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Learn Talmud! Make Onion Bread

Oy gevalt! I'm late for Talmud
Door Tori Egherman

You can read more about Ze Kollel’s 8th semester here: READ MORE.

Applications end 7 Aug! So if you’re already convinced that this is for you, apply now.


Oy Vey Events

Are you around this rainy August? Join us for our monthly Shabbat potluck in Amsterdam on 18 August! We want to see you! Register for updates and more information.


The Oy Vey Recipe

This newsletter’s recipe comes to us from Oy Vey member Ruth Carlitz, and it’s a good one. The “I” is her mother, whose recipe this is.

RUTH’S MOTHER’S ONION BREAD

DRY INGREDIENTS:

1 packet active dry yeast (about 2 teaspoons)

4 cups flour (500 grams)

1/4 cup sugar (32 grams)

1/2 teaspoon salt

WET INGREDIENTS:

½ cup milk (120 mil)

3/4 cup water (180 mil)

1/4 C butter (def use butter, no substitutes) (32 grams)

1 egg

FILLING:

1/4 cup butter (32 grams)

1 good-sized but not huge finely chopped onion

1 clove finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon grated parmesan or romano

1 tablespoon poppy seeds (Tori’s note: the horror!)

1 teaspoon paprika

Melt butter in saucepan; add remaining ingredients as soon as butter is liquid. (remember, you aren’t cooking the onion etc at this point.) mix well.

Oven 350 degrees (175 c). One large or 2 small loaves–we always do 1 large.

Grease cookie sheet. In a large mixer bowl, mix yeast, salt, sugar, and 2 c flour (250 grams). Heat milk, water, and butter in a pan to warm, not hot (butter should melt but needn’t melt completely). Add liquid to dry ingredients and mix well. Add another cup of flour (125 grams) and the egg. Continue mixing/kneading until all flour has been added. Once you start kneading, knead for at least 10 minutes. Add as little flour above the 4 cups as possible (you’ll have to add some but not too much).

Cover (I use a plastic bag which I rip open–oddly, it sticks to the dough less than plastic wrap does–then put a folded dish towel over that). Let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size –1 to 2 hours, probably closer to 1.

Punch down dough. Toss on floured surface until no longer sticky. Roll out into an 18 x 12 (45.72 x 30.48 cm) rectangle. Cut lengthwise into 3 long strips. Divide filling into thirds and put filling down the center of each strip. Pinch strips so that each is a tube filled with filling, and seal ends. On the prepared cookie sheet, braid the 3 rolls together. Cover, let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, 45-60 minutes. Brush with beaten egg white. Bake at 350 (175 c) for 30-35 minutes until golden brown–make sure it’s done (bottom should sound hollow when tapped.

If you do make this and happen to leave out the poppy seeds (Tori is severely allergic to them), feel free to invite Tori for a taste. Otherwise enjoy on your own or with friends who can eat poppy seeds!

We want to hear from you!

If you have a recipe to share, an event to highlight, or something you’d like the Oy Vey community to know about, please send us an email! It’s easy! Send an email to Tori at tori@oyvey.nl.

It’s mid Av and time for a reminder of what’s in store from Oy Vey.

APPLICATIONS DUE 7 AUG FOR THE NEW SEMESTER OF ZE KOLLEL!

Do you know about the Oy Vey partner project Ze Kollel? It’s the first inclusive kollel in Europe, offering weekly sessions of Talmud study online and in-person.

Well, Ze Kollel is gearing up for its 8th semester of Torah and Talmud studies across Europe, and you can be a part of it!

Ze Kollel is a pan-European communal learning space geared towards in-depth, committed Jewish learning, and an incubator for developing new talent and creative Europe-based teachers rooted in the Jewish tradition. It is a collaboration between Hillel Deutschland and Oy Vey Amsterdam.

Ze Kollel’s fall 2023 semester will run from September 11th to December 18th, 2023. Ze Kollel meets from 9:15 – 13:00 CET every Monday except the 25th of September (Yom Kippur) for a total of 14 sessions. We will be studying the first chapter of Baba Batra, the order dealing with civil law, starting with two neighbours building a wall in their backyard. Is a wall a legitimate tool to protect our intimacy, or is it rather a means to control those we wish to keep at bay? Why do we need boundaries? And who gets to set them? At the end of the semester participants meet for a shabbaton in Berlin (15-17 December) and write their own commentary on our chapter of Talmud.

You can read more about Ze Kollel’s 8th semester here: READ MORE.

Applications end 7 Aug! So if you’re already convinced that this is for you, apply now.


Oy Vey Events

Are you around this rainy August? Join us for our monthly Shabbat potluck in Amsterdam on 18 August! We want to see you! Register for updates and more information.


The Oy Vey Recipe

This newsletter’s recipe comes to us from Oy Vey member Ruth Carlitz, and it’s a good one. The “I” is her mother, whose recipe this is.

RUTH’S MOTHER’S ONION BREAD

DRY INGREDIENTS:

1 packet active dry yeast (about 2 teaspoons)

4 cups flour (500 grams)

1/4 cup sugar (32 grams)

1/2 teaspoon salt

WET INGREDIENTS:

½ cup milk (120 mil)

3/4 cup water (180 mil)

1/4 C butter (def use butter, no substitutes) (32 grams)

1 egg

FILLING:

1/4 cup butter (32 grams)

1 good-sized but not huge finely chopped onion

1 clove finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon grated parmesan or romano

1 tablespoon poppy seeds (Tori’s note: the horror!)

1 teaspoon paprika

Melt butter in saucepan; add remaining ingredients as soon as butter is liquid. (remember, you aren’t cooking the onion etc at this point.) mix well.

Oven 350 degrees (175 c). One large or 2 small loaves–we always do 1 large.

Grease cookie sheet. In a large mixer bowl, mix yeast, salt, sugar, and 2 c flour (250 grams). Heat milk, water, and butter in a pan to warm, not hot (butter should melt but needn’t melt completely). Add liquid to dry ingredients and mix well. Add another cup of flour (125 grams) and the egg. Continue mixing/kneading until all flour has been added. Once you start kneading, knead for at least 10 minutes. Add as little flour above the 4 cups as possible (you’ll have to add some but not too much).

Cover (I use a plastic bag which I rip open–oddly, it sticks to the dough less than plastic wrap does–then put a folded dish towel over that). Let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size –1 to 2 hours, probably closer to 1.

Punch down dough. Toss on floured surface until no longer sticky. Roll out into an 18 x 12 (45.72 x 30.48 cm) rectangle. Cut lengthwise into 3 long strips. Divide filling into thirds and put filling down the center of each strip. Pinch strips so that each is a tube filled with filling, and seal ends. On the prepared cookie sheet, braid the 3 rolls together. Cover, let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, 45-60 minutes. Brush with beaten egg white. Bake at 350 (175 c) for 30-35 minutes until golden brown–make sure it’s done (bottom should sound hollow when tapped.

If you do make this and happen to leave out the poppy seeds (Tori is severely allergic to them), feel free to invite Tori for a taste. Otherwise enjoy on your own or with friends who can eat poppy seeds!

We want to hear from you!

If you have a recipe to share, an event to highlight, or something you’d like the Oy Vey community to know about, please send us an email! It’s easy! Send an email to Tori at tori@oyvey.nl.