Monday, 26 December 2011

Why Potato Latkes on Hanukkah?

The Rema [O"Ch 670:2] reports a Minhag to eat cheese on Hanukkah. Yet throughout Eastern Europe Potato Latkes caught on instead

The Late Professor Arnold Miller A"H [father of the late R Sheldon Miller A"H and Louis Miller] once explained to me that the switch from cheese to potatoes was due to the poverty in Eastern Europe;
that Potatoes were simply a cheap substitute for cheese.

Shalom and Regards, RRW

1 comment:

Garnel Ironheart said...

Just be happy they didn't choose that other staple, cabbage.