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While standing over a hot stove frying potato latkes (pancakes) for my family during the holiday of Hanukkah, I wished for a magic frying pan that would free me from the kitchen. This led me to cook up the story of Moishe's Miracle. Moishe is a poor but generous milkman from the village of Wishniak. His kindness is rewarded when a mysterious stranger leaves a magic pan for him in the cow-shed one Hanukkah night. By merely setting it on the stove, Moishe can produces dozens, even hundreds, of fragrant golden potato latkes to share with his hungry neighbors. But Moishe's wife Baila has other, less savory plans. When she ignores the stranger's warning that only Moishe may use the pan, she finds she has bitten off a lot more than she can chew!

I've always had a fascination with folk and fairy tales, so writing Moishe's Miracle in the form of a folktale came naturally to me. Although the village of Wishniak is imaginary, it is based on the vanished shtetls that were, for centuries, home to many European Jews. These villages nurtured a rich culture. The inhabitants spoke Yiddish, a marvelously expressive language heard less and less today, although many of its words and expressions have crept into common American usage. I've seasoned my story with some Yiddish words explained in a glossary at the back of the book.

It is traditional to eat foods fried in oil, such as potato latkes, during the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah because oil played an important role in the miracle Hanukkah commemorates. An afterword in Moishe's Miracle summarizes the Hanukkah story. Jewish families celebrate Hanukkah at home by adding a candle each night to one of eight holders on a menorah. Prayers are recited as the candles are lit. In my family, we place the menorah in a window where it can shine forth for the world to see, with the remembrance that for Jewish people in other times or places, this has not always been possible.

I hope the story of Moishe's Miracle shows readers that kindness and generosity can spread like the light and warmth of the Hanukkah candles. I also hope parents and children find my talking cows and floating latkes funny. And what if reading Moishe's Miracle should make you hungry? For those lacking a magic pan, here's a recipe for frying up your own batch of potato latkes:

Potato Latkes
(Serves 8-10)

10 medium potatoes
2 onions
2 large eggs lightly beaten
¼ cup matzah meal or flour
salt and pepper to taste
canola or corn oil

Peel potatoes. Grate potatoes and onions on a medium grater (traditional) or in a food processor. If grating by hand, press as much liquid as possible out of the potato-onion mixture into another bowl. Then slowly pour off and discard the liquid, keeping the starchy sediment at the bottom of the bowl. Return this sediment to the potato-onion mixture. Then blend in the matzah meal or flour, eggs, salt, and pepper. Heat about 1" oil in a frying pan. Drop about 1 tablespoon of potato mixture per latke into the pan and fry, turning once. When golden and crisp on both sides, drain on paper towels. Latkes may be kept in a warm oven while frying remainder of batter. Eat while hot.

There is an ongoing debate about whether latkes taste better with applesauce or sour cream on the side. You can decide for yourself!

Further Reading:

Walter Dean Myers
Brian Selznick
Tom Bodett
Emeril Lagasse
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