Volunteers from Toledo’s Jewish community spent days peeling 90 pounds of onions, butchering 40 pounds of lamb, and slicing 25 pounds of carrots to prepare for Chef Uri Arnon’s recent visit from Israel.
The chef and restaurateur ventured to Toledo to prepare a free kosher meal for guests at Congregation Etz Chayim on May 16 — which showcased community, togetherness, and resilience on the plates he prepared.
The community dinner, hosted by the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Greater Toledo, invited like-minded individuals to break bread together and hear the chef’s story.
This gathering was made possible by Partnership2Gether, which is a consortium of 17 Jewish communities in the United States, along with Budapest, Hungary, and more, said Mary Bilyeu, the community relations programming specialist at the Jewish Federation.
Toledo’s federation is partnered with Israel’s Western Galilee region, she added, where Chef Arnon is from.
A taste of Israel
Connecting Jewish communities both in Israel and across the globe is Partnership2Gether’s ongoing goal, Bilyeu said, mentioning this program was “one of the more fun and delicious ways” to do so.
Toledo doesn’t have any kosher restaurants, she shared, making this dinner a “huge thrill” for the local Jewish community.
Many of the guests who attended the dinner have been to Israel, said Elsa Leveton, the synagogue’s administrator par excellence, so they were familiar with many of the foods the chef prepared.
The Orthodox synagogue has quite an extensive kitchen, she added, with the space being separated by dairy and meat sides to align with kosher law.
From separate stoves, warming ovens, and china to designated dishwashers, pantries, and silverware, the kitchen is fully functional for both meat and dairy preparations, with Chef Arnon working on the space’s meat side.
The evening's purpose was “to bring the Israeli experience on the plates [and] on the table,” Chef Arnon said.
His menu included kosher items like Moroccan carrots, falafel balls, eggplant cream, lamb stew over rice, chicken stew with sumac caramelized onions, malabi, and more.
Sourcing the extensive list of ingredients for the event was no easy task, Bilyeu noted, sharing that finding kosher meat was one of the more difficult endeavors.
After looking for a supplier in Ohio and Michigan, Chicago ended up being the dinner’s saving grace when she received a call from Mid Town Distribution, and an old friend of the synagogue who worked there.
“The man is kind of shuffling on the phone,” Bilyeu told guests during the event. “He says, ‘This is going to be at Etz Chayim, right?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘I’ve probably been there 150 times. I’m Menashe Gold; my uncle is Rabbi [Edward] Garsek.”
Rabbi Garsek served at Congregation Etz Chayim for 37 years, before retiring in 2012.
The plate’s purpose
“As you can imagine, in the last few months, so much of our experience in the Jewish community has been really painful,” Bilyeu noted. “To have an opportunity to celebrate the beauty and connection to Israel is hugely important for people.”
Chef Arnon has experience working with multifaith and multicultural partners, she added, and these days — that’s especially important.
With his father having been raised Protestant before converting to Judaisim, and his mother being of Ashkenazi Jewish descent, the chef was born into a diverse household from the start. His native Western Galilee is also home to a range of faiths and ethnic backgrounds.
Chef Arnon’s Middle Eastern restaurant, Roots in Acre, is a collaboration between himself and two partners — one who is Muslim, the other Christian, and himself Jewish.
Although Chef Arnon doesn’t keep kosher himself, he ensures that Roots is a place where his parents and other family members can dine comfortably and have all of their needs met.
The chef has a second restaurant, Arnold’s in moshav Netiv HaShayara, as well as a consulting company called Umami.
This marketing business was designed to help others succeed in the culinary, tourism, and lifestyle industries mainly in the Western Galilee and Northern Israel regions.
Infinite impact
“We say here in Israel, maybe around the world, ‘Food crosses borders,’” Chef Arnon said in an interview. “After 10 minutes of cooking together or eating together, you directly seem connected and all together.”
Food is very much a part of the Jewish tradition, Leveton said. From celebrations to funerals, food is always a focus.
“That’s why people [were] so excited about this program because they [got] together to enjoy food from a culture that is not native to America,” she said. “It’s something the Jewish people are very in tune with.”
Food builds community, Bilyeu noted during an interview, and even if you’re from different faith backgrounds, eating together can often be a way to connect, learn, and share stories with one another.
“Food is sort of the great welcome mat and equalizer,” she said, with breaking bread — literally — being a way to break down barriers, all because a meal was shared together.
On the night of the dinner, Stephen Rothschild, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo, said, “Today is the best time to be a Jew,” noting that it was easier to say that before Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel.
“I don't want to disregard the fact that given current circumstances, it is more difficult and challenging for Jews in America and around the world,” he added. “I do still mean that it remains the best time in history to be a Jew. Simply because we are still here.
“I think it’s the best time for everyone to be alive because there remains the opportunity to be more connected, more Jewish, and more human than ever.”
Despite the suffering and sadness, he said it’s so important for the Jewish community to be able to come together to share a plate in joy.
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