Helping Those in Need: Miklat Confronts Domestic Violence in Israel

One out of every seven Israeli women has been the victim of violence in her own home. Miklat is confronting the problem through education and action.

I want to get serious for a moment. Earlier this month I had the honor of appearing at an event in support of Miklat.  For those of you unfamiliar, Miklat means “shelter” in Hebrew, and this organization provides social and legal services to religious Jewish women in Israel who are the victims of domestic violence and abuse. Miklat´s domestic violence prevention seminars have reached thousands of community leaders, rabbis, teachers and government officials. Let’s face it, no one wants to admit that bad things happen in our communities, but reality is a lot less rosy.  Miklat is the only organization of its kind serving the particular needs of religious women.

Okay, back to regular programming.

Davida, my sister-in -law’s sister-in-law (we’re practically family!), hosted the event, which was fabulous. Over 60 people came to her home in Great Neck, one of our new Kosher.com free local delivery zones (with a minimum $50 order).

I was asked to tell my life story and cook a few recipes. I am always nervous to talk about my journey– are people really interested in how I went from non-observant, non-kosher TV producer to a wig-wearing kosher cookbook author?–but the response was overwhelmingly positive.  We had tons of fun, lots of laughs and a heap of great food. I always find that when I open up so personally about my transition into the kitchen people really open up to me. One-on-one they share with me so many inspiring stories from their own lives, kitchen-related and otherwise

When I do these cooking events, I like to call up people in the audience to help me. This time I called up Yael and Ariella my sister-in-law’s sister-in-law’s sisters (LOL!), my actual sister-in-law, who happened to be there to support us, and Magda, Davida’s mother-in-law.

We made a number of awesome recipes including:

Scroll to continue

–        California Avocado Salad

–        Baby Spinach and Portobello Mushroom Salad

–        Sun Dried Tomato Caesar Salad

–        Butternut Squash Soup

–        Long Grain and Wild Rice Salad

–        Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

What can I say? The food went.  It was a great time. And it was a tremendous honor for me have been part of promoting such a meaningful organization

Look out for more Miklat events in the coming months. I will be doing one soon in Lawrence, Long Island and another on Manhattan’s Upper East Side (What? They gotta’ eat too). I’d love to see you there. In the meantime, I hope you’ll join me in supporting Miklat by going to their site to learn more about what they do.

Hey, what’s your favorite charity organization?