Syrian refugees and St Albans Jewish community exchange culinary delights
Three women from the war-torn middle eastern country cook Syrian pancakes and savoury filo pastry rolls as shul members bake traditional deserts
Syrian refugees joined culinary forces with Jewish families from St Albans Masorti Synagogue on Sunday, as they learned about each other’s cooking and cuisine.
Describing a “hive of activity,” congregation members said three Syrian women cooked Syrian pancakes and savoury filo pastry rolls while three shul members made cheese scones, chocolate brownies and lemon drizzle cake.
“We wanted to learn about each other’s cultures, and what better way to start than in the kitchen” said Helen Singer, who coordinated the event as part of a multi-faith day of social action. “Several SAMS families, including my own parents, were welcomed to this country as refugees so we were delighted to co-host this event.”
After the baking, the family tea was laid out in the synagogue main hall, together with activities for young people upstairs, and 14 Syrian families from the local area came to the tea, joining young shul members in chess, table tennis and table football, with younger children joined in art activities.
“It was a fantastic event,” said Irene Austin from Herts Welcomes Syrian Families. “Shared cooking is wonderful and it was so nice to share the different foods. Everyone really enjoyed talking to other people and hearing about their backgrounds. This sort of event is certainly the way forward.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
