Draft:Molly Lyons Bar-David

Molly Lyons Bar-David
Molly in a publicity photo, circa 1960s
Born	July 3,1910 Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died	October 21,1987 Savyon, Israel
Occupation(s)	Author and journalist
Years active	1930-1971
Notable work	Folkloric Cookbook Jewish Cooking for Pleasure The Israeli Cookbook "Diary of an Israeli Housewife" (column)
Spouse	Jaap (Ya'akov) Bar-David (m. 1939, d.1971)
Children	Varda Mor, Geila Bar-David, Ziona Kemelman, Sharone Bar-David

Molly Lyons Bar-David (aka Malka Bar-David) was a Canadian-born Israeli Journalist and author, whose prolific career spanned from 1930 until the early 1970s. She was internationally recognized for culinary articles and cookbooks, focused on Jewish communities' food traditions, and for writing about experiences and observations as a Jewish woman in the years before and after the establishment of the State of Israel.

Lyons Bar-David left behind thousands of articles, many of which can be accessed through the American Jewish Historical Society in New York.

PROFESSIONAL LIFE

Writing career — Jewish and world affairs

Bar-David launched her writing career at the age of 20, while still residing in Canada. In 1930, writing as Molly Lyons she started writing regularly for the Tisdale Reporter on matters such as Zionism and Jewish holidays. By the end of the 1930s, she had contributed to or was still writing for publications such as Junior Hadassah, Saskatchewan Jewish Post, Palestine Illustrator News, The Jewish Advocate, and Woman's Wear in Toronto. At times she used the pseudonym M.X.L.

Through these early works written in her twenties, Bar-David developed a distinctive writing voice, drawing on the sensibilities gained from her considerable artistic talent as an amateur painter: rich observations that capture a moment or a character in simple, accessible, language imbued with the love of people and country. In her own promotional bio, Bar-David described her style as "folksy."

In 1936, Bar-David immigrated to Palestine. Shortly thereafter she began contributing regularly to the Palestine Post, Israel's only English-language newspaper (later published as The Jerusalem Post). She continued writing for the Post for almost forty years.

In 1946 Bar-David began writing a regular column for the US-based Hadassah Newsletter, titled "Diary of a Jerusalem Housewife", which morphed into "Diary of an Israeli Housewife" in 1956. In its early years, the column described her local experiences, the pioneers and newcomers she met, and life during the military conflicts between Jews, Arabs, and the ruling British authorities. A loyal following sprouted quickly, as readers developed a deep connection with the kindred spirit who vividly brought into their lives the trials and tribulations of a wife and mother actively involved in building the Jewish state.

As the years passed, Diary of an Israeli Housewife continued to bring to its readers the textures and colors of life in Israel in its first thirty years. She kept writing the column until 1971, when memory lapses began interfering with her ability to perform at her best.

In 1952, the Hadassah Education Department in New York published a book titled In Israel, in which Bar-David described her perceptions of the lives of women in Israel. Also in 1952, she compiled the literary works of a fallen Israel soldier Shimon Sam Smaragd, whose early death resulted in his work not reaching the fame it deserved, in a book titled That's how it is with us...The life and selected Works of Shimon Sam Smaragd.

In 1953 Putnam Publishing House printed Bar-David's autobiography, My Promised Land, subsequently translated into Dutch as Mijn Beloofde Land. In a New York Times Book Review coverage of My Promised Land, Anzia Yezierska wrote: "There are times when a book like "My Promised Land" can sum up the news of the day with such authority that it becomes a document of history. In Mrs. Bar-David's volume one can read the meaning of this small, embattled nation."

Her journalistic writing, covering topics ranging from political issues to the lives of ordinary people and her own life as a mother and wife reached international audiences throughout. For example, in June 1948, exactly one month after the declaration of the State of Israel and the raging battles that followed, the Canadian magazine Mclean's published My Home in Jerusalem a two-part report by Bar-David describing experiences from the front lines.

International Jewish publications too were keen to bring her ideas and stories to their readers. Examples include Australia, Colorado, Los Angeles, French Canada, Great Britain, and South Africa. Throughout, she was dedicated to instilling the love of Israel and its people in the hearts and minds of her readers. In the mid-1960s she contributed regularly to ORAH magazine, Canadian Hadassah-WIZO's publication, most notably authoring the Canucks in Israel series, featuring profiles of Canadians who immigrated to Israel.

A highly engaging speaker, in 1959-1960 Bar-David created and delivered a series of broadcasts for Kol Yisrael, Israel's national radio broadcaster. Always opening her chat with "dear friends," topics included titles such as The Bar-David Harem, Hanuka, Christmas, and A Wedding in Israel.

Her public speaking prowess led to many lecture tours outside of Israel. "Diary of an Israeli Housewife" resulted in a lifelong partnership between Bar-David and the Hadassah organization—she traveled to the United States in 1951 to appear in an extensive series of lectures about life in Israel and would go on to speak over many lecture tours at a host of stateside events as both a connoisseur of Jewish cuisine and a representative of the Israeli people. She was sent on speaking tours in North America and Europe on behalf of various Israeli enterprises who endeavored to leverage her fame to promote their products abroad. These included, for example, El-Al Airlines, The Citrus Fruit Marketing Council and Cargal Cartons.

