My friend Belinda and I have always been fascinated with the Jewish religion and lifestyles. Jews have contributed a large part of the history of Donaldsonville. The Jewish population became prominent in the city by the 1860’s. Besides being the state capital of Louisiana, Donaldsonville also has the distinction of having had more Jewish mayors than any other city in America.

In addition to the political influence, many Jews were businessmen who were able to speak as many as four languages including Cajun French. These businessmen owned companies that included David Israel’s shoe store and the Lemann’s Department Store, started by Jacob Lemann. Gaston Hirsch owned a clothing store and was a colorful personality.

Ace Hardware was once the only synagogue along Bayou Lafourche. The Jews all along the bayou came to attend at the Bikur Shalom Synagogue and were buried in the Bikur Shalom Cemetery. By the 1940’s the congregation became so low that the synagogue was forced to close.

The cemetery, started in 1856, is located on land donated by the Catholic Church. In it lie not only the graves of Donaldsonville residents, but also those from New Orleans, which suffered a yellow fever epidemic in 1859. New Orleans had no Jewish cemetery of its own at the time.

Jewish cuisine is a collection of international cookery traditions linked by Jewish dietary laws and Jewish holiday traditions. Pork and shellfish are forbidden; meat and dairy may not be combined and meat must be ritually slaughtered and salted to remove all traces of blood.

Observant Jews will eat only meat or poultry that is certified kosher. Since meat and poultry may not be combined with dairy products many use two sets of utensils or divide their kitchens into two sections, one for meat and one for dairy. Butter, milk and cream are not used in preparing dishes made with meat or intended to be served together with meat.

The “Jewish penicillin” is often referring to chicken soup. Golden chicken soup gets its name from the yellow circles of chicken fat floating on its surface. Another soup is matzo ball soup. Noodles or keidlach are made by combining matzo meal, eggs, water, melted fat, pepper and salt. This is then rolled into balls simmered in water and then put into soup.

Another dish is calf’s foot jelly. Beef or calf bones are put up to boil with water, seasonings, garlic and onions for a long time. It is then allowed to cool. The broth then jells into a semi-solid mass, which is served in cubes.

Ida Morgenstern was the typical Jewish mother. She smothered Rhoda with the Jewish guilt trip, fed her chicken soup when she was sick, and continued to hope that Rhoda would marry a nice Jewish doctor.

I had a cousin from Thibodaux that wanted to be a Jew. He grew a long beard and had the curls behind each ear. He did look the part; however it was a stretch. His mother was a Bergeron and his father a Blanchard.

One Sunday Belinda and I, along with her daughter Emily, took a walk. It was the day of the St. Joseph’s altar and we were walking off the meatless spaghetti. We stumbled upon a film crew at Ace Hardware. They were filming a one hour documentary film about Jews in the south with footage from Morgan City and New Orleans. The documentary film, “Shalom Y’all” has us in it. We told them that our desire to become Jews ended the night we attended a Jewish food festival in Baton Rouge. We hated the food. I still continue to send Belinda a Hanukkah card every year.

During a long downturn in the financial markets, it’s hard for some people to be cheerful about their prospects for investment success. And that’s not surprising, because a daily diet of bad news can take its toll on investors’ outlooks. Yet if you look beyond the headlines, you can actually find some reasons to believe that brighter days lie ahead.

Here are five of these potential causes for optimism:

1. Recovery may be near. The financial markets obviously are connected to the overall U.S. economy, so it makes sense to keep an eye on how the economy is doing. As you know, we’ve been in the grip of a long and painful recession — but that may change fairly soon. In fact, the recession is likely to end in the second half of 2009, according to a majority of the economists surveyed by the influential National Association for Business Economics. And since the stock market has historically anticipated an economic recovery by about six months — and begun responding favorably — now may not be the time to abandon your long-term investment strategy. Of course, past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

2. Market rallies can happen quickly. No one can predict the exact moment a sustained market rally will begin — but history has shown that rallies can start quickly and take off sharply. Consider this: In the first year of a recovery, investors have recouped an average of 82 percent of what they lost in the entire prior bear market, according to Standard&Poor;’s. And since 1932, the S&P; 500 has gained an average of 46 percent in the year after stocks have hit bottom. Keep in mind, though, that we have experienced a larger-than-usual drop in the market, so you shouldn’t necessarily expect a rally to produce these results. Still, if you are out of the market when it does rally, you are likely to miss some of the strongest returns.

