Jewish Faith and Tradition
The memoir delves deep into a lot of Jewish traditions. Even though Elizabeth doesn’t necessarily practice the Jewish faith, it makes up for most of her upbringing and certain lifestyle choices. Her parents weren’t necessarily devoted to the religion, but certain practices penetrated their left-winged lifestyle. Despite this, Elizabeth always yearned to connect to her roots more than her parents. Through her mother-in-law, Miriam who worked in a Nazi camp as a teenager learns a lot about her Jewish heritage. Miriam is a devoted Jew who is well versed in all things Jewish. Elizabeth receives the first-hand experience of the culture she had desperately yearned for through cooking recipes and observing the Sabbath. She prefers to keep her dietary choices private to avoid judgment from fellow Jews. While living at her aunt’s house, she gets to experience and gains a spiritual understanding of how Jews mourn and prepare their dead for burial.
Culinary Arts
Through cooking, Elizabeth gets a deep dive into her family’s heritage and learning almost two dozen Jewish recipes. She begins to appreciate the way of life that she mostly ignored growing up. The memoir highlights the significance of the type of food served during a funeral. These practices date back generations, and they hold so much significance in the overall Jewish culture. Through the memoir, different recipes are explored and deeper meanings to the culture and traditions are unearthed, providing Elizabeth with a spiritual awakening that she never knew she needed. As she cooks kosher meals, she rebuilds a world that she lost growing up in a foreign country away from all the things that made her. She gets to experience past, present, and future of her life her family which gives her a greater meaning to life. Through these lessons from Miriam, Elizabeth learns to value her Jewish heritage as she hopes to pass them on to her children.
Inequality and the Life of an Immigrant
While not being a devoted Jew, Elizabeth finds it oddly unfair that women are not included in the Jewish prayer ‘minyan’. She, however, admits that given the opportunity to participate in the prayer, she wouldn’t even know where to begin. As a minority living in America with African-Americans, they have a similar understanding of living in a country far away from their heritage and having to embrace a diverse look on life. Elizabeth realizes as she becomes an adult that just because she lives in a foreign land, doesn’t mean that she can’t carry her ancestor's traditions with her.