Writing career — culinary journalism and cookbooks

Early on in her career, Bar-David developed an interest in all things culinary, and an intense passion for Jewish customs and culinary traditions. A woman of large personality and large frame, she branched out into writing about Jewish cuisine and sharing recipes both traditional and of her own invention, first in her newspaper columns and later in several cookbooks published in Israel, the United States, and England.

When food products in Israel were in short supply in Israel in the 1940s and 1950s, she offered her readers creative ways to prepare scrumptious dishes using available products. Thus, when meat was rationed, she published a booklet titled 50 Ways for Preparing Egg Dishes, and (together with Lilian Kornfeld) she authored a 1943 booklet titled 50 Main Dishes with Lakerda in both Hebrew and English.

The 1960s saw Bar-David's culinary career flourish and peak—a remarkable period of creativity and fame that preceded the dementia that began closing in on her mind in the early 70s, when she was in her early 60s.

Bar-David's prominence and fame as a leading culinary authority took off with the publication the first of sixteen editions of her Folkloric Cookbook

The Folkloric Cookbook was organized according to the Jewish holidays. Each recipe was prefaced with an anecdote about its origin, an on-point bible story or quote from Jewish texts, or vignettes from Bar-David's own life. Some traditional dishes appeared in multiple versions because different Jewish communities prepared them in distinct ways. Charoset, a Passover ritual dish made of chopped apples and nuts, was offered in seven different versions—Israeli "Sabra" style, Middle-European, Yemeni, Iraqi, Italian, North African, and Turkish. Cholent, a traditional Sabbath bean-based dish cooked overnight using low heat, also appeared in seven different diasporic versions.

Those were early days in the development of what decades later became a thriving culinary scene in Israel, and the Folkloric Cookbook was an instant hit. Its many editions reflect that the fact that it became a must-have for new brides. It was even published in Braille; prisoners at Israel's Ramleh Prison prepared eleven volumes of the book in Braille, later used by girls at the Jerusalem Institute for the Blind.

US-Based Crown Publishers were quick to adopt the Folkloric Cookbook's success. In 1964, they published its 422-page English version in the United States under the title The Israeli Cookbook. Unlike the Hebrew version, The Israeli Cookbook was organized according to grouping such as Breads, Egg Dishes, Soups, Meta, Pancakes, Poultry, Vegetables instead of the original Jewish holidays structure.

The Folkloric Cookbook was out of print in Israel for some years, until in 1997 it was revised, updated and published in a 672-page version by daughter Varda (Mor) under the title The Great Cookbook of Dishes of Israel.

In 1966 Bar-David began writing what was to become a long-running and popular column titled "What Shall We Cook Tomorrow" in the Hebrew daily paper Yedioth Ahronoth. Plus, prior to any of the many Jewish holidays, the paper highlighted a double spread feature titled "Molly Lyons Bar-David Presents." In these holiday pieces, Bar-David shared thoughts, ideas, and customs, and recipes related to the approaching holiday.

Also in 1966, Hamlyn Publishing Group printed Bar-David's book, Cooking for Pleasure, initially in England and later distributed in North America too. Christian Delu, one of Europe's top photographers, travelled to Israel to shoot the dishes featured in the book.

In 1969, Bar-David published a Hebrew book focused on weight-loss friendly recipes, Lir'zot ("The Path to Slimming Down"), to which her daughter Varda Mor contributed.

Bar-David contributed chapters and recipes on Middle Eastern or Israeli cooking to several collections of international cookery published in North America and England:

•          In 1964, she contributed to Hamlyn's Round the World Cookery book, edited by Marguerite Patten.
•          In 1969, she wrote the Israeli segment of the Middle East region in the Time Life "Foods of the World" series—a hardcover book accompanied by 27 booklets with detailed recipes associated with each region. Notable culinary leaders such as Julia Child contributed to this study of world cuisines.
•          In 1976, Hamlyn Publishing Group published Dishes of the World in Colour to which Bar-David contributed Israeli recipes.

Her culinary expertise garnered other forms of recognition during the 1960s decade. She was named as a member of the Chaîne Des Rôtisseurs and was given the keys to the city of New Orleans as an honorary city citizen. She was a consultant to El-Al Airlines, creating their menus over several years. She served as judge is Israeli Queen of the Kitchen—a competition celebrating the cooking skills of Israeli women of all cultural backgrounds.

Personal Life

Early life

Bar-David (then Lyons) was born on July 3, 1910, in Tisdale, Saskatchewan, Canada. She was the fourth of seven children born to Ethel and Harry ("Herschel") Lyons (formerly Lazebnikov), who immigrated to Canada from the Ukraine in 1905. The family ran the local general store and a farm. Committed to a Jewish way of life, the couple owned their own small Torah scroll and hired a Melamed to tutor the children in Jewish studies.

