When all the problems are over and they leave us alone, we prepare a fast and we enjoy together the taste of freedom. Oma and Bella, the two Jewish ladies cope with the terrors of the last century with a good recipe and a healthy meal. I've heard about them long before I saw the movie, and they are quite well known in the Charlottenburg/Wilmersdorf area of Berlin.
One little lady with whom I watched the movie told me: 'But they are so active'. She is only 14 and Oma and Bella have at least 5 time her age.
As I also learned during my latest years of cooking, food means more than the basic energy you must have daily for surviving. I entered into the world of cooking trying to share: good taste, recipes, stories. I got connected with other people around a good meal and I learned how to do good food to make people around me happy.
Oma and Bella are telling their stories while preparing old recipes they do it without checking their notes all the time. They cook for the film director - who's asked to drink the orange juice because it is healthy - they cook for their afternoon five o'clock or for celebrating with friends. With the same hands they did the hard work for the Germans, they prepare small biscuits or clean the meat.
'Sometimes it is good, sometimes less good', but it is always bad to be alone. The light feeling of life of Oma and Bella, the two Jewish ladies from Vilnius and Galizia, is part of the gratitude of life. They survived and their good lesson of life is what we need sometimes, when we feel that one small little drop of unhappiness will kill us. Remember, when everything is gone and it is no more pain, set the table and enjoy the kiddush.
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