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| OHCC LIVING | APRIL 2021 | 17 Yiddish Club The most successful Mars Mission, "Perseverance" took place last month. The "disturbance" on the planet prompted a man from Mars to travel down to Earth. The oval headed, yellow, beady eyed Martian landed on Delancey Street, on the lower east side in New York City! The Martian looked into a store window, absolutely fascinated. Finally the creature entered the shop and asked the owner, "what are those brown little wheels in the window?" "Wheels? What wheels?" The martian pointed. "Those aren't wheels," smiled the baleboss (Yiddish - owner of the store). "They're called bagels. We eat them… here, try one." The yellow eyed martian bit into a bagel and smacked his gelatinous lips. "Oy! This would be great with cream cheese and lox." If you have never tasted a bagel with cream cheese and lox, you have been deprived of an international gustatorial experience! Actually, bagels are not a New York creation. A bagel (Yiddish - "beygl") is a bread product originating in the Jewish communities of Poland. Because bagels were made of white flour, they were considered great delicacies in Poland and Eastern Europe. The poor Jews (most of the population) ate black bread, except on the Sabbath, when white flour was used to make the traditional "challah." The bagel was supposed to be a lucky omen because of its round shape. Don't laugh at this concept! The wise Greeks thought that a circle was the perfect form, because it has neither a beginning nor an end. Actually, bagels and hard-cooked eggs were traditionally served in Jewish homes after a funeral, because they were thought to symbolize the cycle of birth and death. In the 17th century, it was traditional for relatives to give bagels to a woman who had just given birth. Bagels represented the "circle of life." Why is there a hole in the bagel? It has a very practical purpose. It permits more even cooking and baking of the dough. The hole could also be used to thread a dowel through groups of bagels for easier handling, transportation, and more appealing seller display. The statement that New York made bagels are distinctive "because of the water used" is an urban myth. They taste somewhat different because they are cold-fermented for several days, and then boiled in salted water before baking. Most people think that a bagel and lox (smoked salmon) is an international Sunday breakfast for Jews. Actually, it's a basic cuisine invented by American Jews. A toasted bagel slathered with cream cheese and topped with lox is the recipe for a mouthwatering nosh snack. Excuse me as I sprint into my kitchen for a bagel banquet… ~ Don Kent, Past Vice President OHSPA We have many new residents in Ocean Hills so I thought this is a good time to talk about OHSPA. The Ocean Hills Society of Performing Arts (OHSPA) is a 501© (3) not-for-profit corporation. The only members of OHSPA are the Master Board and the OHSPA Board are directors. OHSPA began at the initial building of Ocean Hills and it is my understanding that the incorporators never dreamed that the corporation would remain in existence beyond eight to 10 years, let alone for 30+ years. I have been on the OHSPA Board of Directors since 2010 and became President in mid-2012 when the president at that time moved from Ocean Hills. There was some talk about disbanding OHSPA but no one on the board wanted OHSPA to go away and it became evident that our residents did not as well. As you can imagine, the cost of bringing high quality entertainment to our Village has gradually increased. Our funds were going downhill quickly and we were losing a lot of money every year so changes had to be made. Our tickets are only $30 and we truly wanted to keep them at that cost. We had to come up with some kind of a "fundraiser" that would add funds to our account and this was when "Keep OHSPA Alive" was "born" and advertised to the public for the first time at the New York Tenors Concert and our "Star Donors" really came forward. A Star Donor pays $500 for the three or four concerts presented and they get their choice of seats for all of the concerts before any tickets go on sale to the "public." These tickets are delivered to them. At least one (and usually more) "Meet and Greet" with the stars is held. Because we are a 501© (3) corporation, they get an income tax deduction except for the actual costs of the tickets ($30). They are given a letter that includes their income tax deduction at the end of the year or the first of the following year if they choose to write their check then. We have not raised our ticket price of $30 for a very long time and in case you do not have an idea of the costs to bring in concerts here are a few examples: Englebert - $175,000, Johnny Mathis is closer to $200,000 and the list goes on. We obviously cannot afford costs such as the above. We try very hard to bring "named" entertainers and we have brought Chubby Checker, Four Freshmen, Broadway Tenors, The Gatlin Brothers, The Lettermen, Sicilian Tenors, Christy Minstrels, Kingston Trio, Texas Tenors, Ben Vereen and the list goes on! The OHSPA Board hopes this will give you some background on what OHSPA is all about and OHSPA will begin bringing great entertainment in 2022 once again! Please call Donna Russell if you have any questions.

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