024-03-28T13:37:53.397-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: A Hanukkah Mystery: The Case of the Female MaccabeeLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-52636363232012534662015-12-13T15:07:51.724-05:002015-12-13T15:07:51.724-05:00Thanks, BK!Thanks, BK!Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-11021079990933214032015-12-13T11:20:27.075-05:002015-12-13T11:20:27.075-05:00I see what you mean, Leigh. Given Judith's his...I see what you mean, Leigh. Given Judith's history, it might be hard for a husband to relax after having a spat with her: "That's all right, dear. You can let the lawn go for another week. Just stretch out on the couch and watch the game. Have a few beers. Here--I made you some nachos."<br /><br />Over the years, we've often managed to find special holiday cards to send to friends who celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah. My favorite had the greeting, "Deck the halls with boughs of challah," with an appropriate illustration.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-21355707650319635532015-12-12T22:55:00.406-05:002015-12-12T22:55:00.406-05:00(dryly) Could be another reason Judith found it a ...(dryly) Could be another reason Judith found it a little difficult to remarry after moving ‘ahead’, so to speak. Come to think of it, a Judith I knew was… Well, never mind. But she made good pierógi, so there. I’m up for cheese or potato anything.<br /><br />Like Melodie’s family, mine celebrated Christmas and Chanukah together. The star above our Christmas tree was a Star of David.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-89945378698148645782015-12-12T20:53:19.168-05:002015-12-12T20:53:19.168-05:00Eve, first of all, congratulations on having your ...Eve, first of all, congratulations on having your name on the cover of the sixtieth anniversary issue of Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, a magazine we both have many reasons to love. The latke recipe is available on my website--http://www.bkstevensmysteries.com/recipes-from-the-stories/. Let's see if Blogger will let me copy it here:<br /><br /> Leah’s Latkes<br /><br /> This recipe appeared in “Death on the List” (Hitchcock’s, January 1999). Latkes are a traditional Hanukkah dish—a simple dish, but it can easily go wrong. If you use a food processor to grate the potatoes, the latkes can be mushy. If you don’t rinse and soak the grated potatoes and then apply some muscle to squeeze them out thoroughly, the latkes can be heavy and starchy. And if you don’t add a little lemon juice to the batter, it can turn gray unless you fry the latkes up immediately. But if you take the little bit of extra trouble involved in doing things right, your latkes will be light, golden, and delicious—just like Leah’s.<br /><br />5 medium potatoes<br />2 large eggs<br />6 green onions, chopped fine (light green part only)*<br />3 tablespoons matzo meal (or flour, but it’s not as good)<br />1 teaspoon salt<br />dash pepper<br />1 tablespoon lemon juice<br />vegetable oil<br /><br /> Grate potatoes by hand, rinse in cold water, soak in bowl of cold water, rinse again, and squeeze all the water out. The grated potatoes should be snowy white. If there’s even a trace of pink, rinse, soak, and squeeze again.<br /> Beat eggs well; add matzo meal, salt, pepper, and lemon juice; mix well.<br /> Add potatoes and onions and mix again. (Will keep in a sealed container for an hour or so without becoming discolored.)<br /> Drop batter by tablespoonfuls into hot vegetable oil, making latkes about 3” in diameter. Fry until underside is browned; turn to brown again.<br /> Drain on paper towels.<br /> Serves six. Many people like to serve latkes with applesauce, sour cream, or both.<br /><br />*Most people use white onions and grate them, and that’s good, too. But I like the little bit of crunch you get with green onions.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-31872455121602365822015-12-12T20:48:50.833-05:002015-12-12T20:48:50.833-05:00David, Anonymous (both of you), and Theresa, I'...David, Anonymous (both of you), and Theresa, I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Anonymous, I'd never made the connection between latkes and the recent introduction of potatoes to Europe until I started working on this post. I'd heard, from time to time, about potatoes being brought to Europe from South America, but I'd never put things together and realized that must mean the first latkes must have been made from something else. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-29887987613167870122015-12-12T20:40:19.477-05:002015-12-12T20:40:19.477-05:00R.T., thanks for your comment. Chances are, the &q...R.T., thanks for your comment. Chances are, the "true story" will never be settled to everyone's satisfaction. My guess is that the story of Judith is essentially what we call a midrash, a kind of parable based on a biblical event or character and designed to illustrate a religious teaching--like our story of Abraham, as a young boy, smashing all the idols in his father's shop to prove that idols can't really be gods. Did the incident really happen? Does it really matter? As I used to tell my religious school students, stories can be true in various ways, and factual truth is only one of those ways. (I used to use CHARLOTTE'S WEB as an example--obviously not true in some ways, but still capable of teaching us true things.)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-2331065717090919042015-12-12T20:31:22.304-05:002015-12-12T20:31:22.304-05:00Thanks for your comments, Larry and Melodie. I fin...Thanks for your comments, Larry and Melodie. I find the possible connection between Judith and Hanukkah intriguing, too. There's also another Hanukkah heroine, Hannah, whose story is told in the books of the Maccabees (which are included in the Catholic bible but not the Jewish or Protestant ones--fascinating, since Jews are the ones who celebrate Hanukkah). Hannah is a martyr who dies along with her seven sons because they refuse to give in to Greek/Assyrian demands to abandon their religion. Maybe someone, at some time, decided to balance their inspiring but tragic story with a tale of a Jewish woman who manages to fight back and triumph.