The latest edition of Jewish Celiacs Newsletter that hit the streets and went out in the U.S. mail this time, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2008, led off with my pieces on the status of “kosher” food as initially having to do with “Bat-El Gatterer, a young religious resident of Kochav Yaakov, located in the Binyamin region of Samaria” in Israel, who as an Israeli athlete, initially feared having problems with keeping kosher in China, and then there was the ordeals facing American athlete, Amy Yoder-Begley, who had numerous problems with Celiac Disease much of her life, and as an athlete had a real hard row to hoe at the 2008 Bejing Games where hospitality seemed to take second place in the race!
2008 Beijing Olympics Logo
My two columns on the 2008 Beijing Olympics were titled “Glatt Kosher Food at the 2008 Beijing Olympics” and “An American Celiac at the ‘08 Beijing Olympics” respectively. I personally have no beef with the average Chinese citizen, but their corrupt, Communist government needs to be replaced! Aiding North Korea, and Iran and its proxy armies like Hezbollah and Hamas makes them nothing, but anti-Shemites, and no better than NAZIs to the average Jew with any sechel (common sense)! The fact that much of the world attended the Games “proves that life is really cheap to those in power and with lots of $$$.”
1936 Games of the XI Olympiad - Berlin, Germany
Remember The Holocaust and The Games of the XI Olympiad, held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. The games were officially opened by Adolf Hitler. 3,963 competitors from 49 countries took part in it. The participating countries were Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chila, Republic of China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United States, Uruguay and Yugoslavia. No Jews, or Romani (Gypsies) were officially allowed to take part in this event! As a former administrator of the late, Yaakov Riz’s Holocaust Awareness Museum for four year, I know that’s the way that it was! At this moment, the U.S. is now saying that it will not back Israel if Iran gets ready to strike her. True friends are hard to come by - yesterday and today!
Behind all the glitz and the glitter, and the pomp and circumstnce of this gala event, lurked a lot of bad news about ‘Red’ China. Not only has China’s reputation for importing life-threatening products into the U.S. and eleswhere been the talk of the world, but as I reported in this edition, “Red China and others have been supplying weapons to Iran who has repeatedly threatened to “wipe Israel off the map,” and to Hamas who has fired many hundreds of missiles into Israel from Gaza for some time. It must have been a vexing decision for Israel to attend the Games. Other countries that protested human rights in China, its treatment of Tibet, and its involvement in Sudan, also attended. In the end, it was a victory for Red China! So much for any national pride. Shame on us!…” Again, “This only proves that life is really cheap to those in power and with lots of $$$.”
One of my other columns is titled, and deals with “Jews and IBDs, Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis.” I had said, “Mary J. Shomon wrote in her “Living Well With Autoimmune Disease,” on page156, “The incidence [IBDs] has been reported to be highest in the American Jewish population — which has a prevalence from four to five times that of the general population — followed by non-Jewish Caucasians. Ulcerative colitis seems to be more common in women and is thought to affect 30 percent more females than males.”” — “She writes on page 40, “Celiac Disease and ulcerative colitis are more common in people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent (from eastern or central Europe).””
L-R, Bill Lucas (Chairman), Leah Edelstein (Co-Chair), and 3 members of SNJ9/CSA
I literally wrote, “An Afternoon With Southern New Jersey Chap. of CSA,” at the last minute. It about a monthly meeting of the Southern New Jersey Chapter #9 of the CSA (Celiac Sprue Association). I spent the better part of the afternoon of September 14, 2008 with these folks who appeared to be highly entusiastic and highly motivated Celiacs who were bent on finding new ways to deal with the many problems that we face, having “gluten-intolerance.” I was happy to be there. I met some warm and wonderful people with much to say about themselves and what they had to put up. A speaker, Debbie Stout, gave a fine talk on a restaurateur’s responsibilities to people with disabilities such as those with CD. She also stressed that it was only right that we make known what we want to the waiter, or waitress, and even the chef. I included a few photos to boot.
Guest speaker, Debbie Stout
When I do a book review, it doesn’t always have to do with Celiac Disease, or kashrut. This book review was titled, “Guide to Illnesses/Their Natural Remedies.” The book’s actual title, had I had more room, is as the headline, “Your Complete Guide to Illnesses and Their Natural Remedies,” and its authors, Steven Bratman, M.D., and David Kroll, Ph.D., covered numerous illnessnes that most of us are pretty familiar with, but not always able to cure on our own. Some were “Allergies, Asthma, Bladder Infection, Cancer Prevention, Cataracts, Colds & Flues, Congestive Heart Failure, Constipation, Gallstones, Gout, Insomnia, Menopausal Symptoms, Migraine Headaches, Nausea, PMS, Raynaud’s Disease, Ulcers, and Varicose Veins.” “They give you its Principal Natural Treatments and Other Natural Treatments in fine detail without really boring you.”
Under my regular column, “Jewish Diseases” where I usually lay out basic information on the many Jewish-related diseases that we often encounter such as Tay Sachs and Canavan, I made known the basic facts on “Familial Dysautonomia” that affects the Ashkenazic community. I also cover those diseases that affect the Sephardic community, which will be highlighted again in my next edition that comes out in the beginning of January 2009. Although we Ashkenazim and Sephardim make up one nation of people who worship the same G-d (for those of us who do), we each have many different ailments, and of course if we intermarry, and we do, our offspring could have any one of the many that we both are affected with. We collectively have more diseases than you can shake a stick at. Vu den. Nu?
In, “Phillies Host ‘Celiac Awareness Day’,” I mentioned that “The Philadelphia Phillies, in conjunction with The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA), hosted “Celiac Awareness Day” July 27, when the Phils played the Atlanta Braves at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philly to raise awareness and funds for Celiac research.” I tried to get a press pass, but it was never sent to me at all, so I didn’t actually get to see the “Fightin’ Phils” play. I used to go to their games at Connie Mack Stadium when I was younger, and I got a chance to see them play about five, or so years ago. Oh well! It was good for the Celiac cause.
I gave free space in the form of an ad to “Kosher Community Surveys” that I believe is a non-profit group that promotes kosher restaurants, bakeries, and shops, on the Internet by encouraging people to vote for the best and second best in each catagory. The top few that I am showing you at this time right here for the 2007 Philadelphia Kosher Community Survey - published on January 15, 2008 - are as follows:
- Best Kosher Restaurant: — Singapore Vegetarian Kosher Restaurant (Chinese)
- Best Kosher Restaurant: (Runner-Up) — Mama’s Vegetarian Restaurant (Israeli)
- Best Kosher Bakery: - New York Bagels
- Best Kosher Bakery: (Runner-Up) - Roling’s Bakery
- Best Kosher Store/Butcher: - ShopRite (Garden State Pavilion)
- Best Kosher Store/Butcher: (Runner-Up) - ShopRite (Boulevard)
“Go to kosher-community-surveys.com/3.html to download an Adobe .pdf file for Philadelphia Area (2007). Get the complete details, which include ratings: “Poor, Fair, Good, Very Good and Excellent for Food Quality, Service Quality, Environment (cleanliness/appearance/décor) and Value.” Places like “Main Line Kosher Meats, Bustleton Meat Market, Glendale Kosher Meats & Poultry, Cherry Hill Kosher, and McCaffrey’s Supermarket (Yardley) didn’t make the list because they did not receive the minimum number (40) of respondents to be listed… and there’s more!!!” Remember! Try to buy kosher, gluten-free food when you do, and it would not hurt if it was organically-grown too!
COMING OUT THIS WEEK (AT LAST!!!) - Jewish Celiac Newsletter Vol.3, No. 3
It can be picked up at the following locations a week before Rosh HaShanah (day), Sept. 30 (Tishrei 1):
- Espresso Cafe & Sushi Bar, 7814 Castor Ave., Phila., PA 19152, 215-745-0130 - Jewish & Israeli Food
- Harmony Vegetarian Restaurant, 135 N. 9th St., Phila., PA 19107, 215-627-4520 - Chinese Food
- Kingdom of Vegetarians, 129 N. 11th St., Phila., PA 19107, 215-413-2290 - Chinese Food
- Mama’s Vegetarian, 18 S. 20th St., Phila., PA 19103, 215-751-0477 - Israeli Food
- Singapore Kosher Vegetarian, 1006 Race St., Phila., PA 19107, 215-922-3288 - Chinese Food
- Essene Market & Café, 719 S. 4th St., Phila., PA 19147, 215-922-1146 - (Natural, Gluten-Free, Kosher items)
- Harry’s Natural Foods, 1805 Cottman Ave., Phila., PA 19111, 215-742-3807 - (Natural, Gluten-Free, Kosher items)
- Natural Goodness Market & Café, 2000 Walnut St., Phila., PA 19103, 215-977-7749 - (Natural, GF, Kosher items)
- JCC Klein Branch, 10175 Jamison Road Philadelphia, PA · 215-698-7300
- Mr. Ritt’s Gluten-Free Bakery, 212 E. Vine Street, Millville, NJ 08332, 856-825-8770 - (Gluten-Free items)
and other spots that I plan to open in the near future.
I also have Subscriptions. For $15 a year ($20 for 2 years), I will mail you 3 copies a year, or 3 consecutive editions, which is all I publish in one year, to whatever name and address you send to me. This covers postage and handling as well as the costs of creating and printing each edition. Send your subscription with a check, or money order to JCN Subs, POB 11200, Philadelphia, PA 19136. You should get your next edition when it comes out by mail. You can e-mail me at jcn.info@jewishceliacs.com. Todah Rabah! (Thank you.)
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NOTE: Before I sign off, I want to tell you that I will have a table for Jewish Celiacs at the 2008 Philly Zine Fest, which will be held on October 5, 2008 at The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St, in West Philadelphia, PA (19104). They have this to say:
Workshops are happening this year! Here’s the schedule:
# 1 p.m. - Liv Carrow (30-45 min.) Energy/magical consciousness
# 2 p.m. - Kannan Naik Cangro (30 min.) Blockprinting
# 3 p.m. - Tim W. Brown (30-45min.) Larger publishing and zines
# 4 p.m. - Sarah Arr (30-45 min.) Zine Basics/How-to page layout
# 4:30 p.m. - Jamie Murphy (30 min.) DIY Sewing technique
You can take the…
# SEPTA Route 30 bus “University City” to 40th Street
# SEPTA Green Line 34 Trolley to 40th St; walk 4 blocks north to Walnut.
Located in West Philly next to UPenn campus, the Rotunda is a community arts venue. You can find street parking if you’re lucky, and there is a parking garage across the street.
Visit our board or try CouchSurfing.com for accomodations.
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Log on to Jewish Celiacs Newsletter and check JCN out!
Until next year, I, Sid Karp, want to wish you a Happy Rosh HaShanah and a good Yom Kippur - 5769. Remember our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael before, during, and even after Chanukah too. Beat the wheat! Eat rice and quinoa!