Q&A with Kerry Olitzky

 

 

Kerry Olitzky is the author of the new children's picture book Hamantaschen or Latkes?. Olitzky is a rabbi, and his many other books include Twist, Tumble, Triumph. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Hamantaschen or Latkes?

 

A: I have been intrigued by the pseudo-academic debates over which is better--hamantaschen or latkes--when I first witnessed one in the late 1970s. 

 

I was a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the debate was held at the Hillel Center at the University of Cincinnati, which was led at the time by my good friend Rabbi Abie Ingber.

 

One of the debaters was Dr Jonathan Sarna, who later became the leading American Jewish historian and, by the way, my doctoral advisor. Since I like to take difficult subjects or ideas and translate them into books for children, I thought the debate would be a great story line reimagined. 

 

The first debate was held at the University of Chicago in 1946 and has found its way in many iterations in many places since that time. 

 

Q: What are some of your favorite memories of eating those Jewish holiday foods?

 

A: We have always celebrated Jewish holidays in outsized ways in my immediate family--and this includes holiday foods, modes of dress and decorations. 

 

Each year, my wife experiments with different approaches to hamantaschen and latkes. We have our favorite family recipe with cream cheese chocolate filling although my most favorite remains poppy seed, which I consider to be the most authentic.

 

As for latkes, there are often carrot (with Indian spices), zucchini, sweet potatoes (probably my favorite), beets, and even chocolate. Especially now, I love it when my grandchildren are able to help with the holiday preparations.

 

Q: How did you create your characters Sandy and Zoe, and how would you describe the dynamic between them?

 

A: As an author, it is always difficult to sneak in people in my orbit into my books, especially as main characters. I consider it a challenge.

 

In this case, Sandy is my mother-in-law's name and Zoe is the name of one of my daughters-in-law. They have a loving relationship. In this book, Zoe and Sandy are peers--and have competitive personalities akin to sibling rivalry. 

 

Q: What do you hope kids take away from the story?

 

A: I wrote this story to be simply fun--part of the continuum of what might be called Jewish joy. Perhaps those who read it will begin to ask their family members which is better, or to stage a contest on their own.

 

It can be a great outreach event for Jewish communities--part of what I call Public Space Judaism, a term I coined some years ago when I was the executive director of the Big Tent Judaism (formerly the Jewish Outreach Institute).

 

I hope that the kids who read it might one day look back on the story and be motivated to participate in the great debate of Hamantaschen or Latkes?

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am always in the midst of numerous writing projects. In particular, my frequent writing partner (Deborah Bodin Cohen) and I are doing research on some Olympic and paralympic athletes in response to a call for manuscripts by PJ Library. 

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: There are many abstract ideas which we struggle with in Judaism. Rituals are often ways to concretize such ideas. The same goes for foods that are related to Jewish holidays. They represent bigger ideas. But more than anything else, they just taste good. And that is often enough!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Kerry Olitzky.