Family and food a big part of celebration





FAMILY MATTERS—Bonnie (second from left) and Craig Kronfeld (in back), enjoy spending Rosh Hasahana and Yom Kippur with their family.

FAMILY MATTERS—Bonnie (second from left) and Craig Kronfeld (in back), enjoy spending Rosh Hasahana and Yom Kippur with their family.

Family, food and traditions make the Jewish holidays special for Bonnie and Craig Kronfeld of Oak Park.

Each year, the Kronfeld clan collaborates on menus featuring recipes that have been passed down through the family for generations.

“For our family, the Jewish holidays are about spending time together. . . .” Bonnie Kronfeld said. “We typically spend the holidays with my immediate family—my parents, sister-in-law and my sisters’ family,” she said.

Although the Kronfelds don’t always attend temple services, Bonnie Kronfeld said, they observe the holidays as a family in a personal way.

Dinner with traditional food sets the stage for the Kronfeld family gatherings for both Rosh Hashanah and the breaking of the Yom Kippur fast.

For the new year meal on Rosh Hashanah, matzo ball soup and challah are served as appetizers. Dinner fare includes brisket, potatoes, noodle kugel, carrot tzimmes and green beans with almonds.

Food for the Kronfelds and many other Jewish families has cultural and spiritual significance.

For instance, it is customary to eat a carrot dish during the High Holidays because meren, the Yiddish word for carrots, also means to multiply. Eating carrots symbolizes a hope for increased blessings.

For dessert, the Kronfeld family enjoys dipping apples into honey, representing the wish for a sweet new year, Bonnie Kronfeld said.

For Yom Kippur, the Kronfelds and other relatives travel to Bonnie Kronfeld’s parents’ house in Beaumont to break the fast. She said they eat a light meal that includes egg and tuna salads, bagels, lox and cream cheese, pickled herring, salad and kugel.

“This is done for those who fast and shouldn’t eat a heavy dinner, as it is hard on the stomach,” Kronfeld said.

“Wine and challah are staples at both holidays, and a prayer is recited over each before dinner starts,” she said.

Bob Berkoff, Bonnie Kronfeld’s father, said the High Holidays will be celebrated at his home in Beaumont this year. “We do a service here,” he said. “It’s not very long, but it’s nice.”

Brittany Kronfeld, 23, loves her family’s holiday traditions. “I enjoy being able to spend time with family that I don’t very often,” she said. “I love the food­­— it’s my favorite.”

“I cannot talk for my entire family, but I personally feel that these holidays keep me connected to my faith,” Bonnie Kronfeld said. “I feel that being Jewish is not only a religion but a sense of being. God allows us to celebrate the new year and lets us ask for forgiveness and atone for our sins (Yom Kippur) so we may start the new year out on a clean slate and hopefully be a better person for the next year. We are all human and make mistakes. I feel that if we don’t carry that burden in our hearts, we can move forward to being a better and more productive person.”


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