Eastern Europe
Dessert
Rosh Hashanah 2021
A New Year Like
No Other
Donate today!
Your generosity will ensure that the most vulnerable Jews have food, medicine, and care for the New Year.
Learn more about JDC’s ongoing work lifting Jewish lives and building Jewish life during the High Holiday season.
Rosh Hashanah: Videos
From Moldova to Mumbai, watch how JDC celebrates the Jewish new year with these videos from around the Jewish world.
“The Book of JDC”: Our Rosh Hashanah Message
“Full of Hope”: Inga’s Story
Inga Sidelnikova, 77 — a JDC client and volunteer in Odessa, Ukraine — refle …
“Just One More Gift”: Rosh Hashanah in Novosibirsk
In Novosibirsk, Russia, JDC volunteers deliver Rosh Hashanah packages to elderly …
“The Book of JDC”: Our Rosh Hashanah Message
Share
“Full of Hope”: Inga’s Story
Share
“Just One More Gift”: Rosh Hashanah in Novosibirsk
Share
News
JDC Voices
September 1, 2021
Providing Aid to Vulnerable Jews
Intentional Accidents: A Hesed Director Reflects on Her Life’s Calling
September 25, 2020
Cultivating a Jewish Future
Global Jewish Reflections | These High Holy Days, Considering New Beginnings
August 19, 2021
Providing Aid to Vulnerable Jews
Global Jewish Reflections | This Elul, Remembering to Care for Our Jewish Elderly
A Taste of Rosh Hashanah
Europe
Sauce
Gilda’s Apple Jam
Eastern Europe
Entrée
Kaja’s Challah
Yuri’s Lekach
(Honey Cake)
Ingredients
2/5 cup sour cream (100 grams)
2 eggs
5 tbsp. melted butter
2 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup of chopped walnuts, raisins, cranberries, and/or cherries (optional)
Cinnamon, to taste
Ginger, to taste
Vanilla extract, to taste
Mixed berries, as garnish
Powdered sugar, as garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the eggs, sour cream, butter, sugar, and honey.
- Add flour, along with baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
- Add nuts and dried fruit to the dough, if using.
- Grease a cake pan and fill it with dough until level.
- Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes. When you insert a knife and it comes out dry, the cake is ready.
- Decorate with berries and powdered sugar, if using.
Gilda’s Apple Jam
Ingredients
5 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and grated to yield approximately 3 ½ cups, loosely packed
1 ¹/3 cups water
1 cup sugar
Handful of raw, peeled almonds (optional)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, simmer water and sugar for 10 minutes until sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add the grated apple and stir well until it comes to a boil, then reduce to medium heat.
- Add the almonds, if using, and continue to boil gently for about 45 minutes. Stir occasionally at first, then frequently, until the mixture becomes jam-like and a spoonful holds its shape on a chilled plate.
- Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract, and stir over low heat for another few minutes.
- Spoon into a clean jar, seal, and allow to cool before storing in the refrigerator.
Kaja’s Challah
Ingredients
8 cups flour
4 tbsp. yeast
¼ cup olive oil
About 1 ¾ cup water, warm but not boiling (400 ml)
About 7/8 cup sugar (165 grams)
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs, divided
Instructions
- To begin, mix warm water and honey. When honey has dissolved, crush the yeast in your hands and add it to the mixture. Don’t mix the yeast and water with a spoon.
- Let your yeast rise. One way to do this is to heat an oven to 120 degrees, and place the covered bowl on top of it. For an eco-friendly option, cover the bowl with a cloth and place it near a constant heat source, whether that’s your cat, your kid, or your partner. After about 10 minutes, the yeast should start to activate and rise.
- While the yeast is rising, sift your flour into a large bowl. Mix in sugar, then salt. Next, crack two eggs into a separate bowl and beat together.
- Using your fist, make a hole in the middle of your dry-ingredients bowl. Mix the eggs in slowly. Once the dough has absorbed the eggs, make another hole in the center and mix in the yeast mixture, slowly. Remember: Yeast doesn’t like drafty weather or sudden decisions.
- Once you’ve mixed all that together, leave the bowl in your warm place for about 10 minutes. Then, add in the olive oil and knead the dough until it’s smooth and flexible. Put the bowl back in your warm place an hour or two to let it rise.
- Braid two challahs and let them rise for 30 minutes. In the meantime, mix the remaining egg with a tbsp. of water.
- Glaze the challahs, top with any desired spices or seasonings, and bake them in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until golden-brown.
Images of Rosh Hashanah around the JDC World
Partners
Give With Confidence
