GOLDA Girls

Summer Camp Ready with Molly Yeh

• GOLDA Media • Episode 8

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GOLDA founder Stephanie Butnick, journalist Gabby Deutch, and Rabbi Diana Fersko are joined by Food Network star Molly Yeh to discuss all things Jewish summer. Check out today’s GOLDA newsletter to get Molly’s summer essentials.

They also answer a listener question about matchmaking. Send us your Ask GOLDA questions at hi@goldaguide.com (voicenotes are best; be sure to tell us who you are and where you’re calling from.)


This week’s Good for the Jews picks: 

Stephanie: voting, especially with little kids.

Gabby: Eyal Shani’s restaurant Malka in West Palm Beach.

Diana: Unsolicited gifts, like the fish fork her mother-in-law sent her.  


GOLDA is a newsletter that makes Jewish life feel bright, beautiful, and full of meaning. Subscribe at goldaguide.com and follow GOLDA on Instagram at @goldaguide.

GOLDA Mahjong Night is back with a night of open play (no instruction) on Wednesday, July 15 in Flatiron. Location will be revealed to attendees the week before the event! Get your ticket here.

Sign up for Diana’s snail mail newsletter Modern Jewess here, and Gabby’s Substack here. Get Esther’s novel Sisters of Fortune here and Stephanie’s book, The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia, here.

GOLDA Girls is a production of GOLDA Media. The show is executive produced by Ariel Shapiro and edited by POLDHU. 


Sponsors:

GOLDA Girls is presented by Nu Reads, a new Jewish book subscription series curated by the Jewish Book Council that brings remarkable literature straight to your door. Use code NuGolda at checkout for 15% off your subscription. Visit NuReads.org to get started today.

A Walk on the Moon is the exciting new musical based on the iconic hit movie, starring Talia Suskauer and Max Chernin, and featuring the voice of Tovah Feldshuh. We’re giving away tickets: to enter for a chance to win, email hi@goldaguide.com or message us on Instagram @goldaguide telling us your favorite Jewish summer movie. 


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Leave us a review and we’ll send you a GOLDA sticker! Email a screenshot of your review to hi@goldaguide.com. 


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Nu Reads

SPEAKER_00

Before we get to today's show, I want to tell you about our presenting sponsor. New Reads is a Jewish book subscription series that brings remarkable literature straight to your door. A new box just arrived with the latest pick, Homebound by Portia Elon. I'll be talking to Portia about the book soon. Stay tuned for that special episode in your feed. With New Reads, you're not just getting books, you get access to exclusive experiences with authors and a community built on a shared passion for Jewish storytelling. New Reads is offering Golda Girls listeners 15% off of their subscription. Just use the code NUGOLDA at checkout. Visit Newreads.org. That's n-r-e-a-d-s.org to get started today. Welcome

Intro

SPEAKER_00

to Golda Girls, the podcast for Jewish women with a lot to say and everyone else who loves us. I'm Stephanie Butnik, the founder of the Jewish lifestyle newsletter Golda, and I'm joined today by two of my three fabulous co-hosts, Rabbi Diana Fersco. Present. And journalist Gabby Deutsch from Jewish Insider.

SPEAKER_01

Happy summer to all.

SPEAKER_00

Novelist Esther Shah is out this week getting her summer on, and we salute her. We wish her well, but we do miss her, right?

SPEAKER_01

So much. Miss her. Need her voice. I'm gonna say something nice about Esther in her absence, which I also would say in her presence, but hopefully she will listen to this episode and hear it and be surprised. But I have been reading Esther's fabulous book, Sisters of Fortune.

SPEAKER_00

It's so good, right?

SPEAKER_01

It's fantastic. I feel bad that I'm we're what, two months into the podcast, and I I did not read it as my background reading, but I'm catching up now, and it is delightful. It's this great story about these three sisters in the Syrian Jewish community in Brooklyn. And it's not a community that I am part of or know so much about. And Esther just conjures it in such a beautiful and also hilarious way, and it makes me want to go and have her or her family members cook for me. Her descriptions of the food are so fantastic.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's amazing. It's such a good book, and we'll grill her about it next week when she's back. We have a really fun guest today. It's Food Network star and cookbook author Molly Ye. She's joining us to talk about all things Jewish summer. Before we get to all that, let's catch up a little bit, talk about ourselves. I heard a rumor you went to Paris. I did.

SPEAKER_02

I went to Paris. Paris is like the subplot of our podcast. First Gabby's family, now you.

SPEAKER_00

Tell us. Yes, ironically, and as we were interviewing Gabby's dad, Ted Deutsch, on last week's episode and giving him a hard time about the time he left Gabby home and took all his other kids to Paris. I know they're all adults. It's not actually how it happened.

SPEAKER_01

Very home alone, though, if you will.

SPEAKER_00

It was. I was literally thinking, oh my God, I'm actually going to Paris with only one of my children tonight. But as a special gift to Edith, we took her, she's a real Francophile. So she's almost five. And so we Ben and I took her to Paris for a few days. We left baby Sadie with in the care of her grandparents, which was really fun for both sets of grandparents, which was a special thing for them. And I had a really fun time. It was the first, our first time traveling abroad with Edith. And it's so fun to see the world, of course, but also the experiences of travel through a child's eyes. She has never had more fun than being on an airplane for seven hours with a little TV screen in front of her and just getting to watch whatever she wanted. Did any of you sleep? Yes. And then, of course, she slept stretched out across both of us. But so if you ask her her two favorite things about Paris, which she's telling everyone this week, they are the hotel shower and the Eiffel Tower. And the reason was because our hotel room had the rain shower head and then also had the handheld extender thing. And she's never actually seen that. We don't have one of those at home. And so she just could not get over the fact that she could like shower. It was like a kid's size shower, basically, because of that. And she thought it was so fun. She loved the slippers in the hotel. And I was like, oh my God, there are so many things that we just don't think about. And seeing it through a child's eyes is like such a good way to appreciate the world. And of course, the Eiffel Tower.

