L ifestyle /C ulture
Food Continued from Page 22
juices while roasting. Drizzle
on the remaining lemon-gar-
lic-basil mixture from the first
bowl. Roast another 15-20
minutes, or until juices run
clear — not pink — when the
chicken is pierced with a knife.

The recipe can be served
immediately. If making it ahead, cool it to
room temperature. Cover with
plastic wrap and refrigerate for
up to two days. When reheating,
remove it from the refrigerator
two hours in advance. Preheat
your oven to 350 degrees F
and reheat uncovered for 20
minutes or until the sauce in the
casserole bubbles.

BRISKET WITH VEGETABLES
AND FINE HERBS | MEAT
Serves 8-10
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper
5 pounds brisket, trimmed
of most of the fat
3 tablespoons olive oil, or
more, if needed
2 onions
6-8 carrots
3 large potatoes
½ pound mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
needles, crushed
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups beef broth
2 cups dry red wine
Sprinkle salt and pepper
on both sides of the brisket.

In a large heavy pot, heat the
oil on a medium flame. Place
the brisket in the pot, fat side
down. Brown it on both sides.

Move the brisket to a platter
and reserve. Turn off the flame
and remove the pot.

Dice the onions, carrots
and potatoes. Return the pot
to a medium flame. Add the
onions, carrots, potatoes and
mushrooms. Stir to combine.

Add more oil at any time,
if needed. Sprinkle in the
rosemary, sage and thyme. Stir
to combine. Add more salt if
needed. Sauté until the onion
and herbs are fragrant, about
3-5 minutes.

Add 1 cup of broth to the
pot. Return the brisket to the
pot. Pour in the remaining
broth and all of the wine. Stir
gently to combine the ingre-
dients. Place the lid on the pot
and simmer on a low flame
for 3-4 hours, until the brisket
is soft when pierced with a
utensil-sized fork.

Let the contents of the pot
cool to warm. Remove the
brisket from the pot and cut
it into slices against the grain.

If serving immediately,
½ cup olive oil
place the brisket on a platter
¾ cup red wine vinegar
with a deep rim. Ladle some
Kosher salt to taste
of the sauce on top. Place the
remaining sauce in a gravy
Salad boat or bowl. If refrigerating or
Dice the celery, red pepper,
freezing, let the sauce cool to onion, carrots and zucchini.

room temperature. Move the Place them in a large mixing
brisket and sauce to one large bowl. Add the olives and dill.

plastic container and cover
with its lid. Reheat the brisket
Salad Dressing
and sauce before serving.

In a medium-sized bowl,
add the sugar, olive oil, vinegar
MARINATED SPRING SALAD | and salt. Whisk until the ingre-
PAREVE dients are well combined and
Serves 8
the sugar is dissolved.

Pour the salad dressing
3 celery stalks
over the vegetables. Toss the
vegetables until well coated.

1 small red pepper
Cover the bowl and refrig-
1 small onion
erate. Marinate the salad for
3 carrots
24 hours, tossing the vegeta-
1 small zucchini
bles several times. Remove the
¼ cup pitted Kalamata
salad from the refrigerator an
olives hour before serving and place
2 teaspoons dill, minced
it in an attractive bowl. l
1 teaspoon sugar
Gottlieb Wanger
Continued from Page 20
my being!” (Seriously, I will
never forget that line.)
Or on the fourth season of
“House,” episode 12, in which
House claims that a Jewish
woman’s decision to become
Chasidic is a sign of mental
illness, related to her undiag-
nosed disease. Or the third
season of “Private Practice,” the
ninth episode, which depicts
an Orthodox couple whose
Orthodoxy doesn’t let them
use birth control, so one of the
doctors secretly prescribes the
wife birth control pills and tells
her they are iron pills for her
“anemia.” Why are these shows glori-
fying medical malpractice and
the denial of religious rights?
“House” outright equates being
religious with mental illness,
Continued from Page 20
and a throwaway line in the
“Grey’s Anatomy” episode
asks why anybody would
bother with Orthodoxy —
“why couldn’t you be plain
old Reform like everyone
else we know?” In each case,
Orthodoxy is portrayed as
unreasonable, as a conflict that
must be overcome.

So many things about
these episodes make me
angry. Why do none of these
Jewish characters ever call
and consult their rabbis? That
would be the first thing most
frum people would do when
facing a complicated medical
or ethical issue. And why are
these shows making broad,
sweeping, uninformed claims
about things like kashrut or
the use of birth control in
STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER
We are a diverse community. The views expressed in the signed opinion columns and let-
ters to the editor published in the Jewish Exponent are those of the authors. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Publishing
Group, the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia or the Jewish Exponent. Send
letters to letters@jewishexponent.com or fax to 215-569-3389. Letters should be a
maximum of 200 words and may be edited for clarity and brevity. Unsigned letters will not be
published. 24
MARCH 11, 2021
religious communities?
These examples aren’t as
dangerous as the clip from
“Nurses,” which portrays
religious Jews as horribly
Islamophobic and misog-
ynistic — a storyline that
surely doesn’t help Chasidim
in a climate that is already
so hostile toward them. But
each of these episodes frame
Orthodoxy as backward and
unwilling to change, and frame
Orthodox people as fanatics
willing to die for their bigoted
beliefs. The writers fail to under-
stand Orthodox Judaism while
relying on Orthodox Jews as a
cheap plot device. Maybe they
look at the huge number of
mitzvot that are observed by
Orthodox Jews and conclude
that it’s a rigid, unchangeable
structure. They don’t under-
stand that breaking Shabbat to
save a life is not only allowed
but mandatory.

In our tradition, there are
only three sins you must die for
committing: idolatry, murder
JEWISH EXPONENT
and adultery. The concept
of pikuach nefesh (saving a
life) overrides virtually every
commandment. Judaism
values the sanctity of human
life over almost everything else.

Your rabbi would encourage
you to take a porcine valve
or the bone graft. My mother
likes to quote one of her
favorite rabbis quite regularly.

She says: We’re meant to live
by our Judaism, not die by it.

It’s about time these TV shows
got that memo.

I understand the need
to write good TV and create
conflict. I understand (although
do not agree with) the desire for
out-of-the-box, exotic charac-
ters. But if you cannot construct
a story without misunder-
standing and misrepresenting
an entire demographic of
people, then it’s simply a story
you have no right to tell. l
Shoshanna Gottlieb is a writer, film
fanatic and future Jewish educator.

This was originally published by
JTA. Rev. Jerry Falwell famously
agreed, if American evangel-
icals continue their current
support for the State of
Israel and continue to treat
the Jewish people with love
and kindness, we will accept
Jesus, upon his return, as the
messiah. That’s a fair deal.

Judaism is laser-focused on
the here and now, and values,
most highly, how people
behave rather than what they
may think or believe.

Today, in a dangerous and
threatening world for Israel
and the Jewish people, Am
Yisrael need all the friends
we can get. If, “’Til Kingdom
Come,” American evangeli-
cals continue to honor and
support their Jewish brothers
and sisters, and a safe, strong
and vibrant Jewish State
with secure and recognized
borders, that’s good enough
for me. l
William Wanger is chair of the PA/
SNJ chapter of the Republican
Jewish Coalition.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM