By Shun Shueh, VRG Intern
I recently assisted with a event hosted by Beit Tikvah, a Reconstructionist Jewish congregation. Vegetarian Resource Group volunteer Marcy Schveibinz gave a vegan cooking demonstration on how to prepare vegan hamentashen, a Jewish pastry. They are eaten to represent the defeat of Haman, a villain described in the Hebrew Bible.
The event started with Havdalah, a candle ceremony to signal the end of Shabbat, a weekly day of rest. As someone who isn’t Jewish, I really enjoyed observing the ritual, which included blessing a cup of wine, singing Hebrew songs, and passing around spices to smell.
Marcy began her demonstration with an explanation of veganism and how it connects to Judaism. She also discussed many of the health benefits of eating a vegan diet before moving onto the recipe. First, she showed everyone how to make the dough by adding flour, baking powder, vegan butter, etc. to a food processor, then cutting the dough into small circles. Next, she showed how she would prepare fruit preserves for the filling. The filling is spooned onto the center of the circle dough and pinched into a triangular shape.
Meanwhile, Taylor, another VRG intern, and I handed out pre-cut pieces of dough to each of the guests and bowls with premade fillings. The guests had a lot of fun being able to make their own hamentashen. Everyone’s hamentashen was collected and baked for 20 minutes before being passed out again to enjoy eating.
The guests also received a copy of Vegan Passover recipes by Chef Nancy Berkoff, a copy of VRG’s latest Vegetarian Journal, and a guide of vegetarian/vegan restaurants in the Baltimore area. Guests were also able to interact with a table displaying various vegan products that can be found in stores, a display of materials related to vegan Judaism, and a display of various brochures and books related to veganism.
The event required a lot of planning and deliberation beforehand. Since it was a public event, we were unsure of exactly how many people would attend. However, it was an overall success, as many people were able to learn more about veganism and make their own vegan hamentashen.
For more information on vegan Passover recipes see VRG’s Passover books:
https://www.vrg.org/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=14
https://www.vrg.org/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=3
Also see this resulting article in the Jewish Times. https://jewishtimes.com/91454/on-this-night-we-eat-vegetables/arts_life/food-feature/
To intern at The Vegetarian Resource Group, see https://www.vrg.org/student/index.php
To support The Vegetarian Resource Group outreach, donate at www.vrg.org/donate