Working in high net worth marketing for financial services firms has been truly exciting and interesting career, and has also brought me many opportunities to work, speak and consult in a variety of banking centers in the United States beyond New York City, and even globally in cities like Toronto and Hong Kong. One day not long ago, I opened an e-mail which invited me to present a financial services marketing program in a truly exotic locale: the important Asian banking center of Kuala Lumpur!
Because I am adventurous at heart, I was thrilled. And then, I paused. Where is Kuala Lumpur, I thought? I quickly consulted a map, and then began researching Malaysia.
Oy vey. What might that mean? How might that feel to be the lone Jewish woman in a Muslim country? I grew up in Detroit, and being Jewish there made me feel a bit like a "bagel" in a doughnut shop. Also, Detroit has one of the largest Arab population outside of the Middle East. I remember being surprised to even hear Rosh Hashanah discussed on the radio! Everyone in NYC ate bagels and used Yiddish expressions like " nebbish " or " chatchkes " -- whether Jewish or not.
But not everyone was a bagel I was to learn. There were many "flavors" of the Jewish people. Some were bourekas, lamb tangine, and others were falafel, babaganoush and hummus! The Sephardic Jews seemed exotic to me as their families originated from countries like Iraq, Iran, Turkey, etc.
Their food was clearly more interesting than the Polish, Austrian, Hungarian, etc. Ashkenazi Jewish food on which I raised. I remember once even telling my grandmother that everything on one of the holiday tables was beige: matzo balls, noodle kugel, kasha varnishkes, brisket, gefilte fish, challah, etc.
