JEWISH CONGREGATION of BLUE RIDGE Religious Leader: Marty Pomeranz Alan Schulman, President Howard Winkler, Secretary Robin Hyman, Treasurer Debra Volk, Director Charlie Chasen, Director As announced at our Annual Congregational Meeting, we Rosh Chodesh by Pam Marsh welcome Robin Hyman and Charlie Chasen to our Board. And August 21 is Rosh Chodesh, literally meaning “head of the many, many thanks to Pam Marsh for her dedication to JCBR month” and is a minor holiday that marks the beginning of every and time on the Board as our Treasurer. Hebrew month. This holiday has many different traditions depending on the congregation. It has also seen favor in many Please join our Third Annual Ladies-Led Shabbat Service women’s groups – we choose this minor holiday service as one led by our JCBR women. Friday, August 21. We will be opening our Zoom meeting at 7:15 and begin services at 7:30. (Wish to join us but feel a little There is a wealth of books and information on this holiday, and I apprehension about the new world of Zoom? We can help you learn have selected those traditions and service components that will how. Look at the end of this handout for some very, very basic steps.* fit into an online Zoom format. And Alan has posted a document called “Zoom Familiarization” on our And which new month are we celebrating? The month of Elul. Website on the Contact Us Page. We can help you master the basics According to the Sages, the name of Elul is an acronym forming so you can celebrate Shabbat with your JCBR community. We the first letters of the words Ani L’dodi V’dodi Li. (I am my haven’t seen all our congregants during Covid times and miss you!) beloved’s and my beloved is mine.) In Hebrew the letters would be aleph-lamed-vav-lamed. Perhaps during all the meetings on Last year, during our Ladies’ Service led by Pam Marsh, some of Tu B’Av last month, Elul became the month for weddings. our gentlemen lit Shabbat candles. We’ll light our Shabbat [Tu b’Av, the 15th day of the month of Av, was originally a candles together during our service. Wine/grape juice, too. matchmaking day for unmarried women in the Second Temple period (before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE). On that day, single Israelite women would go out in the fields dressed in white and dance before the young men, who then selected their brides. It’s a minor holiday.] In the month of Elul we start to prepare for our new year which takes place in the following month, Tishre. The New Crisco is short for crystallized cottonseed oil. For most of the 19th Moon of Tishre, Rosh Hashannah, is the day on which we century, cotton seeds were a nuisance and left in the cotton fields. celebrate the creation of the world. In Sivan, G-d united in Early attempts to mill them resulted in a dark smelly oil. A chemist sacred marriage with the Jewish people. In Tishre, G-d named David Wesson pioneered industrial bleaching and deodorizing became “wedded” to the world. In Elul we celebrate with and cottonseed oil became clear and tasteless. with songs of love, and melodies from the Song of Songs. From Rosh Chodesh Elul until Rosh HaShannah, we blow You know the name Procter & Gamble. Originally William Proctor the Shofar each day to reawaken us in preparation for the made candles and his brother-in-law, James Gamble, made soaps. In turning of the year. (Excerpt from Miriam’s Well: Rituals for Jewish 1911 and 1912 they targeted Jews – those who kept Kosher and Women Around the Year by Penina Adelman.) specifically the Ashkenazi Jews, immigrating at that time in large Thank you, Pam for your preparation of Shabbat service numbers. Jews used butter and schmaltz to fry and bake, but P&G content, coordination and information for this “handout”! wanted them to use plant-based Crisco instead. These two men …JCBR Gentlemen, would you like to lead a service, too? waged a decades-long campaign to convince American home cooks to substitute Crisco for traditional animal fats and butter. On a lighter note… In the early 1900’s P&G had cornered the market on cottonseed oil We have among us fabulous bakers – women and men – and oh, how for use in its soaps, and they then used this oil to create their first I miss the goodies at Oneg time. You, too? So when I came across an edible product - Crisco. They made it resemble a solid fat at room article in jweekly.com (The Jewish News of Northern California) on temp by developing the science of hydrogenation. And since Jews the subject of Crisco I thought it might be of interest. (Other craved something for parve dishes (neutral - eaten with either daily sources were used, too.) or meat) such as pies, Crisco worked. Although kosher certification symbols didn’t begin to appear on manufactured foods until 1923, P&G obtained rabbinic approval for their new product. (Must be a story hidden there.) Their marketing program was launched by J. Walter Thompson advertising – a pioneer of targeted marketing. Here’s a sample: “Yes, Crisco, the all-purpose lubricant, would aid intergenerational Jewish relationship.” Other ads explained how Crisco was “…truly clean and truly Kosher”… although Kosher has nothing to do with cleanliness. And they published and Alan provides in an email. For now this is the easy way for gave away a cookbook! The Story of Crisco. All 615 recipes contained you. (Those users who have the Zoom program already Crisco. Crisco was “…all vegetable! It’s digestible!” downloaded just click on the information in the email.) You can use the ID and password from the last Zoom meeting Then around 1933, P&G worked with the Jewish advertiser Joseph to practice steps 2-3. Jacobs. He was the creator of the famous giveaway, Maxwell House ID: 895 0633 8291 Password: 464581 Haggadah. Jacobs created the bilingual Yiddish-English cookbook 2. Type in the meeting ID, click JOIN. Dialog box appears. Can Crisco Recipes for the Jewish Housewife which targeted immigrant click “always open” or just click “open.) Yiddish-speaking mothers and English-speaking daughters. But Crisco 3. On the next screen, type in the password. Click JOIN had a rival. In the mid-1930s Lever Brothers launched Spry which was MEETING. supposed to be whiter and softer. It was discontinued in the 1970s. 4. When you are signing into an active meeting (for instance at P&G had more money to spend on Crisco advertising and marketing. 7:15 on August 21) you will have choices for video and audio. Unlike popular lard, Crisco had a neutral taste, long shelf life and a 5. In an active meeting you then choose yes for the video. (Or high smoking temp for frying. And it was the only solid shortening no if you don’t want to be seen.) made from plants. It bore a striking resemblance to lard, the creamy, 6. You then choose audio. Alan, as the host, can control audio highly non-kosher processed pig fat. But Jews could eat this. muting. We can too. He tells us how. Solves the challenges of birds chirping and dogs barking. And then food preferences shifted. In the 1990’s scientists began 7. At the end, you choose the words leave the meeting. raising the alarm about trans fats. A version of Crisco without trans fats has been sold since 2004 and there have been no trans fats in That’s it! There’s also a more involved set of directions on the Crisco since 2007, but the stigma may still remain. Today Crisco has ‘Contact Us’ page of our website jcbrgeorgia.org ‘How to Zoom’ replaced cottonseed oil with palm oil and soy oil (says my package). And in 2001, just shy of their 100-year anniversary, P&G sold Crisco to Have questions? Email [email protected] for assistance. JM Smucker Co. Zoom* Go to the website for Zoom which is: zoom.us. This is one way of joining a meeting. Zooming is like using Skype or Facetime. Shabbat Shalom and stay safe...Barbara 1. Look at the top right of page: Click on JOIN A MEETING. (This lets you type in the meeting ID and its password that .