SPEAKER_02

In the world of theology, we call that radical amazement.

SPEAKER_00

So while I was in Paris, Gabby, you went to your ancestral home of Boga Ratone.

SPEAKER_01

That's true. Really, my ancestral home is Cleveland, Ohio. Not quite as much fun to visit, although, shout out to Cleveland. I love Cleveland. Oh, I love Cleveland.

SPEAKER_00

Look, this is my favorite mug in the whole world. It's from the Mandel JCC. It's right here because after five years of having it, it has a crack. So now I'm going to put my pens in it because I can't hold my can't hold my caffeine anymore.

SPEAKER_01

Beautiful. Cleveland will always be close to you. Cleveland, we love you. It is true. I just got back from a trip to Boca where I spent the weekend doing all kinds of Boca things, which is to say a lot of driving around. It is the summer. Tried to take a walk in the Everglades at noon on Saturday and basically just melted. It was a horrible idea. But I love to go there. There were a lot of bagels happening for me. A Publix cake for those who that means something to. Just a shout out to Publix.

SPEAKER_00

Who doesn't that mean something to? Father's Day. Your dad was on our show on Friday. Like, how did that change the dynamic? Did it go to his head? What was it like? Right. Is he famous now? Yes. Is he famous now? Is it awkward?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he was walking on air. We were walking around all these boke institutions. Everyone was looking at us and saying, look at them. They're that father-daughter podcast duo. Oh my god. So a new level of celebrity was achieved. No, but he was really excited. It was really fun. We listened to it together with my mom.

SPEAKER_00

And Diana, I feel like this was a pretty big week for you professionally. Do you want to loop us in to what's been going on?

SPEAKER_02

Sure. So after six incredible years, I am moving on from my synagogue, which is called the Village Temple. It's in downtown Manhattan. And that was a, you know, emotional goodbye because it's such a beautiful community and really just truly wonderful people that I got to meet with and be with through a very intense six-year period. And now I'm transitioning to being the chief Jewish life officer at the JCC in Manhattan. So the challenge is just so exciting. I can't wait to lead the Jewishness of this important and pathbreaking institution. And for me, the shift professionally means my life is different personally because I no longer lead services on Shabbat.

SPEAKER_00

This really frees up your weekend in a way that I don't think people who are not rabbis or related to rabbis understand. It's a forgive us. But like what do your weekends look like?

SPEAKER_02

Friday mornings, work on your sermon, make pastoral calls, head downtown, and lead services for Shabbat Friday nights, head back uptown, wake up Saturday morning, head back downtown, and lead a bar bat mitzvah ceremony. So I would say like my Shabbat life has been incredibly rich and full and joyous and religious. All things I love. But what you notice is it's not about Shabbat at home. It's not that Jewish home life that so many of us love and crave. And what's funny, so last week was my first, you know, Shabbat at home on a Friday night in 15 years probably. And it was a little intimidating. I'm not used to hosting Shabbat dinner. And I don't know how to make hala. I'm still figuring out like what exactly is our practice. Now I'm like, what should we do? And how should we do it in a way that feels good for our family? So it's just this really like fun and life-changing series of explorations, and I can't wait for it.

SPEAKER_00

On this show, you're like our expert on Jewish stuff, right? And in people's lives, you're the expert on Jewish stuff. You're the rabbi. And it's kind of amazing to see you be like vulnerable and a beginner almost at something that's Jewish, right? I love this journey. I love this plot line. We're gonna learn hala. You're gonna learn all this stuff.

SPEAKER_01

I'm happy to help with Kala. I'm game, big fan of making Kala, although full disclosure, I use a bread maker. So some people might be mad at me for that. But highly recommend I think you should have one. A great gift for a wedding registry as well, to go back to an earlier Golden Girls conversation. But I think it's also what you're talking about, Diana, is a reminder that there's not, of course, one way to be Jewish. And also we don't do the same thing Jewishly our whole lives. So you're doing this new thing, your kids were younger when you started at the synagogue. There's different phases of our lives, and obviously there is no one better equipped for this moment than you. And also, you deserve to have a little break before you start your next new exciting job.

SPEAKER_02

It's just exciting, and I feel lucky that I have a community of people like you in my life that are eager to support this growth area. They're like, oh, well, this is how I make chicken on Shabbat. And do you have this and do you have that? And they want to come over. And also I can finally say yes to all the invitations I've had in the past that have been like, I'm so sorry, I actually work on Shabbat, I can't come, you know. Oh, and I want to say the other thing I'm doing is like Saturday morning is surprise, going to synagogue. Oh, but sitting, sitting in a row in the pews like the rest of us. And it's it's wonderful. Like I've been talking so much, I can't even tell you, for the past decade and a half. And it's amazing to just listen and absorb the prayers and hear Torah and not be responsible for like the leadership of the service. And that's its own Jewish journey of like, okay, well, where am I gonna go to synagogue? And is how, you know, where am I gonna feel most comfortable? And will it be one place? Probably it'll be three places. So it's just this amazing time for me of exploration and Jewish discovery. And I can't wait to bring you all along for the ride.

SPEAKER_00

So, Diana Mazletov, on this new period in your life. We're here for you on this journey. We're gonna talk about it every week. The listeners will all be in on it. We'll all be making hollow together. We'll send you recipes. Yes. That's a good thing. It'll be like your Shabbat starter pack.

