Got a memoir? Moment Magazine wants yours!

Here's a great contest for genealogists!

Moment Magazine is holding a memoir contest and wants to hear yours. It is open to all individuals residing in or outside the US except where prohibited.

Everyone has a story...To celebrate the rich and diverse narratives of its readers, Moment is holding a memoir writing contest. We are looking for short personal essays/memoirs (no more than 3,500 words) about you or your family that have some kind of Jewish connection or content. Moment will review all submissions and award one first place award and two honorable mentions to works of outstanding writing.

Prizes: 1st place, $500+possible publication; two honorable mentions, $150 each.

Submissions must be postmarked by December 31, 2010. Download a signed copy of the contest's official rules (download, print, sign and send with your entry). Winners will be announced in 2011.

In case you're wondering:

No previously published works, or works already accepted for publication elsewhere, are eligible. Work may be under consideration elsewhere, but must be withdrawn from the competition if accepted for publication.

Moment editors will review winning stories and contact the winners if their stories are being considered for publication. And - in case you think that each of your words is golden and may never be changed - all selected material is subject to editing by the mag's editors.

A reader fee of $35 is required for each entry; multiple submissions accepted.

For the nitty gritty on what each entry must and must not include, the format, address to send to and other essential details, click here. That link will also provide the important official rules link.

[Note from Tracing the Tribe: Pretty please, do not send in an entry about how your family's name was changed at Ellis Island. Thank you.]

Moment Magazine: What it means to be Jewish

Moment Magazine's 35th anniversary issue asked two questions of 70 Jewish individuals in diverse fields: What does it mean to be a Jew today? What do Jews bring to the world today?

Click here for the responses of these individuals.

Theodore Bikel - Shmuley Boteach - Geraldine Brooks - Mel Brooks - Michael Broyde - Alan Dershowitz - Stephen J. Dubner  - Dianne Feinstein - Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Rebecca Newberger Goldstein - Dan Glickman -Arthur Green - Blu Greenberg - Jerome Groopman - Roya Hakakian - Michael Hammer - Susannah Heschel - Madeleine May Kunin - Tony Kushner - Liz Lerman - Daniel Libeskind - Joseph Leiberman - Yavilah McCoy - Ruth Messinger - Leonard Nimoy - Sherwin Nuland - Judea Pearl - Itzhak Perlman - Judith Shulevitz - Gary Shteyngart - Ilan Stavans - Elie Wiesel - Leon Wieseltier - Ruth Wisse.

and here for these:

Daniel S. Abraham - Marc Angel - Ed Asner - Adam Berger - David Biale - Mayim Bialik - Sharon Brous - Andrei Codrescu - Anita Diamant - Ari Fleischer - Joshua Foer - Yuri Foreman - Samuel Freedman - Myla Goldberg - Peter Himmelman -  Dara Horn - Yitz "Y-Love" Jordan - Deborah Dash Moore - Walter Mosley - Aryeh Neier - Elisa New - Judith Plaskow - Francine Prose - Jonathan Rosen - Hannah Rosenthal - Elizabeth Samson - David Saperstein - Zalman Schachter-Shalomi - Harold Schulweis - Howard Schwartz - Dani Shapiro - Yoam Shoham - Rigoberto Emmanuel Vinas - Edward Witten - David Wolpe.

Here's some of just five of the list:

Mel Brooks - comedian, writer, actor, director and producer.

I’m part of the generation that changed their name so they’d get hired. I went from Kaminsky to Brooks. My mother’s name was Brookman. But I couldn’t fit Brookman on the drums. ... There was a lot of comedy when I was a little kid, street corner comics. We couldn’t own railroads, so prize fighting and comedy were open to us. We’re still comedians. Maybe because Jews cried for so long, it was time to laugh. Who knows? I started in the Borscht Belt with terrible jokes. The first joke I ever wrote, I think, was, “You can’t keep Jews in jail, they eat lox.” ... What can we offer the world? We can still offer what Maimonides and Moses laid down. We can offer the law of human behavior. We astonishingly were one of the first cultures to create this thing called law, what is right and what is wrong, based on the tenets of the Old Testament. And, if they want something tasty, we can certainly offer matzoh brei.

Roya Hakakian - author, "Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran."

