The universal appeal of food is well known for bringing people together.
With that in mind, Congregation Beth Torah will host a daylong session in its kitchen Oct. 20 to teach attendees how to make vegetarian tamales. Participants are encouraged to then sell the tamales to raise money for $500 scholarships for students who are undocumented or who are participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Beth Torah is working on the project in conjunction with Latino social services organization Centro Hispano, based in Lawrence, Kansas. A committee comprising congregants of Trinity Episcopal Church in Lawrence and other community members vets the scholarship fund.
To be eligible for the scholarships, DACA or undocumented students must have been living in the Lawrence area at least three years and be enrolled or plan to be enrolled in a four-year college or university, a community college or another accredited/licensed training institution or technical school. Those who continue to meet eligibility requirements must apply annually for scholarship renewal.
Tamara Falicov, a professor of film and Latin American studies at the University of Kansas and a Beth Torah congregant, is the fundraiser’s organizer at Beth Torah. The goal with the fundraiser is to raise awareness of the affected students and further their education, Falicov said.
The congregation gathered a large group of volunteers, including congregants and other Jewish and non-Jewish people to make the tamales and sell them to friends, families and co-workers. Organizers plan to sell 600 tamales at $3 each to raise $1,800. Heirloom Bakery in Kansas City, Missouri, volunteered to make the dough (masa) for the tamales. Depending on the fundraiser’s success, Beth Torah and Centro Hispano might do additional fundraisers, Falicov said.
“We’re waiting to see the response, how much people are willing to support this cause,” she said. “This has to be a volunteer-run effort.”
Lydia Diebolt, Centro Hispano’s executive director, was instrumental in the fundraising effort, Falicov said. Lily Romero, a case manager for Centro Hispano, and her husband, Adrian Romero, taught a tamale-making practice session on Sept. 8. The four will be at the Oct. 20 session.
The fundraising partnership between Beth Torah and Centro Hispano came about after Falicov took a service learning course at KU three years ago in response to ongoing news about the contentious immigration debate, “and I wasn’t sure that students had much chance to meet and get to know new immigrants,” she said.
“I wanted to get a bigger picture about what this immigration debate was about,” she said. “I wanted students to meet new immigrants and hear their stories from their point of view.”
This led Falicov and her co-instructor, Marta Caminero-Santangelo, to teach a course in the spring of 2017 designed to teach students using literature and cinema about different kinds of immigration to the U.S. The students in groups interviewed immigrants one at a time, most of whom were from Central America but also from Mexico. Then they used the immigrants’ oral histories to make a 17-minute documentary titled “Voices from Our Neighbors: Immigration Journeys to Lawrence” (http://bit.ly/2oMusUn) and used it to raise money for Centro Hispano.
“The clients who are interviewed in the documentary are interviewed in silhouette because they’re living in the shadows,” Falicov said. “This is a very dangerous experience because they don’t have a chance to speak. All of them say ‘We’re not here to take your jobs; we’re honest workers and we want to better our lives for our children.’ That resonated with students and was very powerful.”
Falicov showed the documentary early this year to Beth Torah congregants. After the screening, many of them asked what they could do to help. Trinity Episcopal Church in Lawrence was planning to make different kinds of tamales in June of this year to raise money in conjunction with Centro Hispano for a DACA scholarship. This prompted Beth Torah’s fundraiser.
The fundraiser’s importance is tied to the congregation’s need to stand for the Jewish tradition of “tikkun olam” — repairing the world, Falicov said.
“So, we have to think about who are the members of our community who are suffering and forced to live in the shadows,” she said. “I was very pleased and frankly bowled over that we had such a positive response from the congregants to the documentary and that they wanted to do something to help.”
Those interested in buying tamales may order them by emailing Falicov at , and she will arrange their delivery.