SPEAKER_02

I would love recommendations from our listeners. Tell me what they love to make, what they love to eat.

SPEAKER_00

Amazing purpose. So help Rabbi Diana First go on her Jewish journey. Hi at goldenguide.com. Give her your favorite Shabbat recipes, tips, things you'd like to do, things you add in. We love it. We love it. We're here for you.

The Joys of Summer Camp with Molly Yeh

SPEAKER_00

Okay, now it's time to bring on our guests. We have such a special person joining us today. It is Molly Ye, food network star, girl meets farm host, author of cookbooks like Home is Where the Eggs Are, and Molly on the Range. And most importantly, the creator of the most magical wedding cake to ever exist. That's right. She made me a wedding cake. She came to my wedding. It was incredible. Molly Ye, welcome to Golden Girls.

SPEAKER_03

An honor and a pleasure to be here. And it was the biggest honor of a lifetime to make your wedding cake, Stephanie. Can you tell us all about it? Details, please.

SPEAKER_00

Give us the backstory. Um, the backstory was well, first, it starts when you came on my podcast, Unorthodox, and I was like, Oh, I love you so much. Be my friend. And you were like, okay.

SPEAKER_04

And then you said make my wedding cake. I mean, I felt like we were best friends already because I had been such a rabid listener to Unorthodox. And so when we met in real life, it truly was a surreal moment. As it feels a little bit surreal right now, like meaning Gabby and Rabbi Diana for the first time. But we were sitting and having coffee, and you said, make my wedding cake.

SPEAKER_00

No, I know. I said I'm getting married in September. But terribly cool. And you were like, Do you want me to make your wedding cake? And I was like, Yeah, I was like, Yes, obviously I want you to make my wedding cake. But it was like, so I would never have asked you to do that. I didn't know.

SPEAKER_03

I wouldn't have received it if you asked for me to do that. I would have said, absolutely. I really, wow, the hotspot I had.

SPEAKER_00

It was amazing. And this was months off. This was the spring. She came to the wedding. Oh my god, it was so fun. And my favorite picture from the wedding is we cut the cake. It's me, Ben, and Molly all just like feeding each other a piece of cake. It's like in the album. And it's my favorite picture.

SPEAKER_03

I third-wheeled my way straight into the cake cutting situation. And it was so fun.

SPEAKER_02

Maybe you're gonna appear at my daughter's bot mitzvah in the future, Molly. We just don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Just say put it into say it. Send me the iCalin. It's really kind of amazing. So, Molly, you and I go way back, but like you're major. Like you were major then, you're major now. You're like, you're all over the food network. You're bringing this like beautiful blend of Midwestern, Jewish, Chinese food. Like you're doing everything. So tell us a little bit about like where we can find you. Are you at Bernie's right now? Let's bring us up to speed of like where you are in your life.

SPEAKER_04

I just came from Bernie's restaurant. We specialize in Scandinavian food, but there are a few little Jewish winks on our menu. We have Mondel bread. People love Mondelbread in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. We use a lot of tahini, a lot of halva, and it takes like sometimes a little bit of explanation of what it is. But once people eat it, they just they gobble it all up. Occasionally we do babka. But so yeah, we have the restaurant, which is primarily a bakery and a market. And then have last year my fourth cookbook came out, Sweet Farm. I just filmed a new show, which I can't like fully announce yet. I just I love food. I love talking about food on my Instagram and doing little food videos and posting recipes and whatnot. I love daydreaming about when I'm gonna have time to write my next book when my younger daughter starts preschool for full days. And I just I love food and I love talking about food that tells a story, whether it's sharing parts of my Jewish heritage or my Chinese heritage, combining them, talking about the upper Midwest, because the upper Midwest has such a rich, beautiful cuisine that I feel like doesn't get talked about enough. And then sometimes occasionally finding delicious ways to combine all of them in dishes that would not have existed a decade or two decades ago. So I just have a lot of fun storytelling through food.

SPEAKER_00

It is interesting because so you grew up in outside Chicago, then you spend time in New York for college, and then tell us how you get to East Grand Fork.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, so I met my husband in college in New York. We both studied classical music at Juilliard, and we stayed in New York for a few years after graduating. He's from this farm in Minnesota, he's fifth generation. After graduation, we both had this moment during music school where we were like, we really love music, but other things are giving us a little bit more creative satisfaction. And we're we know that we don't really want to be in an orchestra full time. And so I, while I was at Juilliard, had started taking some food writing gigs, and then I started developing recipes. And this was also in conjunction with starting my blog, pretty quickly became just a food blog because that's all I wanted to write about. I was trying to leave my orchestra rehearsal early so that I could go to my apartment and create these recipes that I grew up with, whether it was my mom's holler recipe or Ruggleah, a lot of baked goods. So we stayed, Nick and I stayed in the city after graduation. But then after a little while, we were we'd really like to be back in the Midwest and have our own space, be closer to our family. And he said, My family has this farm. Do you want to just go and see what it's like and try it out? And maybe we can move there. And so I went there once and I took a look around and I think it was during wheat harvest. The fields are golden, it smells like bagels or pizza, depending on what you're craving. And I thought, yes, this is the place for me. And it was there where I could really focus on my blog and recipe writing and grow the blog into a job. And then that organically led to my first cookbook, and then my cookbook led to my show. And so it's just been a really energizing and inspiring place for me. I just love being in a place where there is so much history for our family and where I can see such a long future as well.

SPEAKER_02

Diana, did you talk about a cooking journey? Right. So, what I was saying is I now get to have Shabbat at home. So I'm going to start making Shabbat dinner, which is very exciting, but also a little nerve-wracking. So I wanted to know from you, an expert, how perfect. You know, where would you start?

SPEAKER_04

So exciting. Okay. Obviously, hala comes to mind as the number one thing that you need, right? So I would say focus on the hala. The first few weeks, a couple of really important useful tips, I think, for hala making is that number one, know that hala gets better if the dough sits overnight. That is the easiest. Okay. So this is a Thursday project. You don't have to feel like everything needs to be done on a Friday. If this works for your schedule. If you want to do everything on the Friday, it's still going to be delicious. But on Thursday night, you can mix up your dough and then when you put it in for its first rising, cover it up and stick it in your refrigerator. Stick it in the back of your refrigerator so it's on the colder side. And that's going to slow down the rising process. And that's going to allow the flavor to develop even more before it gets over-risen. I love doing that before Rush Hashanah because it just takes off one thing from your to-do list the day of, and it also enhances the flavor. And then before you shape it, take it out and let it sit at room temperature for like an hour and a half or two. And then you shape it, and then you proof, and then bake it. That way you have one less thing to do on Friday. I am so lucky. I mean, expert advice direct from the source. Thank you. I'm really excited for you because hala is magical. It's also if you've never been a bread baker before, it's actually a pretty user-friendly bread.

SPEAKER_01

You got this. I think also making kala, which I don't do every week, but I try to do a lot. And I think it just makes your whole dinner 10 times better than if you're buying, even though there are great strawbot halas, there's nothing like it. And then your whole house smells like hala all day. I think people think often that making Shabbat in general is a lot harder than it is. Just do your thing. It doesn't have to be some huge meal. Anyone can do it. Our ancestors have been doing it forever. We believe in you, Rabbi Diana.

SPEAKER_00

But besides hala, there is something we need to talk to you about, Molly, today. You came prepared for this. You are wearing your summer camp tie-dye t-shirt. It just says summer camp. I love it so much. I want it. We're here to ring in summer. It's the end of June. Kids are off to camp. We're getting in the swing of summer. And I just want to ask, what does summer mean to you? What are your, what was your growing up? What was your summer like growing up?

SPEAKER_04

The best memories that I have of my childhood were of going to summer camp. Period. End of sentence. I would even go as far to say as like some of my best life memories were summer camp. And I currently count down the minutes until I can send my kids to summer camp and I can stay there because I have these grand plans of figuring out a job that I can do at my old summer camp. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_02

That's such a thing, by the way. Like I know other moms that do that too.

SPEAKER_00

Like it's not just doctor anymore. There are a lot of other parent jobs. Let me sort mail. I love it.

SPEAKER_04

Let me chop vegetables in the dining hall. I will do anything to relive my summer camp memories.

SPEAKER_02

Wait, can you imagine going to summer camp and having Molly be like the cook? The guest chef.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And by the way, none of the kids would want to eat any of your food because they just want to have like pasta and hamburgers and hot dogs.

SPEAKER_00

They're like, do you do pasta with butter, please? A peanut butter sandwich, no jelly.

SPEAKER_04

Wait, so where did you go to camp, Molly? I went to camp in Wisconsin and the Dells at Camp Shy. I've since been back for a family camp, which is so much fun. And yeah, I think probably not next year, but maybe the year after my older daughter, I think, could be ready. And it was just, it was the best. It was the greatest place. We had outdoor cooking as an activity. And it was usually taught by Israeli staff members who had recently been in the IDF. And so they had all these recipes that they learned in the army. The most popular one was this thing that you do where you hollow out a big russet potato and you crack an egg into it and you add a piece of American cheese, and then you put the hat of the potato back on. You wrap the whole thing up in foil and you throw it in the fire and cook it. We loved that. It was the egg and the potato never cooked at the right rate. So we were frequently either eating a really hard egg with kind of a soft potato or the runny egg with a really hard potato. It didn't matter because it tasted so good. Everything in summer camp tastes so good.

SPEAKER_00

It is funny that's where your early food memories. Obviously, your parents too, but that's like where you were cooking.

SPEAKER_04

I would go there because at the time I was really into music. I had just I was in youth orchestra. And but summer camp was my time to not have all the pressure of needing to practice every single day. And I could try new things. I could do sports, I could do rock climbing, I could do cooking. And I didn't really clock it at the time, but cooking was my favorite thing to do at camp. And I think I just didn't, it didn't really occur to me that oh, I could do this as a job too. I just I happened to really like it. And so I think that was telling. But I yeah, I never really made the connection that, oh, maybe this was the start of me liking cooking. Gabby, I feel like you're the queen of of summer camp.

SPEAKER_01

Tell us. Diana, thank you. I'm trying to see how long I could go in this podcast without mentioning Camper Ma, but we're talking about summer camp, so I can't avoid it any longer. But yeah, for me, Sleepway Camp was like the number one thing in making me the Jewish person that I am. And I am very blessed to still be incredibly close with a lot of my friends from Sleepway Camp. We all met 21 years ago for the most part, was my first year there. And it was something my parents both went to Jewish Sleepway Camp. And I'll share a story about my younger brother that hopefully he won't be upset about hearing on the podcast, which is that's what younger brothers are for telling stories about on a podcast. Exactly. That's right. So I have a twin sister, and our parents signed us up for camp. My mom dropped us off at our cabin, and then we go out to say bye to her, and she's sitting on the porch crying about dropping us off, and we're completely fine. But then three years later, when my younger brother is going for the first time, he says to my mom, Mom, I don't want to go to camp this summer. She said, What do you mean? Of course you want to go. He said, You never asked me. She says, Of course I did. And he said, No, you didn't. And then she's like, Right, we didn't. We just signed him up because we thought everyone goes to camp. My parents flew with us up to Georgia, and my brother throws this huge temper tantrum when we get to camp. He won't leave. He's throwing a fit. And eventually my parents leave him there crying in his cabin. The cry it out method, the camp version. The spoiler alert ending is that thankfully it worked. But we used to get a postcard on the first night that was pre-addressed to your parents. And my brother writes to my parents, I hate it here. If you don't pick me up, you're bad parents. And then they didn't get another letter from him for almost three weeks because it turned out he had the address stickers, but he was putting them in the wrong place. So he's writing these letters and they're all coming back to him. They're being delivered to him in his bunk. And then he went for many more summers and was a counselor in the whole thing and loved it. But he did need a little kick in the tush to get there.

SPEAKER_02

I'm like of two minds about Jewish summer camp. I'm not gonna pretend to be an expert like you are, Gabby. I did not spend my whole life at summer camp, although I went a little. It's magical. You have all these growth opportunities, Molly. Like you're talking about confidence building, you know, you're sort of away in this fantasy space and you can really find yourself as a child. It's also for many Jewish Americans, like the best shot at offering your children an immersive Jewish experience. And I think that's why a lot of parents send their children there to meet other Jews, to gain Jewish literacy. And parents know this is really the best way that we can do that in most cases. I'm gonna give like a little bit of an unpopular opinion, which is just like I also kind of find it odd that like this is the thing Jewish parents do. Like, I don't want to be away from my kids away. Yeah, like I don't want to be away from my kids, and it doesn't resonate with me as like consistent with of my Jewish value systems. Oh, that's so interesting. Yeah, and I feel badly saying it because like I know camp is like the most important cultural thing that and Jewish thing that so many families do. So I'm not denigrating that in any way. I'm just pointing out that like it's not really that nice to be away from your children, although maybe they think it is. I'm in my feelings about it because it's it's about to happen soon for me.

SPEAKER_04

That's why we get jobs at summer camp.

SPEAKER_02

Right.

SPEAKER_04

I know you figured it out close enough, but still far enough away for to give them their space so that they can have their personal growth. But yeah, maybe that's like a business opportunity.

SPEAKER_02

No, I mean there are lots of rabbis that go to summer camp like all the time. Here I am, here I am again, you know, and they're offering Jewish education or song leaning or all kinds of things.

SPEAKER_01

Molly kids aren't old enough yet to go to camp. Do you talk to them about it? Is it something that they're like aware of? They're four and seven.

SPEAKER_04

We watch Parent Trap religiously.

SPEAKER_02

So I mean, it's so emotional. I can't even, it's just very emotional. It's incredible.

SPEAKER_04

We talk about it all the time. We read books about it, we try to pretend that we're at summer camp occasionally. We'll do bonfires in the backyard and we'll do the s'mores. And I've made the potato with the egg thing with them. Have you figured it out? Like have you been? You microwave or you bake the potato first. So you parcook it so that by the time the egg is just set, then the potato is fully soft.

SPEAKER_02

I love that you took the time to figure out your idea camp recipe.

SPEAKER_04

Little Molly was like, I have notes. And we should season this better. Truly, one of my biggest fears in becoming a mother was one of my kids don't want to go to summer camp since the moment they were born. I'm talking with my friends who have kids. Oh, yeah, our kids will be in the same grade, so they'll be in the same cabin, they'll go to camp at the same time. We need to make sure that they meet up and become friends when I'm in Chicago so that they will know somebody five years down the road when they go to summer camp. For me, I'm just playing this really long game. We're a summer camp family, even if my kids haven't fully been to summer camp yet. And it's gonna happen because I live in a place where you can count the other Jews on one hand. And it's really important to me that they have that immersion in Judaism and Jewish culture and that they get to know other Jews. And because I know that they're gonna form these bonds with their other campers that are gonna be lifelong bonds. I straddled these two worlds of my dad's Chinese and my mom's Jewish. Summer camp was one of the biggest reasons why I really embraced Judaism in both just my life and my work and just growing this passion for wanting to tell stories through Jewish food. And I still keep in touch with so many of my friends from camp. And it just was like, even back then, we had cell phones. This was the beginning of cell phones. And so, even to have that time, a month where we couldn't have our cell phones was really special. And now that importance has grown even more for kids to unplug and really learn how to connect face to face without being behind their phones. I think it's just like it's so much more important than just being in nature. Like it's so good for your circadian rhythm to be outside as soon as the sun comes up and to be outside when the sun is setting. There are so many physically healthy things about it, in addition to like the mental health aspect. And so I really believe in it. But also, yeah, Diana, like I I absolutely see what you're saying. Like, I this summer, I love being with my kids. I love hanging out with them all day. That I'm not sending them to school all day. It's so much fun. And so it does feel in some ways like going against a lot of Jewish values to ship your kids off for a month or two months. That's why I'm gonna be sorting mail at Camp Shadow.

SPEAKER_00

Jewish summer camp is the biggest indicator of strong, committed Jewish identity. The reason that connection exists is because it's because of what you're saying, Molly, which is you got to explore Judaism for yourself. And it was fun. It wasn't like no offense to synagogues, sitting in a synagogue. It wasn't with your parents. You did it on your own. And it's kind of the first time where people experienced Judaism in like a fun, joyful, free setting where you're like, this is mine. And I didn't have that because we had you could go to Shabbat services at our camp, which again, like I didn't realize this was Jewish at the time because I was from a place, I didn't realize like the nanny was Jewish. I went came from a place where everyone was Jewish on Long Island and Great Neck. It didn't occur to me that camp was Jewish until looking back, you're like, oh, that was just a thing that people did. I just think it must have been really special to be in a place where Jewish was fun, like where Jewish equaled fun summer camp. It just was together for you.

