opinion
BY KATE HENNESSEY
M y 8-year-old son and I have been diving
headfi rst into podcasts lately. We’ve recently
discovered and fallen in love with “Forever Ago” by
American Public Media.

“Forever Ago” is a family-friendly podcast that
explores “the surprising and fascinating history
of things we think are ordinary, but
they’re not.” We were both excited
when an episode steered into some
distinctly Jewish territory, and it
made me realize how important
casual, mainstream Jewish repre-
sentation is for our children, as they
navigate what being Jewish and
American means for them.

The aforementioned
epi- sode is from 2018 and is enti-
tled, “Sandwiches: A Hillel by Any
Other Name.” This episode, as you
can guess by the title, explores
the history of the sandwich. While
the guest sandwich historian
acknowledges that with some-
thing as widespread through
various cultures as bread and
sandwiches, it’s hard to know
exactly who the very fi rst per-
son to make one was, the show
explores the earliest recorded
sandwich maker. Who gets the
credit for this earliest recording?
None other than Hillel, of the
Hillel Sandwich (aka, maror and
haroset sandwiched between
two sheets of matzah in the
Haggadah at the Passover
seder). The guest historian
explained: “The earliest appearance of
what sounds like a sandwich is
in a text about a Jewish religious leader named
Hillel the Elder, who was born in 110 BC. He is
older than Julius Caesar, who went on to rule
ancient Rome. If you looked at a map from back
then, none of the countries, none of the borders
that you know now would exist. It’s so long ago,
people were not even writing on paper yet. That
is the world that Hillel lived in. And it was then that
he made himself — I think what we’d call a sand-
wich: He laid out some lamb, some bitter herbs,
he put them between matzah, which is a Jewish
fl atbread, and he ate them as one.”
16 SEPTEMBER 8, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Next, a voice actor suddenly appears as Hillel
himself, who has stepped into the future for this
podcast episode and is excited to talk about all
the diff erent types of “Hillels” (what he assumes
sandwiches are called in the future). The host gen-
tly breaks it to him that while he was the earliest
recorded person to make a sandwich, he wasn’t
given the credit for it; the credit and eponym were
bestowed upon the Earl of Sandwich, who also
shows up as a character.

My 8-year-old has been
ambivalent in the past about his Jewish identity,
struggling with not feeling compelled to be as reli-
gious as some of our relatives. His ambivalence
began when he was around 4 and had a neg-
ative experience being “othered” at a religious
preschool. This later fed into his naturally logical
mindset, when he began questioning things he
fi nds problematic about religion. I’ve told him a
million times how he can connect with his Jewish
identity in an endless number of positive ways
that don’t compromise his values — but as many
parents know, what your mom says on repeat
quickly becomes white noise. Often, it’s only
when our children hear the same message from
someone/thing they admire that it really clicks:
“Wait, this isn’t just something my mom made up
— it’s legit!”
So it was really awesome to see my son perk up
at the mention of someone Jewish on one of our
favorite podcasts and to get to pause and explain
to him the context of the Hillel Sandwich in the
Passover seder. Then to hear him excit-
edly remark, “Wow, people have been
celebrating these [Passover] holiday tra-
ditions and being Jewish for thousands
of years!”
My son needs more than conversa-
tions with his mom, however. He needs
to see Jewishness that’s interesting and
important to him outside the four walls of
a synagogue. For as much as we bring
our kids to Sunday school and talk about
being Jewish at home (both of which
are important), there’s something equally
important about casual Jewish represen-
tation coming from our kids’ favorite main-
stream media.

A fundamental part of them develop-
ing their Jewish American identities is
seeing Jewish culture represented in dif-
ferent ways and through diff erent venues
— whether it’s watching the Jewish best
friend, Libby’s, bat mitzvah on shows like
the “Ghost and Molly McGee;” reading
their fi rst Goosebumps book and discover-
ing that it was written by Jewish author R. L.

Stine; or listening to the dramatized Jewish
history of Rabbi Hillel making a matzah
sandwich in their favorite podcast.

As a Jewish mother, this has strength-
ened my resolve to knowingly point out
“They’re Jewish!” or “That’s Jewish!” when-
ever it’s relevant — despite sometimes feel-
ing like the Windex-obsessed Greek father
from “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” who will
tell you how the etymology of every word in the
world traces back to Greek roots.

Hey, if my Jewish mother shtick is knowing all
the Jewishness in entertainment, then that is fi ne
by me. After all, it’s a pretty fun way to help my kid
see all the ways his Jewish American identity can
take shape. JE
Kate Adina Hennessey is the Education Director
for an LGBTQ-founded synagogue in Atlanta. This
fi rst appeared in Kveller.

ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS/ EXOPIXEL
How a Podcast About a Sandwich
Helped My Son Connect to Judaism



nation / world
Israel, Japan Sign New Defense Agreement
Israel and Japan signed a defense agreement allowing for greater military equip-
ment and technology cooperation on Aug. 30 in a sign of closeness as they mark
the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year, JTA reported.

Israel Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Japan trip comes at the tail end of a
visit to the United States, where he discussed Iran’s nuclear program and other
security issues with top offi cials, and as Japan faces heightened tensions in the
Pacifi c following Nancy Pelosi’s August visit to Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy
that Beijing claims as its own.

Japan announced plans to increase its defense budget and develop longer-range
missiles to counter threats from China and Russia.

Gantz said the new agreement “will strengthen the defense capability of each
country as well as our joint contribution to peace and stability in our regions and
all over the world.”
24th Annual Induction Ceremony
Oregon’s Swastika Mountain to be Renamed
Fift y miles southeast of Eugene, Oregon, reaching an elevation of more than 4,000
feet, lies Swastika Mountain.

It’s unknown how many Jews have climbed it. But the unfortunate name, nearly a
century old, will likely soon be replaced thanks to the eff orts of a resident, JTA reported.

According to Willamette Week, Joyce McClain discovered the mountain’s
existence last year and petitioned the volunteer-run Oregon Geographic Names
Board to change it. At a meeting this month, the board said it would support
a name change to Mount Halo, named aft er Chief Halito, who led the area’s
Indigenous Yoncalla Kalapuya tribe in the 1800s.

Th e name change is pending tribal approval.

Th e history of Swastika Mountain predates Nazi Germany. It was named
aft er the now-defunct town of Swastika, which acquired its name because a
local rancher used to brand his cattle with the symbol. Before the Nazis turned
the swastika into a symbol of hate, it signifi ed good fortune and well-being in
Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022
5:30 pm
RODEPH SHALOM
615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA
Buy Tickets Today to Attend or Purchase a Congratulatory Ad
www.phillyjewishsportsevent.org questions: info@phillyjewishsports.org
Djokovic to Compete in Israeli Tennis Tournament
Serbian tennis great Novak Djokovic will compete in the Watergen Open 2022 in
Tel Aviv in September, his camp confi rmed, aft er being forced to withdraw from
the U.S. Open due to not being vaccinated against COVID-19, jns.org reported.

Th e event will take place from Sept. 26 to Oct. 2 at the Expo center in Tel Aviv.

Foreign nationals who have not received one of the available coronavirus vaccines
are barred from entering the United States or Canada, and Djokovic has stated that
he will not get vaccinated even if this means missing out on key tournaments.

Djokovic also skipped the Australian Open in January, despite previously
claiming to have secured a government exemption to compete in the competition
without a vaccination record.

Yeshiva U. Asks Supreme Court to Weigh in on LGBT Club
Yeshiva University is asking the Supreme Court to block a New York court order
mandating that the Orthodox Jewish university recognize an LGBT group as an
offi cial campus club, New York Jewish Week reported.

Th e emergency request comes aft er an appeals court rejected the school’s
motion to delay a previous court order to recognize the YU Pride Alliance.

Both rulings were victories for the Pride Alliance and setbacks for the uni-
versity, where administrators argue that having to recognize the LGBT student
group would violate the First Amendment rights of the institution. Gay sex is
forbidden by nearly all Orthodox interpretations of Jewish law, although attitudes
toward individuals who identify as queer have eased somewhat in many Modern
Orthodox settings in recent years.

“As a deeply religious Jewish university, Yeshiva cannot comply with that order
because doing so would violate its sincere religious beliefs about how to form its
undergraduate students in Torah values,” the school wrote in the court request.

Th e university’s request is to only block the immediate implementation of the
club until another appeal of the decision is heard. JE
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
FREE ESTIMATES
PERSONALIZED SERVICE
SENIOR DOWNSIZING
DECLUTTER / HOARDING CLEAN OUTS
ALL ITEMS SOLD, DONATED, OR REPURPOSED
RESPECTFUL OF HOMES WITH
ACCUMULATIONS OF 30+ YEARS
JOLIE OMINSKY
OWNER SERVING PA, DE, NJ
JOCSERNICA@YAHOO.COM 610-551-3105
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM 17