Between the Lines: The Jewish Holiday Table

The Jewish Holiday Table: A World of Recipes, Traditions & Stories to Celebrate All Year Long by Naama Shefi and the Jewish Food Society, with Devra Ferst

Part of Between the Lines: Author Conversations from The Library of JTS

Tuesday, March 25, 2025
7:00 p.m. ET
Online

Join Devra Ferst, editorial director of the Jewish Food Society, for a conversation with Dr. David Kraemer on The Jewish Holiday Table, a collection of 135 vibrant recipes. Each contains accompanying stories collected by the Jewish Food Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Jewish culinary heritage from across the globe. Jewish life is often centered around the table, where family and friends come together while relishing in traditions, rituals and memories behind the dishes. The Jewish Holiday Table reflects three thousand years of love and of loss, culture and change, and each dish captures the soul of what is served in a Jewish home on a Jewish holiday.

Throughout its pages, readers will discover recipes for an Iraqi Purim party, a festive French Shabbat, and a Moroccan Mimouna gathering to mark the end of Passover. There are also stories of a long journey by camel in Yemen, of survival in Ukraine, of a Bukharian grandmother on YouTube, and of women baking holiday sweets together in what’s now Zimbabwe.

About the Author

Devra Ferst is a freelance food and travel writer based in Brooklyn. She is the editorial director of the Jewish Food Society, and her words have appeared in the New York Times, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Vogue, and numerous other publications. A former editor at Eater NY and Tasting Table, she’s always looking for her next great meal and stories to tell. When she’s not writing at home, you can find her on the road, traveling for months at a time with a single carry-on suitcase.