SPEAKER_01

To Stephanie's point about discovering Judaism on your own, there's a whole separate angle to Jewish summer camps, which is how everyone goes there, like trying to find their future spouse. And is that true? Uh, I mean, when you're 10 years old, you're not thinking about it that way. But there is this whole element of like who's gonna ask who to go on a Shabbos walk with them? And that's like the first.

SPEAKER_00

Shabbas walk is a phrase that either is incredibly meaningful to you or just literally does not register anything. Nothing. So tell us what it is.

SPEAKER_01

Well, you have all this extra free time on Shabbat that you don't normally have because you're normally playing sports or swimming or doing whatever electives, and on Shabbat, you get the whole afternoon free. And it's really exciting. You like read and play games and run around and go to the pool and whatever. And when you start getting to that age where people are maybe interested in dating, um, that's kind of the first step towards it. And it's very sweet and very wholesome and like literally ranging from 10, 11-year-old kids up to the oldest kids and even counselors, like you just look around on Shabbat and there are these little pairings on walks. And then when you get older and kids have their bar mitzvahs and the boys have to wear um a talus and to fill in during morning prayers, there was this acronym that we would use at Camper Mah called TTO, which would be, depending on your interpretation, either tefila, which is the Hebrew word for prayers, or to fill in turn on, because there was this idea that there's nothing hotter than a boy who's really into praying.

SPEAKER_02

See, Jew, that is looks. We were talking about looks maxing. That is Jewish looks maxing, okay?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, when the man becomes a fill in and has like those lines on his arms. Yeah. Um, and you know, it's it's to fill in, turn on. It's a little extreme, but it's very much a thing. And it's a it's like a very sweet way to think about a different way where someone could be attractive. It's like, do they know how to read Torah? And if they do, that's really working in your favor at Camper Ma. Well, priorities.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, yes, of course. That's a very specific experience now that I'm thinking about all the camps that are just Jewish coded, where like you do regular activities on Chipotle.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I'm not saying that this should be the norm for all people. Yeah. But it is the all-girls and all boys camp and like merging for the dances and all that. Oh, yeah. Social.

SPEAKER_00

That's when we talked about this in the hair episode. Like that, like blowing the fuses because everyone was blow drying their like incredibly long hair. Oh my god, for because you saw boys for the first time in like two weeks. Um, oh, blowing the fuses.

SPEAKER_04

I was blowing fuses with the hair straighteners and the blow dryers is something that every Jewish girl needs to experience.

SPEAKER_00

I feel like camp today is a whole other thing. I'm excited to hear from people whose kids like because like we snuck in cell phones, but it's totally different now. And like, even like the letters, we have a whole summer to dive more into summer camp, the whole thing. We'll keep checking on you, Diana, on this other journey for you when your kids are out of camp. If you need someone to just show up and like require your attention for at in the evenings, we'll be here for you. But this is fun. I love this. I love this, and I love your summer camp t-shirt, Molly.

SPEAKER_04

I tied-yed it myself. Wait, really? I did last year, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, that's incredible.

SPEAKER_04

Maybe Family Camp is the answer.

SPEAKER_00

I think family camp is the answer.

SPEAKER_04

And now that so many people work remotely too, let's just all live at summer camp for the summer.

SPEAKER_00

I love that idea. You heard it here first. Molly, we're gonna take a break right now, but we are gonna keep you around and have you help us answer a listener question in our asking. I'm so excited.

Ask GOLDA: Matchmaker, Matchmaker?

SPEAKER_00

A walk on the moon is the exciting new musical based on the iconic hit movie about a Jewish Brooklyn mother and housewife who takes her annual trip north to the Catskills just as the world begins to shift. A new spirit of freedom is sweeping the nation, and an unexpected encounter leads her to a music festival. As the countercultural revolution begins and music starts to change the world, Pearl awakens to a life beyond the one she's always known and takes a leap into the future. Set against a blend of pulsing 60s music and modern pop sensibilities, it's a story that speaks to a moment when the world was alive with seismic change in culture and identity, much like today. Performances run through August 22nd at the Laura Pells Theater in the heart of Broadway. And we have a special ticket giveaway just for GoldenGirls listeners. Email us at hi at goldeguide.com or DM us on Instagram at Goldeguide telling us your favorite Jewish summer movie, and you'll be entered for a chance to win two tickets to a walk on the moon. Can't wait to see your picks. Let's get back to the show. All right, we're back with our Ask Golda segment. So, Molly, this is when a listener writes in with a question that they want us to answer or do our best at answering. And I'm excited to have you here today to welcome. So is everyone. That's also my favorite part of this. All right, so today's letter comes in from Emma in Manhattan. She writes, I just turned 30 and I'm single, something that is of great concern to the older women in my family. As a gift, my aunt has offered to pay for a matchmaker. She said she was inspired by the Netflix show and that matchmakers are making a comeback. On one hand, I am obviously insulted. On the other, it is genuinely hard to meet nice Jewish guys in New York City, and I'm really sick of being on the apps. Is there something to this? I love this question. I have thoughts and feelings, but I want to know. Does anyone want to jump in here? I loved that show. Jewish matchmaking. So good.

