NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Joshua Brett
August 29, 2012 Phone: (267) 639-2587
Mobile: (609) 529-7508
E-mail: joshua@joshuabrett.us

MEKOR HABRACHA CENTER CITY SYNAGOGUE WELCOMES PHILADELPHIA JEWISH COMMUNITY
TO RING IN 5773

Philadelphia, Pa.—Mekor Habracha Center City Synagogue invites the Philadelphia Jewish community to begin the Jewish Year 5773 in a warm, friendly community at its annual High Holiday services and festivities. All events take place at the synagogue, located on the second floor of 2000 Chestnut Street in Center City.

Mekor Habracha will host its annual Selichot reception on Saturday, September 8, at 9:30 p.m. Attendees can meet Rabbi Eliezer Hirsch and other Mekor Habracha leaders and learn more about the shul and Center City’s Jewish community. The shul will hold full services on both days of Rosh Hashanah (September 17 and 18) and Yom Kippur (September 26), including evening services the night before. All prayer services are lay-led and are welcoming to individuals of all levels of observance and Jewish knowledge.

Mekor Habracha builds and maintains its own sukkah over Sukkot (October 1-7), and members of the community are invited to use it. Mekor Habracha concludes the High Holiday season with its spirited Simchat Torah celebration the evening of Monday, October 8.

All services and events are open to everyone. Reservations are required for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services due to space limitations. However, flexible payment options are available. Anyone interested in attending those services should contact the synagogue at mekorhabracha@gmail.com.

About Mekor Habracha Center City Synagogue
Mekor Habracha Center City Synagogue is a growing, vibrant and diverse Jewish community in Center City Philadelphia. Founded in 2007, Mekor Habracha is now home to over 200 members including graduate students, young professionals, families and empty nesters. Mekor Habracha offers daily morning services, traditional Shabbat and holiday services, Talmud study sessions and other activities for people of all ages and Jewish backgrounds. For more information, visit www.ccshul.com.
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Rabbi Eliezer Hirsch
Mekor Habracha
Center City Shul
2000 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Dear Rabbi Hirsch,
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and your community for hosting Team OneFamily for Shabbat. We really enjoyed ourselves and everything was perfect. Your community is obviously one that exemplifies the mitzvah of Hachnasat Orchim and we were made to feel like part of the community.
Team OneFamily was started six years ago as an extension of OneFamily. Our goal is to raise money for victims of terror in Israel by participating in endurance races. We have grown so much since then and have begun offering different races to address the needs of our athletes and members. Our weekend is Philadelphia was so amazing we are already planning for next year. We look forward to joining your community again.
Thank you for incorporating OneFamily and our mission into your Dvar Torah on Shabbat. It was especially poignant and relevant considering that at that exact time there were rockets being shot into Israel forcing thousands of Israeli citizens into bomb shelters and into a state of panic and fear.
There are so many things that you helped us with it would be impossible to list them all but I do want to mention that the homemade vegetarian chulent was the talk of the team for the rest of the weekend.
Thank you for hosting us and I look forward to a long lasting relationship with Mekor Habracha.
Sincerely,
Rachel Schwartz
Office Manager

http://miriamsadvicewell.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/crockpot-crapshoot/

Dear Miriam,

While it’s still winter, I want to make a great cholent for Shabbat, but my slow-cooker creations never turn out the way I expect. Any suggestions?

Signed,
Crockpot Crapshoot

Dear Crockpot,

For those readers who might not be familiar, cholent is a thick stew that traditionally cooks overnight on Fridays to be served for Shabbat lunch. The first time I had cholent was in college, and the Goucher kosher dining hall staff made vegetarian cholent with whole eggs in it. After 24 hours, the eggs had hard boiled and turned brown and tasted, if not quite delicious, then definitely unlike anything else I’d ever eaten, but you had to watch out for bits of shell in the rest of the pot.

When I first got a crockpot, I immediately called my sister to ask her what to do with it. I took her advice that first Shabbat, but I soon realized it’s not such an exact science and started trying out new ideas on my own. Check out my Shabbat blog, 25×52, for a lot of cholent and other slow-cooker recipes. (There are more scattered through the posts, but these are some of my favorites. Followers of 25×52 already know this, but I tried for much of 2011 to make the perfect chana masala in the slow-cooker, but I never got it quite right.)

I say all that by was of commiserating with you about the elusiveness of the perfect cholent. We Philadelphians are lucky, though, because there is a cholent master in our midst. Rabbi Eliezer Hirsch of Mekor Habracha Center City Synagogue makes the best cholent I’ve ever eaten (and I’ve tried quite a few since those first college eggshell days), so I asked him for his thoughts. Here’s what he had to say:

“The great thing about cholent is that it is a big mix of many foods, so experimentation is in order. For example, I don’t love potatoes, so instead of all potatoes, I add some sweet potatoes. I also don’t love beef, which I consider heavy, so I leave it out and make vegetarian cholent or replace it with lamb, which is delicious. Beans don’t agree with many people (and you know what I mean), so I use barley instead, which has great texture. Kishka is a really important ingredient, and instead of the fatty meat kind, I find that vegetarian kishka adds great taste to any cholent. I add my favorite spices: onion and garlic powder, Chili powder, and cayenne pepper for some kick. Paprika, salt and ketchup are American cholent staples that work well with most recipes. The best advice I can give is to experiment with foods and spices you think would taste good together until you have your perfect recipe. Also, the amount of water, temperature and the length of cooking time are important elements and need to be tested. Everyone is welcome to taste mine on Shabbat morning at Mekor Habracha!”

Whenever I talk about slow-cooking with people who know food and food blogs, they refer me to this website, so I’ll do the same for you. Also, as much as I can’t bring myself to experiment with cholent during the rest of the week, getting comfortable with the slow-cooker when it’s not Shabbat by making other kind of soups and stews can help boost your cholent-cooking confidence.

Let me know if you come up with a great recipe, and be well,
Miriam