... When I emigrated to the United States in 1985, however, I had options. Living in a democracy means that Judaism is not a monochromatic exercise, it is a multi-colored fact, a brilliant spectrum of many possibilities in which the range is so vast that all of us can find a shade that becomes us and allows us to continue to identify as Jewish. ... This is what we do as Jews: We read. Our connection with the higher authority is through a very rigorous exercise of reading. Human religious proxies are dangerous because it is easier to manipulate people this way. If there is to be a proxy, let it be a book. As Jews, we can help bring all other faith communities, including Muslim ones, in contact with the texts that they worship. Enhancing literacy among all populations is the way to engender the greatest Jewish value there is.

Michael Hammer - population geneticist, University of Arizona.

When I look at the Jews, I see continuity among people of different communities—Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, the Bukharan Jews from Central Asia—who remained apart for thousands of years. From a population geneticist’s point of view, to be Jewish today is to be a beautiful example of the process of descent with modification from a common ancestor. We not only share a common culture and religion, our genes tell us we share a common origin. One example is the special genetic marker of the Cohanim, the priestly class, which is represented by a unique Y chromosome lineage carried by Cohanim in different Jewish communities today that traces back to a common male ancestor over 100 generations ago. I’m not a Cohen but knowing this has an emotional impact on me. Our ancestors almost went extinct many times in history, so it’s amazing that Jews still exist today as a people. Our genetic heritage brings with it all the forces that shaped that struggle for survival. Genetic variation is influenced not only by chance but also by selective pressure. Whether you have what it takes to survive changes in the environment depends on what you carry with you, so in our genes and our culture, we carry the special talents we have as Jews. There are many explanations for this. Perhaps Jews, as a result of having evolved through the many near-extinctions and persecutions, had to be clever and outthink others to survive. Perhaps because Jews could not own land in many places in the past, they had to work with numbers and mental constructs and abstractions more than others. And, of course, our culture has always taught us the importance of education and studying. So what do we offer the world? We offer our unique brand of intelligence.

Rigoberto Emmanuel Viñas - rabbi, Lincoln Park Jewish Center, Yonkers, New York:

To be a Jew is to be a part of a people with a very open, vibrant and inclusive spiritual path. I am a first-generation Cuban-American rabbi and am in contact with many people who are descendants of 14th-century Spanish and Portuguese Jews forcibly converted to Catholicism during the Inquisition but who continued to practice Jewish customs in secret all over the world. Today, there are millions of such people in Latin America, and an enormous number of them are seeking out their Jewish roots. What is calling them home to Judaism is a spiritual quest to get above all the chasing after power and the unbridled hedonism that goes on in this world. Unfortunately, their openness to Judaism is often greeted with suspicion, legalism and exclusion by other Jews. I want Jewish communities all over the world to become more open to these people and to others looking for a connection with something larger. What Jews can offer the world is to present Judaism as the open spiritual path that it is. We should embrace Jews of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and share our diversity and openness with the world. If we do so, it will reinvigorate us and present a different and more accurate face of Judaism to the world.

Marc Angel - rabbi emeritus, Congregation Shearith Israel-Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, New York City.

After nearly 2,000 years of exile, Jews returned to Israel and revitalized the Hebrew language and culture. For an ancient nation to rise again in its homeland is an awesome historic accomplishment. To be a Jew today is to share in the glory and responsibility of Israel reborn. Jews, who may number 15 million in a world of seven billion, offer the world unparalleled idealism. In spite of centuries of anti-Semitism, we have retained an amazing optimism in the ultimate goodness of humanity. There is scarcely a humanitarian cause that does not include Jews as leaders and activists. A recently deciphered inscription dating from the 10th century BCE—the earliest known fragment of Hebrew writing—captures the essential spirit of the Jewish people: “You shall not do it, but worship the Lord. Judge the slave and the widow; judge the orphan and the stranger. Plead for the infant, plead for the poor and the widow. Rehabilitate the poor at the hands of the king. Protect the poor and the slave, support the stranger.”

Read the other 65 responses at the links above.

Moment Magazine: Jewish Heritage Guide

The 35th anniversary issue of Moment magazine is now out and includes its second annual Jewish American Heritage Guide, noting museums, archives, historical societies and attractions, in recognition of Jewish American Heritage Month.

Tracing the Tribe was delighted to see Congregation Kehila Kedosha Janina of New York City on the list. KKJ was established by Romaniote Jews from Ioannina, Greece, in the early 20th century.

Although this is an American list, the The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre also appears.

Here's the rest of the list - read the story online for the complete descriptions of each.

National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
American Jewish Historical Society (Center for Jewish History, New York)
The Wyner Center of the American Jewish Historical Society (Newton, Masschusetts)

The Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum, Atlanta, Georgia

Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, Ohio

Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Skokie, Illinois

Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art/The Epsten Gallery/Museum Without Walls, (Overland, Kansas

Oregon Jewish Museum, Portland, Oregon

The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio

Noah’s Ark at the Skirball, Los Angeles, California

From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America - a traveling exhibit

Dr. Seuss Goes to War ... and More! Remarkable World War II Editorial Cartoons by Theodor Seuss Geisel  - a traveling exhibit

Florida Jews in the Military, Miami Beach, Florida

And for a Jewish road show:

Mount Ripinsky. Haines, Alaska. Named for Polish-born Solomon Ripinsky of the "frozen chosen."

Houdini Museum. Scranton, Pennsylvania. Harry Houdini, AKA Budapest-born Erich Weiss.

Shoney’s Monument. Restaurant chain Shoney's is derived from its founders Betty and Alex SCHOENBAUM. A monument is at the original restaurant in Charleston, West Virginia.

The National Mustard Museum. Created and founded by Barry Levenson. Want a great gift? Buy a gift pack at the museum (Middleton, Wisconsin) and receive two musuem yarmulkes inscribed, "Mustard -  it's the mitzvah for your sandwich."

Temple Emanu-El. Levi Strauss was an active member here at this famous San Francisco synagogue.

The guide was compiled by Diana Cohen Altman.

Read the entire article here.

Moment Magazine: Passover Fix

Tracing the Tribe loves Moment Magazine for its many interesting stories.

If you are already a subscriber or friend of the mag, you'll be receiving regular roundups, news items and quirky stories noticed by the editors. Readers can sign up for this free newsletter service here.

Mondays will focus on politics; Wednesday, culture; and Friday, religion.

Here's the Pesach special!

The first is on my favorite nostalgic Haggada; the second, a peek at silverscreen seders; and the third, on eyewatering chrein (horseradish). Click on the links below:

HOW COFFEE GOT INTO THE CHAROSET BUSINESS

Maxwell House started publishing Haggadahs in 1934 to give out free with the purchase of a can of coffee. It’s wide reach into American society “did more to codify Jewish liturgy than any force in history,” says one scholar. Approximately 50 million copies have been printed over the past 75 years. How did the Maxwell House Haggadah come to reign supreme in American Passover Seders for so many decades? Learn the true story in Moment’s intellectual food feast Talk of The Table.

LOOK WHO'S COMING TO DINNER, PASSOVER EDITION
As any movie-goer should know, the Passover-table is the showcase for Jewish dysfunctional families. From Marjorie Morningstar to Woody Allen, Moment’s Film Watch spotlights some great Seder films!

THE SWEETNESS OF MAROR
Horseradish has not always come in jars. A Moment writer recalls her grandmother’s horseradish garden and how growing and serving horseradish at the Seder following her death, she commemorates her grandmother’s legacy.

The print/online March/April 2010 issue can be viewed here. Among the stories: An eggplant journey, Matzah Man, Haggadah art, and many others.

Sign up for the free newsletter.

Food: Chinese food and Jews

Where do you find the best Chinese restaurants in the US? Look for the Jewish neighborhoods. There is an age-old affinity between Members of the Tribe (MOTs) and Chinese food.

MOTs contemplating moves to a new neighborhood or city have a priority list: Where are the best schools, the best doctors, and the nearest (and best) Chinese restaurant? The last has expanded to include Japanese/sushi.

We even had a few excellent Chinese restaurants in Teheran a long time ago. Wherever we traveled, we tried the Chinese food and have memories of interesting places in Amsterdam, The Hague, Barcelona, Zurich and elsewhere. Readers who visit northern California should make a stop at my favorite, Chef Chu's in Los Altos (the tangerine chicken is worth the drive from anywhere) - make sure you go hungry - and drool over their menu! But nothing beats New York or Los Angeles for the sheer numbers of excellent Chinese restaurants.

Unfortunately, Chinese food in Israel is dreadful. Every dish comes adorned with those mystery vegetables, water chestnuts are unheard of, and there are no Chinese chefs. On the other hand, the sushi and Japanese food is very good, so it somewhat makes up for the lack of Chinese food.

Moment Magazine's Nonna Gorilovskaya covers this history of Jews and Chinese food in the November-December issue and even wrote a holiday parody to kick it off:

Twas the night before Christmas and there was hardly a sound,
As Jews jumped in their cars and drove to Chinatown.
Their orders were given to waiters with care,
In hopes that wonton soup soon would be there.

The children finished their noodles and nestled in their beds,
While visions of fortune cookies danced in their heads.
Now, Moment takes an inquiring look,
At how this love affair with Chinese food took. —NG

Gorilovskaya interviewed author Andrew Coe ("Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States").

Here are the questions and some comments by Tracing the Tribe - but you'll have to go to the link above to read Coe's complete answers. It is definitely worth it!

- When and where did the first Chinese restaurants in the United States open?

The first were in San Francisco in 1849......

- When did Chinese restaurants migrate to New York City?

The Chinese arrived in NYC in the 1870s-1880s because of discrimination in the American West, joining the huge mass of other immigrants......

- What is chop suey?

Tracing the Tribe has never understood how anyone can order that dish. I am a Chinese food purist. For example, Kung Pao chicken should only contain chicken, peanuts, red peppers and the sauce (except that I always add water chestnuts!), no mini-corn or broccoli or other mystery ingredients whose sole purpose is to "stretch" the dish with extraneous stuff. To me, chop suey is just a hodge-podge of things all chopped up together - we often called it "left-overs."

- Was chop suey an American invention?

Coe believes that it is a real dish from the town of Taishan in Guangdong province, from where the majority of 19th century Chinese immigrants came to the US. He believes it is really low-class country peasant food and not even recognized it as Chinese. But the Taishanese Americanized the dish. ....

- When did large numbers of American Jews begin eating Chinese food?

The immigrant generation lived together in crowded Jewish neighborhoods, and observant East European Jews didn't frequent restaurants with dubious kashrut. Their sons and daughters, however, were very different. Chinese cuisine, in the 1920s-30s, was considered urban, sophisticated - and cheap.....

- Were there other reasons why Jews preferred Chinese restaurants to, let’s say, American or Italian restaurants?

Chinese restaurant owners, unlike any other restaurant owners, did not discriminate and treated all their customers the same, and they were open every day of the year.....

- How did Chinese food become “safe treif”?

"Treif" means not kosher in Yiddish. You know, things like pork and shrimp. Coe talks about "safe treif." If you cannot see big pieces of the forbidden food, it is OK by some stretch of the imagination. Out of sight, out of mind.

Tracing the Tribe's maternal grandparents kept a kosher kitchen, but also had a set of special plates for Chinese, although they avoided bringing in take-away dishes containing pork and shrimp. I'm sure they were not the only family to have such a set of dishes.

- When did kosher Chinese food come on the scene?

Kosher Chinese food grew in the 1950s to cater to the observant Jewish market.....

- When did they spread to the suburbs?

Wherever Jews moved - to the suburbs, the restaurants followed them....

- When did the tradition of Jews eating Chinese food on Christmas begin?

Most places today are closed on Christmas, but 80 years ago, everything was really closed. MOTs had nothing to do until they discovered that Chinese restaurants and movie theaters were open on December 25. That's what Tracing the Tribe's family did in the Bronx and in Brooklyn, along with our friends and relatives.

- What happened?

Hooray for immigration, says Tracing the Tribe. After 1965, chefs from all over southeast Asia began arriving and opening specialty places (Vietnamese became the new Chinese). More regional places were opening (Szechuan). It wasn't just Cantonese or Shanghai-style anymore, but other styles of Chinese and Asian. Many of today's restaurants feature "fusion" menu, including a wide range of regional specialties from egg drop soup to tuna nigiri and everything else....

- Do you have a favorite cultural reference to Jews and Chinese food?

Coe's favorite cultural reference to Jews and Chinese Food is Herman Wouk's "Marjorie Morningstar."....

- What does the fortune cookie say about the relationship between Jews and Chinese food?

According to Coe, more discoveries are on the way in Chinese and Asian food.

- What’s the latest in Chinese food in the United States?

Coe says to look for new Chinese regional places, such as Dongbei cuisine from the northeastern region (formerly Manchuria), which he likens to Korean....

Read the complete interview at the link above, and read more of Moment's articles here.