SPEAKER_04

It was so good. Okay. So personally, I remember time dating in New York and it was such a struggle. Dating in general is a struggle. I think dating in New York is its own kind of struggle because I I remember meeting a lot of men who just, I don't know, it was just this kind of vibe where like you're always looking for the next best thing. And I don't know if that's a city thing because there's just there's so many options. And that applies to everything in New York. It's like you you go to a pizza place and you're like, oh, is this the best pizza I could be eating? Or should I be going to the pizza place like two blocks over because that one might be better? That one might have better reviews, whatever. And for me, that was like one of the reasons why I wanted to leave New York because it was just so overwhelming. Any decision I had to make, there were five million options. And I'm like, get me to a town where there is one pizza parlor and I never have to make a real decision for the rest of my life. So it is a struggle. I also struggled with the idea of dating in general, because the idea of meeting somebody socially for the sole purpose of seeing if they are going to be a match was it never brought out the best in me. It never, I never felt like I could really get to know someone. And it was awful. I really hated dating. But I will say another piece of advice. My aunt gave me the advice to go on a date with someone and always commit to a second date no matter what. Unless you feel like you're in physical harm or whatnot. She said, commit to going on two dates because if you know in the back of your mind that you are going to be seeing this person again, there's gonna be a lot of pressure taken off. You're going to try to see more positive things about them because you're gonna need to, in your mind, look forward to seeing them again. And you're gonna have to get past some of these minor little things about a first date that could I think a first date can bring out both really good and really bad things about someone, and you're you have this person under a microscope. And telling yourself that you're going to be seeing this person again, I think can remove a little bit of that pressure and remove some of those really minute details that you might be harping on and kind of make the whole process hopefully a little bit more enjoyable. Does that make sense going on the second date?

SPEAKER_01

I'll jump in as a fellow 30-year-old, and I know people in New York. My first instinct was, who are you, Emma? I'll try to set you up. I might know someone for you.

SPEAKER_02

I was thinking, but don't I know Emma? Who is this person?

SPEAKER_01

But I will not be doing that because I am no good at matchmaking. I have tried a couple of times. It has not gone well because in my mind, I hear, okay, someone's single and they're this age, and I know this other person who's single at that age, let's set them up. But that is not what matchmaking is. I've never personally worked with the matchmaker, but I think why not give it a shot? Sounds fun. You'll probably meet people who you otherwise wouldn't. And the apps are always there, but there's always, there's also a limited group of people on there. And I think if you're going in with a matchmaker, you're probably doing it, or at least the advice I would give is to go in with a little bit more of an open mind because it's gonna be someone who's not just looking through your filters of, okay, is he above five foot nine? And is he Jewish? And does he have the Jewish part we support, but does he have a graduate degree? Does he live in X-neighborhood? It's probably gonna go outside some of your parameters. And I think there are some cool experiences that could await.

SPEAKER_00

It does feel like the embrace of the matchmaker speaks to this aversion to the app, right? The app is an algorithm telling you, as you just mentioned, Gabby, based on these five things, you would match with these five people. And so what a matchmaker, I feel like it's part of this broader return we all are seeking and craving, something that feels a little bit more human. And I get why you'd want someone to be thinking about this as a person. The idea of a matchmaker, I understand the appeal now because you're like, I don't want a machine to tell me who's right for me. I want a person to tell me who's right.

SPEAKER_04

Right, you can get so much more from a five-minute conversation with this person, if it's the matchmaker having a conversation with this potential match, than you can by just looking at a profile. So yeah, no, I love the human aspect of it. Also, you if you're looking for an offline boyfriend, this is the way to do it, because hopefully they're not on the apps and they're with this matchmaker.

SPEAKER_02

Well, I would say I've not dated in New York, but I've seen it done many times, and I have thoughts. My thoughts are one, like, run towards this gift. This gift is awesome. This gift is out of love. Try a matchmaker, there's no harm. Thought two, you will find your person. You will find them eventually. It might not be through this gift, it might be through what Molly's saying, like pursuing your interests and finding friends, it might be through online dating, even though it's annoying. You don't know how, but I'm just reassuring you, Emma. And the last thing is just a super practical suggestion, which is if you're a New Yorker and you're Orthodox or you're sort of like Orthodox adjacent, I would recommend checking out the Alt New Synagogue with Rabbi Goldschmidt. They have a super active singles scene there. They're making matches left, right, and center. And it's a great place to meet people face to face. So I say good luck to you. Your Besharit is out there waiting for you, and I can't wait to celebrate when you meet.

SPEAKER_00

That'll make the cake. Diana, as an officiant, I'm wondering, have you seen a rise in matchmaking? Are you hearing that when you ask people how they met?

SPEAKER_02

I think the show has a lot to do with the Jewish matchmaking on Netflix. Like, I think that was a thing. And I also think there's this like rise of online matchmakers, which is sort of a hybrid between what you're talking about stuff with like the analog matchmaking and the apps. You know, it's a mix. So I think the idea is, you know, becoming more acceptable. It used to be just in a very firm sort of community that you would have matchmakers, but now matchmakers will match, you know, any type of Jew. So yeah, I think it's becoming a bit more widespread.

SPEAKER_00

All right, Emma, keep us posted and let us know what happens. Molly, thank you so much for being on Golden Girls. This feels very, very special for all of us.

SPEAKER_04

I feel the same way. This was so much fun. I just keep doing what you're doing, you guys. This podcast is so special. Thank you so much for having me on. This was so fun.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. And where should we be following you? Where do we go? I am at Molly on Instagram. You're yay spelled Y-E-H, but your last name is literally Yay, and you're the happiest person I know, and it makes me really happy. All right, we'll be back in a bit with good for the Jews. GoldenGang, we're back with another Mahjong night in New York City. I love these events so much. Join us on Wednesday, July 15th at a new location in Flatiron. The fun starts at 6 p.m. for dinner and open play. We'll have great prizes, great people, a great night. The link to sign up is in the show notes or head to goldenguide.com slash p slash events.

