Joan Nathan Visits Columbia

We were delighted to welcome celebrated chef and renowned cookbook author, Joan Nathan to Columbia last month, and we couldn’t be happier with the support from such a wide variety of people who joined us at two successful events on Feb. 3-4. The images below show the pure joy of cooking and history (and some of the delicious treats) that we enjoyed while Joan was here.

Special thanks to the more than 200 people who attended King Solomon’s Table with Joan Nathan at the Beth Shalom Synagogue. We were also glad to receive excellent local media coverage from Bach Pham at the Free Times and Madeline Cuddihy at WIS. We learned so much, and we can’t wait to start planning on our next Kugels & Collards event. We especially like the following comment that we received after the event.

“I found the information and program interesting and loved the opportunity to try the unique and delicious food. I hesitate to share the following because it may be considered silly or misunderstood but I’m going to share in case it helps you considering additional programs. This was my first opportunity to enter a synagogue. I was raised here in the midlands in a Christian home—grew up and still am a Southern Baptist—where I was always taught to have a deep respect for and celebration of Jewish people and the nation of Israel. While I admit I am always easily moved to happy tears and tears of regret, I wasn’t expecting that yesterday. It was very emotional for me as I entered and sat down and reflected; opened the red book on the pew with Scripture in English on left and Hebrew on right. As I began to read familiar passages, I was moved to tears. I was glad no one seemed to notice and feel foolish mentioning now but I would not have had this experience without your offering yesterday’s program. I’m grateful for the experience. I guess it was an overflow of gratitude that the faith and the Bible that are important to me are available because of the ancestors of the Hebrew faith from Scriptures.”