FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Ruth Baum Bigus, ruthwrite1@gmail.com
(913) 707-7746
OR
Melanie Allmayer
mallmayer@earthlink.net
(PLEASE NOTE: Cutline at the end of news release.)
The Latke vs. the Hamantash: Dec. 6 The Ruth Fredman Cernea
Great Latke-Hamantash Debate expands in KC;
Here’s some Food for thought: Is the Hamantash cookie or the Latke pancake more delectable?
That’s the BIG question to be creatively and comically pondered during The Ruth Fredman
Cernea Great Latke Hamantash Debate on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the White
Theatre of the Jewish Community Campus (5801 W. 115th St., Overland Park). This fun event coincides
with the start of Hanukkah that evening at sundown. The entire community is invited to attend this
humorous culinary debate sponsored by Congregation Ohev Sholom.
The cost for admission is $5 for adults plus a canned good(s) that will be donated to the Jewish
Family Services community food pantry; children under 12 are free. The afternoon will include sampling
some of these traditional Jewish treats.
Organizers have assembled two very skilled teams to debate the value the latke and hamantash
before a three-judge panel of “experts”. Team Hamantash Debaters include Evan Traylor, a Hillel student
at the University of Kansas; Bonnie Rosen, award-wining baker and Victor Wishna, a local writer and
radio commentator. Their task will be to persuade the judges and audience that the filled, triangularly
shaped cookie associated with the Jewish holiday of Purim should win. Team Latke Debaters Martha
Gershun, Jackson County CASA executive director; Michael Lerner, a entrepreneur and owner of King
Louie America and Eli Rosenberg, KMBC Channel 9 reporter, will do their best to highlight the attributes
of the latke, a fried potato pancake associated with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
This first Great Debate originated as an informal gathering at the University of Chicago’s Hillel
House in the winter of 1946. Today, it is a tradition that has been replicated on college campuses,
synagogues, Jewish Community Centers/Campuses and Jewish Federations nationwide. A University of
Chicago Hillel rabbi, an anthropologist and an historian hatched the brilliant idea to bring together Jewish
faculty and students together in a casual and playful atmosphere in the aftermath of the atrocities of
World War II and during the winter holidays. Traditionally, the debaters had to have a Ph.D. or equivalent
degree, arguments had to be framed according to the debater’s academic discipline and each debate
had to include one non-Jew; these guidelines have since been modified outside of the University of
Chicago. This year marks Ohev Sholom’s third year as sponsor of the Kansas City event.
Event Chair Melanie Allmayer brought the event to Kansas City to honor the memory of her
beloved aunt, Dr. Ruth Fredman Cernea, a cultural anthropologist. Cernea edited “The Great Latke
Hamantash Debate,” a compilation of University of Chicago professors’ debate essays published in 2006
and wrote “The Passover Seder: Afikomen in Exile,” “Almost Englishmen: Baghdadi Jews in British
Burma,” along with other scholarly articles. She was the international director of publications and
resources at the Hillel Foundations and editor of “The Hillel Guide to Jewish Life on Campus.”
So mark your calendar for Dec. 6 and enjoy the compelling and entertaining arguments as well as
taste latkes and hamantashen, and cheer on your favorite team to victory!
Reservations are requested to attend The Great Debate; reservations can be made by calling
Ohev Sholom at (913) 642-6460 or send an email to steve@ohev-sholom.com. To catch a glimpse of
Ohev Sholom’s first Great Latke Hamantash Debate, go to www.greatdebatekc.org. Visit YouTube.com
and search for the great latke hamantash debate for a glimpse of past Great Debates throughout the
country.
CUTLINE: Melanie Allmayer (left) and her beloved aunt Ruth Fredman Cernea, for which the Great Latke
Hamantash Debate is named.
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