A Hanukkah Lesson with Latkes and Apple-Pear Sauce

Fred Seidenberg and Ellen Berry Seidenberg celebrate all things Jewish! They celebrated Hanukkah every year as children and with their children and now their grandchildren. They light the menorah at sundown, give presents and Hanukkah “gelt” to their grandchildren and have an evening meal that features latkes, applesauce, and includes a kosher dairy meal of tuna fish, egg salad, fruit salad, and winter vegetables. Fred, a long time Columbia resident and Ellen, formerly from Charleston, keep a kosher home and are involved with all aspects of the Columbia Jewish community. They have three children; Justin and (Lisa), Andrew, Kala and two grandsons, Jonah and Ethan. Ellen has shared two Hanukkah recipes “Latkes” and “Apple- Pear Sauce” from two of her “go-to” Jewish cookbooks; Adventures in Jewish Cooking given to her for a wedding gift in the 1970’s and The Gefilte Manifesto which she purchased in 2016 after attending a Hanukkah event at the Columbia Jewish Community Center.

Justin Seidenberg and son Jonah lighting the Menorah, Ellen and Fred Seidenberg home Columbia, SC. 2016

Andrew, Justin, Jonah, Fred and Ethan,  Ellen and Fred Seidenberg home, Columbia, SC. 2016

Hanukkah, known as “the festival of lights,” is an annual celebration that takes place in late November or December. Hanukkah is a Hebrew word that means dedication and commemorates the rededication during the second century B.C of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The Jewish soldiers, the Maccabeans won an important battle against the Greek-Syrian oppressors who tried to destroy the Second Temple. Hanukkah is celebrated for eight nights, usually by lighting a candelabra called a menorah and eating traditional foods. It is a lunar holiday falling on a different date in December each year. It is celebrated in the home and also Jewish communities gather together for celebrations. Hanukkah was and still is a modestly celebrated traditional holiday for the Jewish people that gained more prominence in the United States to become more “Christmas-like” in the late 19th century.

Dianne Ashton, professor of American Studies at Rowan University in New Jersey, says in a 2010 NPR interview Tracing Hanukkah’s U.S. Roots that the religious culture of the United States began to change after the Civil War. That led to the evolution of the type of holidays Christmas and Hanukkah had historically been.

"There was a lot of social change, urbanization, industrialization and migration, people in the U.S. began to think that "sentimental home celebrations would help to stabilize all of the social changes."

“There is nearly no record of people celebrating Hanukkah just a couple of centuries ago.”

Hanukkah was being reinvented at a time when the American culture had a booming holiday in Christmas. The Jewish community began to reshape Hanukkah as something their children and families could do when American families were doing the same thing around Christmas.

Ashton says it was a way for the Jewish community to be a part of something that was happening in America.

"They didn't see Christmas as something they could do easily because it's Christian, but they did want to do something like that because it was American," Ashton says.

Hanukkah began to change again between 1880 and 1920, when more than 2 million Jewish immigrants came to the U.S. from Eastern Europe.

Hanukkah 2022 begins on December 18 and ends on December 26.

Latkes and dreidels

Potato Latkes (Potato Pancakes)

This recipe is from a cookbook given to Ellen Seidenberg as a wedding gift in the 70’s:

The Adventure’s in Jewish Cooking

Momele’s Ta’am Cookbook

By Rosabelle Edlin and Shushannah Spector

6 large potatoes, grated

1 large apple, grated

2 tablespoons flour

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

Oil for frying

1 onion, grated

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Grate potatoes, apple and onion. Break in eggs and beat into mixture. Add seasoning and flour. Shape into oval pancakes. Place oil in skillet. When hot drop latkes, one at a time into hot oil. When the latkes are brown and crisp on one side turn. When the latkes are brown and crisp on other side, remove from skillet to a paper towel to absorb extra oil. Then move to a serving platter. Serve with sour cream, applesauce or sprinkle with sugar. 

Serves 12

Apple-Pear Sauce

Ellen Seidenberg makes homemade applesauce to go with her Potato Latkes. She attended a Hanukkah event at the Columbia Jewish Community Center in 2017. Liz Alpern, author of the cookbook The Gefilte Manifesto, was demonstrating how to make Potato Latkes and featured this recipe.

The Gefilte Manifesto

New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foods

By Jeffrey Yoskowitz and Liz Alpern

2 pounds baking apples (about 6 medium), such as McIntosh, peeled, cored, and quartered

2 pounds sweet pears (about 5 medium), such as Bartlett, peeled, cored, and quartered

½ cup apple juice, apple cider, or water

2 cinnamon sticks

1 to 4 tablespoons maple syrup or sugar (optional)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (optional)

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, combine the apple and pear quarters, apple juice and cinnamon sticks and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30- 40 minutes. The apples will soften and puff up as the heat draws out their liquid. When you can mash the fruit by pressing on it with a spoon, it has finished cooking.

Turn off the heat and remove the cinnamon sticks. Mash the mixture with a potato masher or an improvised masher (an empty jar works well). For a smooth applesauce, puree using an immersion blender or food processor.

If you’d like your sauce sweeter, stir in the maple syrup or sugar (start with 1 tablespoon and add more if needed). Stir in the lemon juice, if using, which adds a bit of tartness to balance out the sweetness. Let the sauce cool.

Serve at room temperature. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for about a month. If storing for later use, transfer to an airtight container and freeze, or follow canning instructions.

Makes 5 to 6 cups.