3. Low prices may mean good opportunities. By almost any traditional measure of value, investments are now very attractively priced. And when prices are low, returns over the long term tend to be higher. Keep looking for quality investments — like other investments, they’ve been hurt by the downturn, but if their fundamentals are still sound, they could offer the greatest potential for long-term rewards.

4. The Treasury and Fed are working overtime to support the U.S. financial system. While the problems of resuscitating our financial system are enormous, and the solutions are not clear-cut, the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve are working hard to support the credit markets, boost liquidity, lower mortgage rates and take other steps that can ultimately benefit the economy and the investment markets.

5. Low inflation can help boost “real” returns. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, is currently close to zero. As an investor, you have reason to welcome a low inflation rate, because when inflation is high, it can erode the “real” returns of your investments. Consequently, you may be rewarded by investing in vehicles that, for the moment, are producing only modest returns.

Keep the above factors in mind when you make investment decisions. Remember, if you’re going to help achieve your long-term goals, you will likely need to keep investing in even the gloomiest of markets — and, as we’ve discussed, there might be more than a few rays of light ready to pierce the clouds.

Greetings from the Pressbox, Springtime is here and Summer is not that far away. Time to throw out some praises in this article to our high school basketball teams, LSU men and women basketball, LSU baseball and the Dallas Cowboys(explain later).

The Donaldsonville boys and girls basketball teams had very successful seasons, both squads finished one game away from the Top 28 in their respective divisions. Coach Greg Hill’s crew upset 2 higher seeds before bowing out to State Finalist Springhill. Coach Butch Little and the Lady Tigers lost a heartbreaker to eventual state champ, John Curtis. The Lady Tigers lost by one point as time expired. Both teams return key contributors next season as the Tigers will enter the traditional Baton Rouge area district which includes Episcopal, U high, Capitol, Dunham, Clinton, etc. On the other side of town, ACHS girls basketball won the district title and loss a heartbreaker to Haynesville in the 1st round. ACHS boys basketball finished as the #33 power rated team in class A, one spot from making the playoffs. Both teams return good players for next season.

The LSU mens’ basketball team led by Coach of the Year, Trent Johnson, finished the regular season @ 25-6 and SEC champs. Senior Marcus Thornton was selected as player of the year, Tasmin Mitchell was a first team selection as well. Garrett Temple made the all defensive team and second team SEC. This team enters the SEC tourney, as of press time, as the #1 seed and a NCAA lock. If the Tigers are to garner a decent seed,, they must win at least 2 games in the tourney and show the selection committee that they are for real. With a favorable draw, the Tigers can win 2 games and make some noise into the Sweet 16. Worst case scenario for LSU would be to face a team with a nice post player and some quickness...if this happens, all bets are off and a first round exit is inevitable.

The LSU women, under Van Chancellor, have suprised everyone with a 4th place finish in the strong SEC. Garnering a 5-6 seed is my call and winning one game looks seems the blueprint for this season. Look out for this young team next year, led by Senior to be Allison Hightower.

Why am I throwing some praises to the Dallas Cowboys. Flamboyant owner Jerry Jones finally got rid of that clown, TO. Terrell Owens was released (he was picked up by the Bills, good luck to them) by Americas team in a suprise, but neccessary move. Owens is 35 years old, drops too many passes and crys like a baby. His theatrics on the sideline and when he does happen to score send a terrible message to young players in football. The Cowboys will be better off, now they need to figure out how to get Tony Romo to breakup with Jessica Simpson.

March Madness is the best time of the year if you are a basketball fan. I will predict my final four as: North Carolina, Louisville, Oklahoma and Wake Forest. I like the North Carolina tarheels to cut the nets down in early April...stay tuned

The LSU baseball team is currently 11-3 with losses to Illinois(2) and ULL. This team is full of hitters led by Leon Landry, Sean Ochinko and Jared Mitchell. The pitching staff is led by Louis Coleman and bunch of unproven arms. This team will be successful is the young staff can develop 3 weekend starters. Baseball fans will settle for nothing less than Omaha, which may not seem fair. Preseason rankings as high as #1 has created a sense of excitement along with the opening the new Alex Box Stadium.