Vancouver Jewish Book Festival presents a feature on Jews and Food

Th Dec 1   8:00pm

MICHAEL WEX / Rhapsody in Schmaltz

$24 – includes food reception

or phone 604-257-5111

“Only Wex can write an insightful, witty read on the history of Jewish food and its ingredients. According to Leviticus, ‘all the fat is the Lord’s.’ Lately I think my butcher has been giving me too much of God’s share.” – Ziggy Gruber

“A rare combination of erudition and wit – an irreverent romp through the highs and lows of Yiddish food by a yeshiva boy gone rogue.” – Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

Rhapsody in Schmaltz is an entertaining and fascinating journey in the humour, history and traditions of food and Judaism. From the Bible and Talmud to the delis of North America, it  traces the history and impact of the cuisine that Yiddish-speaking Jews from Central Eastern Europe brought across the Atlantic.

Michael Wex is a Canadian novelist, playwright, translator, lecturer, performer, columnist, bon vivant and raconteur, who has been called “a Yiddish national treasure.” The author of Born to Kvetch is a native of Lethbridge, Alberta, and has worked in virtually every area of contemporary Yiddish. Wex’s teaching and lecture activities–a unique combination of learning, stand-up comedy and probing investigation into the nature of Yiddish and Yiddishkayt–have taken him from Toronto to Budapest, and to many points in between.

Details for this event as well as their other festival events can be found here.

By: Richard Wolak