Shuls & Shpayz: Druze: Israeli, But Not Jewish And Not Muslim

Congregation B'nai Jeshurun
257 West 88th Street, Upper West Side

Gazala's Place
380 Columbus Avenue, Upper West Side

For the first Shuls followed by Shpayz excursion in the new year, I thought to revisit the Upper West Side. Having enjoyed the service there last time, I wanted to try a new shul, so I had picked the Rodeph Sholom synagogue, which is Reform. As in our pursuit of non-theatrical prayer services in this city, Neal had made some discovery that it tends to be more of a production in Rodeph than a communal event. With these doubts voiced just a couple hours before the service, we finally settled on going back to Bnai Jeshurun, a service we knew from previously and of which we had liked the atmosphere. However, this was counter to my original plan to always go to a different service every week without repeating. So 2nd time in BJ and it was just as charged with its cantor on the keyboard and a packed house all around in the planetarium-looking sanctuary. This time we were able to get seats a little further up on the left. Again, they danced and clogged the aisles during L'kha Dodi, and again the lady in the front flailed her arms around in rejoice. Another reason I figured it made sense to go again was because our friend Tara who had expressed interest in joining our excursions. It wouldn't make too much sense to go to a shul with rumors of being rigid and stuffy that we didn't know in advance. The service ended and as was like the last time everyone duly shuffles out the door onto 88th Street. We had reservations for Gazala's Place on Columbus Avenue, an Israeli Druze place that is a fairly recent expansion of its sister location in Hell's Kitchen. Having been to Israel and experiencing the Druze meal either in Tsfat or Tiberias, I was interested to see what awaited here. A lot of the food in the Middle East overlaps from country to country. And a couple major differences between this place and a Jewish Israeli restaurant would be that it is not kosher and the menu is pretty much exclusively Levantine specialties like hummus, shawarma, baba ghanouj, tahini, pitas, and falafel, though you might find a schnitzel for instance on a Jewish Israeli menu. We met a couple other members of our group there who didn't want to pray beforehand so we had 7 altogether. While some went for the falafel platters or meat pies, I decided to try a tapas style by ordering the appetizers, going for a tabbouleh salad (which could have easily fed 3 people) and kibbeh, which is also a Sephardic dish, basically meat-filled croquettes, and one of my favorites, stuffed grape leaves, which I know are very common in other Mediterranean diets as well. Unfortunately, this is not the best approach to Gazala's menu as the dishes are not priced well corresponding to the quantities provided: for example, $8 for a small bowl of 3 or 4 pieces. While I enjoy kibbeh, ("meat stuffed with onions, pine nuts, herbs, spices with tahini"), it was worth it. Perhaps the mezze sampling platter is a better deal to split with someone: 9 hot or cold plates for $33. Well, such is a la carte I suppose. Probably should have ordered the kafta or gone for something with lamb. Although my experience at Gazala's was not particularly favorable this time around, most everyone else seemed satisfied and enjoyed their meals, so I would try it out again and just make sure to order a real entree rather than mezzes only. They must have 2 locations for a reason!