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-60326587081085386972015-12-12T20:17:01.058-05:002015-12-12T20:17:01.058-05:00Janice, you're right about painters. When I wa...Janice, you're right about painters. When I was searching for illustrations for this post, I came across a wealth of them. Some are gory--Caravaggio, for example, shows us the bloody act in progress. So does Artemisia Gentileschi, a recently rediscovered woman painter of the seventeenth century--and I couldn't help being amused to find a painting of a Jewish heroine by a painter named Gentileschi. This is clearly a story that appeals to many people, regardless of religion. Gustav Klimt did a painting of Judith, too, especially fascinating if you saw WOMAN IN GOLD (a wonderful movie, I thought). I was tempted to use Klimt's painting as an illustration but decided it might be a shade too naughty. It's not as violent as some of the others: We see just a corner of Holofernes' head. But we see quite a bit of Judith.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-92011217231658360722015-12-12T20:06:13.521-05:002015-12-12T20:06:13.521-05:00I just got back after going to Hanukkah services i...I just got back after going to Hanukkah services in Charlottesville (and doing a few other things, too). Thanks for all the Hanukkah greetings. I return those greetings to others who celebrate, wish my Christian friends a very merry Christmas, and hope the new year is a good one for all of us.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17673578800047888317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-8459554078768177512015-12-12T19:06:28.054-05:002015-12-12T19:06:28.054-05:00"She brought him butter in a lordly dish"..."She brought him butter in a lordly dish" - no, that's Jael. But I like Judith, too - very strong woman. I remember that latke recipe, by the way, and I'd love a copy of it, too!Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-78509960164639195752015-12-12T16:45:46.096-05:002015-12-12T16:45:46.096-05:00I love these history lessons.I love these history lessons.Theresa Gnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-11375479737206041462015-12-12T16:44:52.973-05:002015-12-12T16:44:52.973-05:00I love these history lessons.I love these history lessons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-5959413957882516832015-12-12T16:36:31.067-05:002015-12-12T16:36:31.067-05:00I LOVE THIS POST!! Thank you for every single part...I LOVE THIS POST!! Thank you for every single part of it!! And no, I am not Jewish. But I have read some of this story and the commentaries, and yet your synopsis and its correlation to the stories of other women heroes in Jewish history and the addition of the recipes makes it just absolutely PERFECT. (And, as an aside, thank you for pointing out how recently potatoes came to the Old World. Most people totally miss that.) Happy Hanukka to you and all your loved ones!!! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-7609358612433642392015-12-12T13:57:48.549-05:002015-12-12T13:57:48.549-05:00As your article well points out, the truth of hist...As your article well points out, the truth of history depends upon who is telling the story and how well that version of the story lasts. In future years, the "true story" may never be known, or it could change depending upon what other "evidence" comes to light. Thanks for the history lesson.R.T. Lawtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15523486296396710227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-89121293758605906922015-12-12T12:19:33.510-05:002015-12-12T12:19:33.510-05:00Great post, BK! I'm the gal who got Halvah in...Great post, BK! I'm the gal who got Halvah in my Christmas stocking every year, such was the confusion of backgrounds in my family. I didn't know of the Judith-Hanukkah connection. Thanks for this.Melodie Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07870938103759179132noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-83825808114998578362015-12-12T11:19:44.957-05:002015-12-12T11:19:44.957-05:00Fascinating research here, B.K. Thanks for doing ...Fascinating research here, B.K. Thanks for doing the heavy lifting. I learned a lot.<br />Happy Hanukkah!David Deanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13005457506363262838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-89889992934810265932015-12-12T09:43:13.089-05:002015-12-12T09:43:13.089-05:00I read the story of Judith in the course of my own...I read the story of Judith in the course of my own biblical and Jewish studies many years ago, although I did not know of the possible Hanukkah connections. Thanks for this post, and Chag Sameach!Larry W. Chavishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06804143598641414386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-75329975765843733192015-12-12T08:04:01.867-05:002015-12-12T08:04:01.867-05:00Judith was certainly a gift to painters, too.
Happ...Judith was certainly a gift to painters, too.<br />Happy Hanukkah!janice lawnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-74577870824225862082015-12-12T01:01:00.422-05:002015-12-12T01:01:00.422-05:00Message from B.K. Stevens--I'm on the road and...Message from B.K. Stevens--I'm on the road and won't be able to respond to comments until late Saturday afternoon or early Saturday evening. But once I get home, I'll be eager to read and respond to them all.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13811357645522122115noreply@blogger.com