LISTEN: Talking turkey with Jerusalem's 'Ms. Thanksgiving'

ToI’s Culture editor and children’s book author Jessica Steinberg speaks about baking pumpkin pies for breast cancer org Sharsheret and celebrating in Israel

This week The Times of Israel Podcast is joined by ToI’s Culture and Lifestyle editor Jessica Steinberg.

Around Jerusalem she’s commonly known as Ms. Thanksgiving for her instrumental role in setting up and conducting a pumpkin pie sale for Sharsheret, a US-based organization that aids Jewish women and their families as they face breast and ovarian cancers.

We speak about celebrating Thanksgiving in Israel, where Steinberg has lived for the past 25 years, and how her observance of the imported secular North American holiday has changed over the years.

Steinberg, who wrote a great children’s book about Thanksgiving called “Not This Turkey,” gives a short reading. The book is about a Jewish immigrant family in 1950s New York who is celebrating the holiday for the first time, with themes that are even more resonant today, says Steinberg.

Cover, ‘Not This Turkey’ by Jessica Steinberg. (Courtesy)

The Times of Israel podcasts are available for download on iTunes, Soundcloud, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts.