Eggrolls and Egg Creams

Eggrolls and Egg Creams Festival, Lower East Side

Once a year the Lower East Side of Manhattan celebrates its history, culture, and diversity by noshing on kosher eggrolls and sipping egg creams. The 13th annual Eggrolls and Egg Creams festival started with klezmer music at the juncture of Division St. and Eldridge St. Put on by the Museum at Eldridge Street, the cross-cultural festival brings crowds as large as 8,000 to paint yarlmukas, braid challah, sip bubble tea, listen to live music, play majiang, share stories, learn Yiddish and Mandarin, and explore the synagogue.

Little girl decorating a yarmulke 

Woman playing Majiang

Klezmer musician rockin' out

Traditional Chinese music player staying awake

My roommate had never even stepped foot into a synagogue before today. Luckily, the temple showed itself off.

The outside of the synagogue 

The inside of the synagogue 

Once we tore our eyes away from the blue stained glass circle, we were able to leaf through the small ink 山水画 or landscape paintings the old Guangdong artist was selling and watch as the Rabbi on the other side inked festival-goers' names in Hebrew scribe.

Rabbi writing names in Hebrew

Downstairs my non-Jewish, anti-kitchen roommate bested me and my other friend at Challah braiding.

As we walked down the streets of China town sipping 奶茶, or milk tea, I felt giddy. A new place, a new exploration; old cultures, old memories. It combined a part of who I am with a part of what I do. Every person has multiple identities. Today, two of mine collided on Eldridge Street.

My Hebrew name, Miriam Rachel, in Hebrew, and my Chinese name, Feng Meilin, in Chinese

More importantly, I saw Chinese children painting kippahs and adult Jews learning Mandarin. Jews are traditionally misunderstood. Aside from having suffered at the hands of various majority cultures throughout history, Jews are simply a minority. Having grown up in a diverse suburb--with a significant Jewish population--I did not realize the type of segregation and misunderstanding that goes on in much of suburban and rural America until I went on Birthright and spoke to other Jews. When I spent a year in China I had a more diverse group of peers--in age, culture, religion, and experience--than I had ever had. To my surprise, there was an American on my program who had never met a Jew until adulthood.

Chinese people, on the other hand, are the world's majority population. Yet, they are often misunderstood as well, particularly in the west. Especially now when the world's two dominant countries--the US and China--are entangled in a "Frenemies" dichotomy, understanding and dialogue are paramount. How can we expect to co-exist peacefully without mutual respect and understanding?

A man reading a newspaper in Chinatown

After we had our fill of culture, my friends and I went to Joe's Shanghai to fill ourselves with soup dumplings--another first for my roommate. Thought it was 3:30 in the afternoon the restaurant was packed. After a bamboo steamer full of soup dumplings, a plate of Shanghai noodles, and bowls of rice topped with plum sauce-smothered chicken and shrimp we knew why.

My roommate and I walked home. It could not have taken us more than 20 minutes. We knew Chinatown was close, but we didn't know just how close. Milk tea and soup dumplings might become a more regular part of New York life.