When Bar-David was a teenager, Ethel and Herschel began fostering Zionist aspirations. They dreamed of immigrating to Palestine and building a life on the land. Their children too became enamored with the Zionist dream; in the 1920 eldest son Sunny was the first to immigrate to Palestine.

In 1934, Herschel (then 59) and Ethel (then 55) immigrated to Palestine, where they settled on sandy land on the outskirts of the city of Kfar Saba. They dug a water well, planted an expansive citrus-tree orchard, and built an off-the-grid home at its center. They named the property Gan Hasharon.

Immigration to Palestine and building a family

In 1936, at the age of 26, Bar-David along with sisters Hilda and Rebecca (Beccy) joined their parents in Gan Hasharon. By now, four of the seven Lyons children were living in Israel. The 1936-1939 Arab revolt against the ruling British mandate had just begun, and the Lyons family all joined the Haganah, a paramilitary organization representing the majority of the Jews in Palestine from 1920 to 1948. Haganah guns were stored in Gan Hasharon's basement and fighters conducted training activities among the lush citrus trees.

In the spring of 1937, Bar-David visited, fell in love with, and relocated to Jerusalem. She maintained a lifelong love for the city, even after moving to Savyon, in the greater Tel Aviv area, in 1956.

On September 5th,1939, four days after the break of World War II, Molly Lyons married Jaap Bar-David (formerly Davids)—a young entrepreneur and businessman who immigrated to Palestine in 1936 from the Netherlands. Much like Molly, Jaap (AKA Ya'akov) was a literature lover who later became a literary agent. He was an intermittent writer, mostly of children's stories and books. In 1966 he authored a book under the pseudonym Peloni Almoni (in Hebrew: "a man of no name") titled We Go to Israel. Published by Harrap, the book followed a foreigner's visit to Israel as he is guided by an Israeli man whose family bears a remarkable resemblance to Jaap and Molly's real-life family.

The Bar-David couple settled in Haifa, where in 1941 the first of their four daughters, Varda Elisheva, was born. In summer 1944 Bar-David gave birth to Geila Nava, followed by Ziona Yochana in the winter of 1946. In the spring of 1956 Molly gave birth to a fourth daughter, Sharone Itael.

Living through the struggle for independence

In June of 1941 the couple moved to Jerusalem and Bar-David took a job as a secretary in the British mandate headquarters, housed in Jerusalem' King David Hotel. Her privileged access to useful information about the British rulers led to her enrollment as an active Haganah spy, enabling her to pass on information in support of the Jewish underground's efforts.

A young couple with only one child of their own at that time, in the summer of 1944 Bar-David and Jaap temporarily adopted two Dutch toddlers, daughters of friends of Jaap who were taken to the Bergen Belsen concentration camp. The girls lived with the Bar-Davids for two years, until their parents were released from Bergen Belsen and able to unite with them.

Bar-David and her family experienced several close encounters with the 1940s' armed struggle that led to the creation of the State of Israel. In July 1946, Bar-David narrowly escaped the King David Hotel bombing, after receiving a tip from the Haganah. On February 22, 1948, the office that housed the family business on Jerusalem's Ben-Yehuda Street was destroyed as a result of a direct bomb hit. And later in 1948 the Bar-David's home in the Arnona neighborhood was blown to the ground shortly after the family, along with its Jewish neighbors, were evacuated.

The Savyon years

In the 1950s Jaap opened Bar-David Literary Agency and Photographic Services, a business representing international authors and publishing houses in their dealings with Israeli publishers. leveraging her considerable contacts in Israel and abroad, Bar-David contributed actively to the enterprise's success. The business later branched out into Bar-David Toys and Games Ltd., representing Israeli game inventors abroad. Jaap ran the business until his death at age 60, on March 21st, 1971.

As Jaap's developing business necessitated a move to the Tel Aviv area, the family moved to Savyon, a newly created community on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Alongside her continued writing and book publishing, Bar-David became a pillar of the Savyon community. She was an active member of the local Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO), a hostess of English play-reading evenings and social gatherings. Her artistic interests found new expressions: her free-spirited garden was a draw for visitors, and the humorous figurines she created from readily available fruits and vegetables were best-sellers in the Wizo's annual "Spring Day" community fundraiser fair.

Later life and death

Approaching the age of sixty, Bar-David began showing signs of memory loss, and was later diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. She retired from public life and all writing activities. The last ten years of her life were spent in a long-term care home. She died on October 21, 1987 at the age of 77, and was buried beside Jaap in Savyon. Decades later, well-worn, previously loved copies of her books are still sold online, and her recipes are referenced by culinary bloggers and experts.

Lyons Family, Tisdale, circa 1915. (Standing, from right: Molly, Sunny, Sally. Sitting, from right: Ben, Hilda, Herschel, Ethel, Beccy, Arthur)

Molly Lyons and Jaap Bar-David Wedding, September 5th 1939.

Molly Lyons Bar-David, Husband Jaap, Daughters Varda, Geila and Ziona.