Good for the Jews

SPEAKER_00

We're back with our final segment. It's called Good for the Jews. Pretty simple. Each week, each of us brings something that is good for the Jews. I will kick us off because this morning I went to vote and I brought my daughters. We all went as a family. It was like the cutest thing. Our pulling places across the street, everyone went in their pajamas, the kids went in their pajamas, and it just made me happy there were like all these little kids there. And it was like everyone going before school or work. And I just said, I said, you know, this is where we pick the people who represent us in government. It's this idea of explaining something to a child really breaks it down to its essence for adults, I think. And so I said, this is where we choose who we want to represent us and to make the rules and decide what it is that we care about. And obviously, she was only in it for the stickers and the pen. You get the pen now. It really feels like these sort of mundane things become magical when you're showing why they're important. And I think that's very true Jewishly. It's also true civically. And this was like a really nice chance to show that. And there were all these kids also there. And it was very, it was sweet. I loved it. There's lots of stickers all over services in our house that stickers should not be on, but they all say I voted, and I guess I gotta be here for it. Democracy is very good for the Jews. Democracy. I love that.

SPEAKER_01

I'll share something that is rather obvious, but also true, I think, which is kosher restaurants are great for the Jews. And I say that as someone who eats at plenty of restaurants that are not kosher. But when you walk into a restaurant where everything is kosher, there's just it's a certain vibe. There are maybe occasionally gonna be some people there who are not Jewish who stumble into a restaurant where everything costs a lot more money, but mostly you're gonna be sitting in a room full of Jews. And over the weekend, when I was in Florida on Father's Day, I went with my family to this amazing restaurant called Malka, which I know they is from New York, but has migrated south to Florida, as many people do, from Ayal Shani, the incredible Israeli chef. And this is his kosher restaurant chain, just fabulous Israeli food. And we sat down at the table and our waitress comes over and she says, How are you? And we say, We're great. How are you? And her response is, Thank God. And then she says, I'm Rifka. And I just love that experience. Like you're inside the bubble, it's comfortable, it's fun, the food was great. It's good to be supporting people in our community who are providing food for Jews unlike me who only will eat at those kosher restaurants. And there's more of them, especially in South Florida than ever before. The food is getting better at kosher restaurants. More kosher restaurants, good for the Jews.

SPEAKER_02

Can I tell you that I got chicken shamed at Malka? I went with a group of friends, and you know, the one there or here? Here in the city. I went with a group of friends, and it's a meat restaurant. And so everyone orders meat. And I ordered the chicken, and they were like, You ordered the chicken? You know, your friends or the weight sack. My friends.

SPEAKER_01

The schnitzel there is famous. It's like the best fried schnitzel you've ever had, and they stuff it. You got poultry. It's like amazing. So you were in the right, Diana. It was a full chicken shaming, though.

SPEAKER_00

You know what? You need new friends. We'll go to Malco with you whenever you want.

SPEAKER_02

So I'm glad we're on the food theme because my Good for the Jews is also about food. No surprise there. I said to my husband the other day, your mother, my mother-in-law, sent me a gift, and you're never going to believe what it is. And he said right away, is it a utensil? And it was. So it's not just a utensil, it is a fork. And it's not just a fork, it's a fish fork. And it's not just for a fish fork, it's for locks. Exactly. Stop. So look at this beautiful item. It is gorgeous. We have five times going on. Yes. You can just pick them up nicely. So my good for the Jews, it's not the fish fork, okay? It is the mother-in-law that knows what you need in the kitchen is a specific fork for locks, or else your kitchen is not complete. So I love unsolicited gifts. Thank you so much for this gift. I would say this fish fork is very good for the Jews.

SPEAKER_00

A Jewish mother-in-law's. We we love them. What's interesting is right now my daughter Edith is with both of her grandmas. She's with my mom, whose name is Mia, that's her grandma name, and then Ben's mom, who's Nene. And every summer there's a day where Mia and Nene come in and take Edith for lunch, and they're doing it today. They're at Alice's teacup. It's very cute. There's a word in Yiddish, machatunum, which describes the relationship between in-laws. And I have yet to find another language where there is a word for that. And I think that is just like freaking good for the Jews. That idea, that relationship between in-laws is a special one. Different types of families, different types of relationships, but the fact that there's a word for that, which says that's an important thing, is to me, it's everything. It's chef's kiss.

SPEAKER_02

It is. And plus, it's just fun to say. Machatunum. What could we bet?

SPEAKER_00

Machatunam.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I had a machetunum of fun on this week's episode. Oh no, she didn't. Golden Girls

Credits

SPEAKER_00

is a production of Golden Media. The show is hosted by me, Stephanie Butnik with Gabby Deutsch, Diana First Go, and usually Esther Shahevar. Arielle Shapiro is our executive producer, and we're edited by the team at Puldu. Get more Golda and subscribe to our newsletter at Goldaguy.com. Follow us on Instagram at Goldaguide. Leave us a review at Podcast or Spotify, and we will send you a Golda sticker. Send a screenshot of your review to high at goldeguide.com. Also, send us your Ask Golda questions. You can send them as a voice note that you record on your phone, and we can actually play that on the show. So that all goes to high at goldeguide.com. Thanks for listening and stay golden. That's a Golda podcast.

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Diana Fersko

Host
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Esther Chehebar

Host
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Gabby Deutch

Host
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Stephanie Butnick

Host