The Very First Harry's Baked Newsletter

A somewhat weekly newsletter with Israel market news, Jewish recipes from around the world and more!

Shalom from Israel,

Welcome to the Harry’s Baked newsletter.

It’s going to take the Israeli tourism industry a very long time to recover. There's a lot going on and there are a lot of ways you can help - or support.

These days, most people who come to Israel are on solidarity missions that spend their time volunteering and visiting the south. I recently hosted a few solidarity missions at Mahane Yehuda market and I want to share how impactful it was. Tourists are the lifeblood of many of my vendors across the marketplaces and their businesses are suffering from the current situation.

What we all experienced at the markets was really moving. My tours turned into an outpouring of appreciation and love; I couldn’t tell who was happier to see and speak with the other - my tour participants or my vendor partners. And I have to add that it all made me feel great too - this connection was also exactly what we all needed in these challenging times.

One of my guests, a Jewish educator, wrote that after a difficult week, “It was such a healing night for us.” Israel is still here, we are a resilient people and we are waiting for you. Another visitor, as part of an organized group, shared, “After several days of seeing destruction, it was uplifting to feel the positive energy and optimism of the Shuk”.

I want to share this idea with all of you too: if you are coming on a solidarity tour, I’d love to take you around Mahane Yehuda, Levinsky or Ramle Market, because your being there for the small businesses in Israel’s marketplaces would generate great impact.

So whether you are visiting with family or friends, or coming with an organized group, please open your trip for me to show you around the marketplaces in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. We can eat and fill up on great food and stories while doing good by supporting the vendors and smaller businesses in Israel. Click here to contact me to arrange a tour.

Through an initiative called “Tastes Like Home,” people baked hostages' favorite cookies to include in their mishloach manot, a gift of food and drink that are traditionally given to friends and family during Purim. I made Alex Lobanov’s Pistachio Financier Cookies. Alex Lobanov was among those abducted on October 7 from the Nova Festival. You can learn more about Alex here.

I’m stoked to be in the first cohort of The Nosher’s Jewish Food Fellowship. The Nosher is a website that’s all about Jewish food, recipes and culture and their team and experts will lead skill sessions to boost food content creativity. I’m among a very talented group of people, including the winner of The Great American Recipe on PBS!

There’s more to me than just the markets! I’m also a graduate of Bishulim - The Israeli Institute of Culinary Arts and have hosted dozens of online cooking classes.

I’m planning to bring Israeli food and food culture on tour to the United States and would love to come visit you and run a cooking or baking workshop in your community or home.

It’s a fun, light, and effective way to engage your congregants of all ages with Israel in a positive way, and support small Israeli businesses. Israel’s Independence Day is just two months away - Let’s talk!

My Etsy store is now live! It’s a place where you can find my fairly awesome t-shirts, hoodies, onesies, mugs and stickers that I have designed. New designs are going up every week. To stay up to date, be sure to favorite my shop.

All of your support is appreciated.

Coming next week… a recipe for the best Passover dessert of all time with a very unique and unexpected ingredient.

Thank you for reading and I’ll see you next week.

Harry