H EADLINES
Solomonov Continued from Page 1
bring people to Israel emotion-
ally with the food that I cook
and the stories that we tell,”
Solomonov said. “And now, we
bring people virtually.”
Th e fi rst episode, which
aired via Vimeo, featured
“Haaretz” food journalist
Ronit Vered and Via Sabra
founder Avihai Tsabari, with
the trio cooking chicken thighs
and pilaf. Remaining episodes
will include interviews with
the likes of cookbook author
Adeena Sussman, baker Uri
Scheft and the lead singer of
Yemen Blues, Ravid Kahalani.

Together with Solomonov,
they’ll cook classic Israeli
dishes like sabich, schnitzel
and borekas.

Each episode will use the
evening’s dish as an entry
point to conversations about
the people, places and cultures
that make up Eretz Yisrael. An
episode featuring conversa-
tions with gap-year students,
many of them introduced
to Israel for the fi rst time,
features basic Israeli foods for
the newcomer, like couscous
and chopped salad; the
episode with Osama Dalal, an
Akko-based chef, uses a quirky
fi sh schnitzel recipe to talk
about the city’s long history of
Jewish and Arab coexistence.

“We’re so fortunate on this
show to visit with an incred-
ible lineup of people, who will
bring that sense of place and
culinary discovery to us at
home,” Solomonov said.

Th e genesis of the show
is fairly simple, according to
Solomonov. Unable to travel
to Israel to see his family and
friends, and with more time
on his hands than he’s had in
years, “Bringing Israel Home”
is as much a way to stay sane
as it is a venue for his cooking.

Th ere’s only so much time to
be spent running restaurants
that are operating at a fraction
of their pre-pandemic capacity.

“Th is is something that I
kind of need to do,” Solomonov
said. “I really am homesick,
and introducing people to
Israel is what I do.”
He’s positive that the show
would never have happened
without the newly discovered
time to devote to its production,
nor without the void created by
the impossibility of travel.

Tsabari, who appears on
many episodes, is the propri-
etor of several tour guide
companies, and will give
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s s
Michael Solomonov will eat Israeli food on his new show.

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parents and students,
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Blitz Tutoring.

Pods are small; typically
8 students per instructor.

Hours are meant to
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contextualizing information
and stories for some of the
dishes. As a young man, he was
a friend of Solomonov’s brother,
David, who was killed during
his IDF service in 2003. Th e
connections run deeper than
that — David Solomonov was
friends with Tsabari’s sister,
and Solomonov’s mother was
Tsabari’s English teacher.

“I can count on one hand
the people who are as generous,
as genuine and have a really,
really big heart, like Mike,”
said Tsabari, who lives in Hod
HaSharon. On the episode dedicated to
David Solomonov, which will
stream on March 3, Solomonov
will interview members of his
brother’s unit and cook a lamb
dish that was a family favorite.

Like Solomonov, Tsabari
sees a direct line between the
new burdens of travel and the
desire for a show like “Bringing
Israel Home.”
“Th e fact that now people are
being told that they can’t come
to Israel, even if they didn’t plan
to come to Israel before, is now
making them more eager to
come here,” Tsabari said, even
if “coming” to Israel doesn’t take
them any further than their
stovetops and ovens.

Interested viewers can
follow @bringingisraelhome
on Instagram, and enter to win
a private Zoom cooking class
with Solomonov at the show’s
homepage. “Bringing Israel Home”
is supported by Th e Jewish
Community Response and
Impact Fund, Jim Joseph
Foundation, Maimonides Fund,
Th e Paul E. Singer Foundation and
Charles and Lynn Schusterman
Foundation; Th e Hub on My
Jewish Learning and Th e Nosher
are promotional partners. ●
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM