Women's Campaign celebrates good food, good deeds
Arthur Schwartz, aka the Food Maven, signs copies of his newest book at the Oct. 16 opening event for the 2007-08 Women's Campaign of Central Federation.
Photos by Elaine Durbach
So many people signed up for the opening event for the 2007-08 Women's Campaign of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, the organizers had to switch it from a private home to the hall at Temple Har Shalom in Warren.
Some 140 women came to the dinner last Tuesday, Oct. 16.
Even Sally Cohen-Alameno, who cochaired the event with Rebecca Rosenheck, wasn't sure what most attracted such crowds — the guest speaker, Arthur Schwartz, widely known as The Food Maven, or the evening's three honorees, Iris Esterkin, Elaine Hochheiser, and Cynthia Mintz, recipients of the newly created Acharai Recognition Honor.
At the opening event of the Central federation's Women's Campaign, the Acharai Recognition Honor was presented to longtime activists, from left, Elaine Hochheiser, Iris Esterkin, and Cynthia Mintz, by campaign president Erica Needle.
Judging by the lines of people waiting for Schwartz to sign their copies of his award-winning book, Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food, he had fans aplenty in the crowd, but many also said they were attending out of affection and respect for Esterkin, Hochheiser, and Mintz.
"People definitely wanted to hear him, but I also think a lot came because of these women," Cohen-Alameno said.
Presenting the Acharai honor to the trio, Women's Campaign president Erica Needle explained that the recognition was introduced this year as a way of acknowledging exceptional ongoing commitment to the campaign by women who have become role models, setting an example that inspires others to follow in their footsteps. Acharai is Hebrew for "follow me."
Esterkin, Hochheiser, and Mintz are all "golden givers," people who have been donating to the federation for 20 years or more.
Esterkin, who lives in Warren, is a member of the federation's board of directors and the Women's Campaign Cabinet. She serves on the chaplaincy, and health counseling and aging committees, and, together with her husband Gene, visits each week with residents at the Norwood Terrace Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Plainfield. She is a Lion of Judah, one of the 13,000 women around the world so designated because they have given $5,000 or more to the annual campaign of the United Jewish Appeal.
"I always feel there are people who do more than I do," said Esterkin. "But it's our pleasure to do these things. Coming home after we've been at Norwood, I just feel good, that someone who's bedridden knows someone is really interested in them."
Hochheiser of Scotch Plains chairs the Women's Campaign's book club, in addition to serving on the campaign's cabinet and executive committee, and on the federation's board of directors. Working with its chaplaincy committee, she visits residents at Ashbrook Nursing Home in Scotch Plains each week. She has served on the federation's nominating, Jewish education, and planning and allocations committees; the Jewish Community Relations Council; and the Jewish education task force.
Hochheiser, a Pomegranate donor (a giver of $1,800 or more to the annual UJA campaign), is also a vice president of Jewish Family Service of Central New Jersey, and volunteers with its food pantry and its after-school program in Linden.
Mintz of South Plainfield is a Lion of Judah donor, serves on the federation's board of directors and the Women's Campaign Cabinet, and volunteers with the chaplaincy committee. She regularly visits with residents of Ashbrook Nursing Home and works as a literacy volunteer.
As the women stepped out of the limelight, Schwartz stepped into it, apparently quite unfazed by the fact that he was the only man in sight not carrying a tray. With all the lighthearted intimacy of an affectionate relative, he "dished," not just about his favorite recipes, but also about the meshugas involved in being a food celebrity.
"I wasn't fired," he said, to answer the question put to him by a number of women who said they used to listen to him during the 13 years he hosted a radio food program on WOR. "They treated me very badly, and it wasn't fun anymore. Life's too short to do anything that isn't fun."
Having given up both his radio show and his longtime position as food editor and restaurant critic for the New York Daily News, he is now focused on writing books, consulting with restaurateurs, and teaching cooking — at his school in Italy as well as in and around New York City.
His upcoming book is about Jewish cooking, a cuisine he champions fiercely in the face of those who go "ugh!" when it's mentioned. He pointed out, though, how much it has changed. His grandmother was a legendary cook and he grew up cooking with her and learning her recipes. But if he sticks to her ingredients too closely these days, he said, those dishes he remembers as "divine" are really disgusting. With a little fine-tuning, however, he knows how to make them absolutely delicious — and relatively healthy.
He assured everyone that if they go to his Web sites, foodmaven.com or arthurschwartz.com, or email messages, he personally answers every e-mail he receives.
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