Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 23, 2012 Page: 2 of 20
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Jewish Herald-Voice
August 23, 2012
Up Close
JHV: MICHAEL C. DUKE
Culinary skills learned from his mother, Toni Lakind, have won fourth-grader Michael
Lakind a trip to Washington and table-time with first lady Michelle Obama.
v^Il“l From Page 1
state, plus U.S. territories - were
selected from the more than 1,200
recipes that were submitted by
junior chefs, ages 8-12, from across
the country. The prize: a free trip
to Washington and a Kids’ “State
Dinner,” featuring their winning
dishes, at the White House with first
lady Michelle Obama.
“It feels great to have won,” Michael
told the JHV on Thursday afternoon,
Aug. 16, a day before he flew out to
Washington. “When we found out,
my mom and I screamed and yelled,
and she picked me up and spun me
around.”
Thursday was a busy day for the
articulate, attention-minded fourth-
grader. His new celebrity-chef status
earned him a national TV interview
that morning, followed by more press
interviews.
Key comforts
The contest rules asked for a theme.
Michael went with comfort food and
chose two dishes that he said he likes.
He attributed his win to using
fresh, tasty ingredients, coupled with
creative names that he coined for his
creations.
His “Bunny Bisque” is a veggie
carrot soup, topped off with a dollop
of sour cream and sliced green onions.
What makes it so good? “It’s the
baby carrots - it gives it that carroty
flavor,” Michael said.
His other winning dish is called
“Secret Service Super Salad.” It
features spinach greens, herb-roasted
chicken, strawberry quarters and
whole-wheat croutons, tossed with
feta crumble and a homemade white-
wine vinaigrette.
“Since my mom was helping me
with everything, I wanted to thank
her by making something she loves: a
salad,” Michael said.
Michael said he spent the past year
learning how to cook from his mother,
Toni Lakind, who is a professional
pastry chef. A growing menu of items
he’s learned to prepare includes pasta,
steak and homemade fried chicken.
Pursuing passions
Despite his talent in the kitchen,
Michael said he wants to keep cooking
strictly as a side project. Instead, he
plans to pursue a career in medicine as
an anesthesiologist.
Michael said he entered The
Healthy Lunchtime Challenge because
he wanted to go to the White House.
Mom, Toni, said her son is passionate
about food and cooking and anything
presidential.
“I also wanted to show the world
that I’m a good cook,” Michael said.
A trip to Washington last year got
the Shlenker student only as far as the
outside gate to the president’s official
residence. “But, this time, I’m going
inside the White House - and I can’t
wait!” the award-winning junior chef
said. □
Kindergarteners earn special merit badges at the end of each Temple Trails session
Jewish trailblazer
Mensch
Celebration
Thanking G-d
Temple
Shabbos Shiners Shabbos survival kit Jewish memory
All artwork created by Amy Begun Saab
Program From Page 1
together and celebrate Judaism,” said
Emanu El Senior Rabbi Scott Hausman-
Weiss, who created the program. “It’s
not basic across the board, in a pediatric
education sense. It’s more about helping
everyone feel like they are a part of the
community,” he said.
On one Sunday a month, over
the course of the school year,
kindergarteners and their parents will
travel to an offsite location for a few
hours of special programing. Rabbi
Scott will lead each session, with
support from a song leader, kindergarten
teachers and teacher assistants.
The program plays upon a camping,
outdoorsy theme. Each kid receives
a Temple Trails backpack and earns
“merit badges” pertaining to the topic/
lesson at the end of each session. These
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include: Shabbat celebration, raising a
mensch, Jewish memories, gratitude
and making blessings.
‘Jewish quality time’
Temple Trails fundamentally is a
family outreach program, inclusive of
members and the unaffiliated, alike.
Emanu El is offering a program of
this nature, based on the belief that
the earlier Jewish families are reached
and given sustantative opportunities to
make Judaism real in their homes, the
more meaningful and significant their
development as Jews will be.
Moreover, the program provides one-
on-one “Jewish quality time” for parents
with their kindergarteners, Rabbi Scott
said.
Besides backpacks and merit badges
for the kids, families will go home each
session with a new book or ritual object.
“One of the things that I think we
too often presume about young Jewish
families or families raising young
children is that they already have Jewish
Arts and Entertainment.......17
Community Calendar........9
Community.............10
Editorial...............8
Food and Dining..........14
Health................7
Israel................19
Marketplace............16
Obituaries..............18
On Campus.............13
Simchas..............12
Shabbat Shalom..........9
Singles scene............9
Sports................20
Synagogues ............ 9
Up Close..............2
stuff,” the rabbi said. “In fact, a lot of
families don’t have Jewish stuff. So, this
program ensures that families will go
home with key Jewish books that speak
to what it means to be a Jewish parent.
They’ll go home with a mezuzah. They’ll
go home with a Shabbos set. They’ll go
home with a Jewish music CD. ...
“It’s all about literally bringing
Judaism home,” he said.
Emanu El education director, Mama
Meyer, said one of the chief goals of
Helfman Religious School is to create a
family atmosphere.
“Feeling part of a community
makes families feel as though this is
their home,” Meyer said. “I believe that
Temple Trails will be able to create the
sense of being a part of something really
special. In our rushed society, what a
blessing it can be to be able to spend
quality time with your child, one-on-
one.”
Meaningful projects
Arts and crafts are part of each
session. One project has the kids make
a “Shabbos shiners” set - a block of
decorated wood that contains a small,
battery-operated flashlight.
The kids are encouraged to bring out
their Shabbos shiners when parents are
lighting traditional Shabbat candles. At
the end of the blessing, the kids turn on
the flashlights to illuminate the things
and the people in their lives that are
special to them.
“It becomes part of the family
experience that we learn these things
together,” Rabbi Scott said. “When
you teach parents and children at a
level where they can get together, they
grow together in a way that it becomes
important to all of them.”
Other projects include making a
“mensch chart” to track a child’s good
deeds and a Shabbat-to-go kit that
bundles together a collapsible Kiddush
cup and travel candle inside a challah
cover napkin that the kids decorate.
In addition, music is a central
component of Temple Trails.
“It’s music time with a very clear
intention to give families basic Jewish
musical literacy,” Rabbi Scott said,
again noting that synagogues should not
assume that families always know the
songs that comprise worship services.
Each Temple Trails session also
has dedicated time when the kids
and parents split up for a bit for age-
appropriate enrichment.
‘Jewish trailblazing’
Temple Trails is rooted in a concept
its creator calls “Jewish trailblazing.”
That is, the idea of bringing Judaism
into places that one otherwise doesn’t
imagine that Judaism could belong.
“It’s not Judaism for Judaism’s sake,”
Rabbi Scott said. “It’s Judaism for the
sake of our families.”
Judaism isn’t the end goal, he said,
but the means to achieving the goal of
becoming better families.
Temple Trails is unique in that it’s
a family program that has a yearlong
curriculum built in.
“It’s really focused on helping the
family develop in ways that they can
bring Judaism home. It offers a low-
barrier opportunity. No one will come
to Temple Trails and feel like they
needed to know a set of vocabulary or
already have a certain level of literacy
in Judaism to feel a part of this,” Rabbi
Scott said.
“The program recognizes that
families need support to bring Judaism
home,” he said.
For information about Temple Trails,
contact Helfman Religious School’s Gail
Shapiro at gails@emanuelhouston.org
or 713-529-5771. □
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Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 105, No. 22, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 23, 2012, newspaper, August 23, 2012; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth543932/m1/2/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .