Down the long path of history, trampling across centuries and continents and the graves of kings and the necks of dictators, seeking always a way of life where the people have their freedom, believing, praying, fighting, dying. We came this way. The NBC University of the Air, a public service feature of the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations, presents We Came This Way, a new historical series for our listeners at home and overseas. With Clifton Utley as narrator, we present Chapter 8, the story of Leo Tolstoy in We Came This Way. For 82 years, Leo Tolstoy lived upon this earth. From 1828 to 1910, and his death stunned the world. All men felt the loss. All men, for one paralyzed moment in time, felt like orphans under the vast inexplicable silence of the sky. Few men in their lifetime could seize an empire, as one seizes a dog by the scuff of its neck, and shake it with a giant anger until justice was shaken loose from it. Few men, a handful, and Count Leo Tolstoy was one of them. The time is the last decade of the 19th century. The fame of Tolstoy tolls like a great bell across the world. He is all things to all men. To the revolutionist. He is the great enemy of the Russian aristocracy. To the religious dissenter. He follows the true teachings of Christ. To men of letters. He is the supreme literary artist of the world. And to the ministers of his Imperial Majesty, Tsar Alexander III. He is dangerous. He is 63 years old. His eyes are quick and piercing. His white patriarchal beard gives him the appearance of a biblical prophet. Power emanates from his whole being. Power and a sense of a vast profundity. He is already written war and peace. Anna Karenina, the Christ of Sonata. He has already written his famous religious and moral works. He has formulated his concept of the state. It is evil. It is corrupt and cruel. Yet Tolstoy will not preach resistance to that evil. For at the core of his beliefs is the principle of non-resistance. I repeat, do not resist evil. To change things in the outside world means to do violence. To hurt someone. Thus to resist one evil with another. Let thy deeds of reform be committed in thy soul. If thy cheek be struck, turn to them the other. Do not resist evil. Cherish love instead. But this is the tale of how Leo Tolstoy did resist evil. This is the story of how Tolstoy betrayed himself. It is summer, 1891. A hot dry wind has blown across Russia's center provinces for months. The grass and the grain have with it. The streams have dried and the cattle load disconsolately in the burned out fields. Famine, that final horror of the peasants' lives, looms in the land. And they turn to the authorities. Excellency, Excellency, God is my witness. My son's bones stick out like the knuckles on my hand. But the authorities do nothing. They try to hush it up. And the cries for help fade away into the hurried whispers in government bureaus. But the liberal elements are shocked and voluntary relief begins. Funds are needed to fight the disaster. And they turn to the famous of the Empire to lend their prestige to the collections. And, certain of his agreement, they turn to Count Leo Tolstoy. Well? Does your own wife have to pound like a police officer before she can see you? What is it, Sophie? Priestsky is leaving. He is insulted. So, has he not insulted me? But how, Leo? How? By asking me to join with him in what is essentially a criminal deed. Criminal? I don't see how it's criminal to aid starving peasants. I should expect my wife to approve my actions. But how can I when I don't understand them? Priestsky, an old friend, comes to visit. He talks about helping the peasants in Ryazan province. And all at once, you grow angry.  How am I to understand that? Charity is an evil. A cowardly act. A throwing of a bone to save the whole dish. Furthermore, I will not resist the evil brought on by this society with another evil. Then what in heaven's name is to be done for these hungry people? Let them starve?  I am not Priestsky. I am only a Christian woman who thinks it cruel and un-Christian to permit men and women and children to starve. Will you leave me, Sophie? I repeat, I will not have anything to do with these hypocritical schemes of charity. Meanwhile, the sun climbed higher each day in Ryazan, and famine crept from village to village, and nightmare overwhelmed that land. And others came to Tolstoy, each bringing a fragment more of the calamity. And on his estate, the Yastlinga Polyana Tolstoy listened. The children with their swollen bellies, they stare at you as though you and you alone have brought this horror into their lives. To keep warm, Leonid Levits, they are burning the straw from their rooftops, and of course, the more straw they burn, the colder their huts become. And after each new fragment of the terrible tale Tolstoy grew more silent and brooding. Sometimes he rose abruptly and went out. Signs were multiplying, the lips quivering, great, knotty hands moving restlessly, the sudden silences, and the growing look in his face as if a man perpetually haunted by scenes of horror. Yes, the signs were multiplying, until one evening at dinner. Aren't you hungry? Leo. You haven't touched your food. I am not hungry. Are you ill? Leo, what's the matter with you? What's about the table as if you've never seen any of us before? You are eating. All of you eating. Of course. What is it, Leo? How can you? How can you let food to your mouths and not choke on it? What? What are you talking about?  The bread is white, there is meat. Do not your soul revolt at it.  Tanya.  Do you not hear their children wailing? Don't you? Stop eating! Stop! Leo, what is wrong? Sophie, where is our asking? In what province? In Riyazan. What are you calling Simeon for? I am sick. I am going away, that is all. I am going to Riyazan. And Tolstoy rode to the province of Riyazan to fight a famine with money indeed. Then from Moscow a courier also rode to the province bearing a letter from the minister of police to the governor of Riyazan province. The charge minister considered it highly advisable that the movements and activities of Count Leo Tolstoy be carefully watched and reported upon. Whatever articles he will write on the conditions in Riyazan meant for publication will be carefully censored. But police spies were an old story to Tolstoy. In fact, he expected them. But armies of spies could not prevent him from doing what needed to be done. Now tell me, Ryevsky, what's to be done first? Food. Food kitchens must be set up. And then? Clothing. The people must have clothing. And what of the cattle? The horses? The cows? You cannot save the peasants without saving his cattle. I hadn't thought of that. We must set up feeding stations for the cattle. Tell me, how many peasants are you feeding now? Some 8,000 are all we can manage. But that is only a handful. We must double it. Double it? With what? Our funds are being stretched tighter than a drumhead now. Then we must raise more funds. And how are we to do that? I could... Could what? I could write an appeal. Funds will come in. It is unable to write for money. But what is one to do? Tell me, what is one to do? And from the midst of the slicken area came the first of the famine articles told story was to write. And it was called, The Terrible Question. In Ryezan, a ragged woman came out to us. She had five children. The oldest daughter was only ten. Two were sick. It must have been from influenza. This woman lived and fed her children on crusts that she got by begging. Yet how they lived was a miracle. For what crusts are there to be found? Where there is famine? So can we stand idly by when women and children are dying of starvation and disease? It is impossible not to give. All it needs is to be men. And such men I know there really are. And such men there were. In spite of censorship that mutilated the article in the Russian publications, funds began to pour in. Pity and Tolstoy's stirring appeal loosened purses. And not only in Russia but from western Europe contributions came. For the article was translated for the foreign press. And soon because the whole civilized world answered Leo Tolstoy's appeal, there were enough funds to carry the peasants over two years of famine. Tolstoy armed with money. Now further betrays his beliefs. Daily he rides from village to village. His intellect at war with the vast pity in his heart. Are you warm enough old man? Your Excellency, you've brought fuel so there's heat. And you've brought food so there's comfort. I am warm and grateful to your Excellency. And you old woman. How can I complain? Leona Kalayavich. Yesterday hunger was like a pair of claws in my stomach. And now God is good. We are alive.  No, no I will not have it. I will not take gratitude for a betrayal. Forgive me. That is how it should be. Forgive. My soul cries out in horror at what I do. But the state is concerned with deeds. The state judges the deed and not the heart. Tolstoy's deeds filled the officials with alarm. To Moscow went daily reports. Excellency, yesterday Count Tolstoy spoke to the peasants and said, A man needs but to realize that the object of his life is the fulfillment of God's law. Then the preeminence of that law claiming as it does his entire allegiance will have necessity invalidate the authority and restrictions of all human laws. And the reactionary nobles who had always been Tolstoy's enemies felt that the moment was now ripe for a hope they'd nourished for years. To see his Imperial Majesty's minister of police. Come in, my dear Count. Come in. Forgive me for requesting an audience so early. You know you are always welcome, my dear Count. What can I do for you? I've come about Tolstoy. How much longer will his activities be tolerated? Activities? Yes. His activities in this crop failure in Ryazan. His articles have scandalized the holy name of Russia before the world. We censor all his writings, my dear Count. And what about those appearing in foreign publications? What can I do about those? Tolstoy has for years carried on attacks against all our established institutions against the very pillars of our empire. But he has only preached a Christian pacifism. That is all. He's never spoken for violence. One resistance, I think he calls it. Perhaps. But the peasants do not make such fine distinctions. He says we have robbed them and they believe it. His Christian words can become battle cries in the peasants' mouths. So what would you have me do? Arrest him on the grounds of blackening Russia's name before the world. Are you serious, my dear Count? I do not jest. But Tolstoy is world famous. To arrest him would create a greater scandal. We would become a very monster among nations for arresting a man who is feeding hungry peasants. He must be silenced. That, I grant, he must be silenced. But the question is, how? I and thousands of others over-eaten beef steaks and sturgeons and cover our houses with cloths and carpets. No matter what the learned of the world may say to justify it, this is a crime committed not once, but perpetually. Were I a peasant suffering the misery of this famine, I would rise against such conditions. And this appeared in England. And the last phrase to rise against such conditions was a mistranslation. But in Moscow the reactionaries cried out that now Tolstoy preached open revolt. There, there it is in black and white. Do you need any more motive for Tolstoy's arrest? A wild revolutionary trying to steep us all in bloodshed. I tried to explain to you the difficulties before, my dear Count. Tolstoy cannot be just summarily arrested. If you do not silence him, then you shall suffer personally. I shall take it to the Emperor himself. But I granted that to... To what, sir? Why, that's it. That's it exactly. It's perfect. What are you talking about? Silence him. It's ideal. A monastery, that's it. Tolstoy must be confined in a monastery. If you are ready, I will dictate. I am ready, Excellency. So, to his Imperial Majesty, Alexander III, because Count Leo Tolstoy has openly called for revolution because he has for years represented a potential danger to the peace of your Majesty's reign, after careful deliberation with due regard to Tolstoy's international reputation, the problem of how best to render him harmless has been solved. Your Majesty's Minister takes the liberty of suggesting that on his Emperor's orders, Count Leo Tolstoy be commanded immediately to proceed to the monastery at Tula and there to be confined. But the great have friends everywhere. And in government ministries, secrets quickly become accurate rumors. Word of what was planned sped to Yassning Apolliana and on a winter's day Tolstoy's wife, Sophie Andreyevna, set out for Ryazan and she found Tolstoy in an obscure village. It is incredible. Coming here in the middle of winter. I had to see you, Leo. Are you a young girl who makes such a trip? You couldn't send someone else? Leo, please stop. I have important news. Very well then. What is it, Sophie? I have had word from Moscow. They are planning to put you away. What? Out of the world, into a monastery because of your activities and writings here. Count Povya Donostyev is behind it all. Don't stare so. It's truly, oh, true as I breathe. Calm yourself, Sophie. How can I be calm? It is I who will be alone. It is my children who will be without their father. Sophie, stop it. Stop it and tell me what you know. A petition is prepared for the emperor, requesting him to order you to the monastery at Tula. They don't dare. Come home with me, Leo. I cannot. Then what am I to do? You are no longer a young man, Leo.  Come home. I will make it quiet for you. You will write wonderful things. Yes, please, please. Sophie, I cannot come home. I cannot stop this work. How will these poor people eat? How will they keep warm? How could I live with such a guilt upon my mind? Meanwhile in Moscow, the petition moves upwards through back room intrigues of ministries. Like some secret dishonorable treaty that is smuggled onwards. Minister, Count and Grand Duke all see it and approve. Reaction with all its clamoring power pushes it toward the emperor. From Yazant to Moscow rode Sophie Andreyevna, distraught and frightened, and she came to Countess Alexander Tolstoy, an old woman of 70, and an aunt of Leo Tolstoy, a woman influential in the Tsar's court, a woman with a prime minister's brain. And he will not leave off his activities, Sophie? No. He is like an ox, stubborn. Nothing moves him. Does he know who is behind this petition? He knows everything, Alexander. Leo was always headstrong. He will do something, Alexandra. Please promise me you will do something. Oh, I am half out of my mind about it all. I am an old woman, Sophie, and old women do not change the minds of emperors, as these ladies' young ones. But you have known the emperor since he was a child. True. But emperors have sharp memories, my dear. Then what shall I do? How can I live without Leo? Thirty years we've been together. Even when he is angry, even with his strange ideas, I feel like a young girl about him, Alexandra, like a young girl. No tears, Sophie, no tears. Look up at me. There, that's better. What shall I do, Alexandra? You? Nothing, Sophie. I will do it. I'll see the emperor.  The hem of your dress. I'll see him, and I will talk to him, Sophie. And pray, God, he remembers the games I played with him when he was a child. And Countess Alexandra wrote a letter. Sayer, an old woman begs an audience with you on matters close to her heart and close to yours. You have given many happinesses to her. She comes now to beg one more. And a note was returned to her. Countess, the old woman need not come for an audience. The child will come to her instead. Time, Alexandra. Majesty, Sir Alexander. No, no, no. Get up, my dear Countess. Kneeling is for young women. Thank you, Sayer. Will you sit down? Well, what is it you wish, Countess? One isn't sure of how to begin, Sayer. That is not like you, Countess. Only a novice of a minister is unsure of how to begin. It is about a nephew of mine. A nephew? Which one? Sayer, in a few days a petition will be submitted to your Majesty for the confinement in a monastery of the most popular man in Russia. So, now I know your nephew. Count Leo Tolstoy. You have guessed right, Sayer. Well, what has he done now, inspired against my life? Oh, heaven forbid, Sayer. No, never. It is because of his activities and writings in Riazhan on the crop failure. Well, my dear Countess, from what information I have those activities and writings have been far from innocent. Oh, perhaps, Sayer. But if any such confining of Tolstoy be carried out who would be blamed? Blamed? What do you mean? My nephew, Sayer, is world famous. To confine him and silence him would arouse public indignation, not only in Russia, but in Europe as well. Accusing voices would be raised. Because it is a monastery, it will not mitigate the blame, Sayer, as your ministers seem to have thought. Tolstoy will be shut away from the world, and that is enough. And the blame for such an act will not be directed against your minister, Sayer, nor against your grand duke. But at the head of the Russian state, Sayer, it will be directed at you. In a few days, when the petition arrived upon the emperor's desk, peremptorily the tsar said, Do not touch Leotolstoy. I do not have the slightest desire of transforming him into a martyr and winning thereby for myself the indignation of all of Russia. If he is guilty of anything, well, so much the worse for him. Let it be upon his own conscience. And Leotolstoy continued to work unmolested in the areas of famine. And he continued to write, doing those things that were contrary to his belief, resisting evil, collecting funds, doing those things that meant his association with a corrupt and evil state. While he fed and clothed his fellow man, he cried out against the system of life he lived in, proclaiming that the true salvation for men will come only when all men truly become Christians. This state that means prisons, punishments, and injustices will fall by itself. It will suffice for men to cease to care about worldly and public affairs. And immediately, without struggle and without effort, that abnormal organization of life which tortures them and threatens them with still greater misfortunes in the future will crumble. And God's kingdom will set in. Few men are monumental enough to plow up the accepted ideas of their country, are great enough to shake the smug, self-satisfied minds of men and prepare them for cataclysms to come. Tolstoy shook the thinking of his time. He roused the consciousness of social inequality. He raised the poor, the missable and the downtrodden to the stage of human events. In his time, he became the conscience of the civilized world. His voice thundered against injustice. The road toward democratic justice is a long and bitter road.  We should be proud and uplifted because Leo Tolstoy also came this way. The NBC University of the Air has brought you chapter 8 of the new historical series, We Came This Way. Next week, We Came This Way will present Gambetta, a republic is born. Would you like to know more of the life and times of Tolstoy, Whitman and Hugo? A handbook containing life stories of 13 great leaders in the struggle for human liberty has been prepared as an interesting supplement to the broadcast series. To obtain your copy, write We Came This Way. Address your requests to Columbia University Press, Station J, New York 27, and in close 25 cents in coin to cover costs of printing and mailing. Tonight's script was written by Raphael Hayes and was directed by Homer Heck. Original music was composed by Emil Sodastrom and conducted by Joseph Glicchio. Members of the cast included Clifton Utley as narrator, Philip Lord as Tolstoy, and Alma Platt as Sophie. Others in the cast were Virginia Payne, Gilbert Ferguson, Barnett Franks, Jim Goss, Tom Post, and Fred Sullivan. This series is presented each week as a public service feature of the National Broadcasting Company and its affiliated stations. This is the National Broadcasting Company.


Hello, my name is Liam. I'm from Youqiao.  People were excited about us being excited. And that made me excited. It was very cultured and we just loved it. It's traditional. It's traditional. I got the kinesis, guys! The best kinesis! Jewish, Chinese and Italian people have been right next to each other in New York's Lower East Side for over 100 years. Everyone gets along, but I'd say each respective community sorta does its own thing, which makes sense because each group is so different. But today we're with our friend Liam, who is of Jewish descent and grew up in the neighborhood his whole life, and he's gonna take us on a tour of Jewish spots in the L.E.S. There's a lot of famous Jewish people in America, but the food isn't as well-known, so we're gonna try a lot of stuff for the very first time. Let's go. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to a very special and very cold episode of Fun Bros. Food. We're on Houston and Lower East Side. We're gonna be doing a food crawl, learning about the culture of something that I've been wanting to do for a very long time, but haven't yet to get the chance to. And where we at? Guys, we are in front of Russ and Daughters, and we are about to embark on a Jewish food crawl across the Lower East Side. And who better to help us through this food crawl than Liam right here? So my name is Liam. I wanna raise New Yorker from the Lower East Side. I come from a Jewish heritage, and I've lived over a Jewish bakery all my life.  Russ and Daughters, let's go. Guys, I just walked out of Russ and Daughters. I bought three of their most popular bagel sandwiches here, and I had some really cool interactions with people in there. They're very nice, you know? I think when you show an interest in what's going on, and like this guy was talking outside, he's been coming here since 1955, and it's so as good today as it's ever been. As a matter of fact, it's probably better today. It's the third generation of owners. Do you think that these spots should modernize? I think the food should stay the same as it was for 50 years, but I think the facility and the service and the aesthetic of the place could modernize, but keeping the traditional. Russ and Daughters has been around over 100 years, and it started by a guy named Russ, and actually he had no sons, so his daughters ran the shop, and that's why it's called Russ and Daughters. Okay, Andrew, these were not cheap. For three bagel sandwiches, which I got a Sturgeon, I got a Pastrami Russ, and I got the classic. It was a total of $52, guys. This spot is high quality, but it is expensive. Here, guys, we have the Pastrami Russ right here. This is Pastrami kind of flavoring on salmon locks. Classic bagel on locks, man, is tradition in Jewish culture. Coming from Europe, bagel, Jewish, we add fish because it's culture. Coming to America, salmon's easier and cheaper to use. It's even has the same.  All right, so here we have the Sturgeon bagel, okay? Sturgeon is a fish. Sturgeon bagel. All right. Weirdly enough, it kind of tastes like a fishy turkey, too. Immediately next, we got to go with the classic.  You got your smoked salmon right there. You got onions, capers. Salmon locks bagel. You're not just gone, got to say? I'll definitely go for this in the future. You rockin' with smoked fish. I'm rockin' with smoked fish. Last but not least, this is Pastrami? Pastrami Russ, this is the Pastrami salmon, bro. Pastrami sandwich. Look at that Pastrami flavoring on the outside. You see that? Pastrami Russ. I never had anything like that before. Muscle, it's a kick, it's an extra thing to this. What could be more in New York? We're freezing our butts off, eating Russ and daughters. We got to head over to Cat's Deli. All right, we're about to have a warm Pastrami sandwich, a matzo ball soup, and potato latkes. All right, you guys, we have made it to the world's famous Cat's Deli. I believe that Nicole Kidman had some sort of like scene here or something. I'll have what she's having.  That's an old reference, but Cat's Deli, it is just a famous place to get your Pastrami sandwich, your Reuben sandwich, corned beef, everything. This is really like in a weird way, a top 10 tourist location in New York City. Everything here is kosher. What does it mean to keep kosher? So in the Jewish religion, you have certain things you can and cannot eat.  This is because we're not supposed to eat things closed. What do you mean, the hands? The hands are like the trotters. So what else has closed? Yeah, so wait, so what does a cow have then? Nothing, cows and hooves. No clothes, here at Cat's. Let's go. All right, we're here inside the Cat's Deli contestant. First up with the latkes, they're exclusive to Hanukkah and known for when you start that Hanukkah. It's basically potatoes, deep fried, and with pancake. Latkes. I've only had latkes like twice in my life. I think these are the best ones, ma'am. A lot of flavor. Maso ball. What are the different types of Jewish tribes kind of at their arm? Asanis, we've got the more Ethiopian Jews, which are black Jews. So Asanazis are more of the Eastern Europe region. Primary Jews that have been located to the Lower East Side. Sephardi Jews are more Middle Eastern and Mediterranean. One thing we're going to have to get into later is the Kaifeng Jews, the Chinese Jews. There are Chinese Jews in China. Smyr. What is a Smyrish? It's a Yiddish term for just a thread. Look at that. Look at that stack. The strong. Five out of five? Five out of five. We're just going to start to get into some deeper cut things. We are about to have a knish. This whole time we were calling it niche. It's from Poland.  Let's go right here.  This is on Houston. This has been open since 1910. You look at some of the photographs they've got in drawings. It's like this is like the OG of the OG. Tradition. Tradition. That's all it is. We're about to try some knish for the very first time. I think it is noteworthy that Liam you speak a little bit of Mandarin because you went to what? An immersion school in elementary? Yeah, I'm sure. Ni hao. I'm Liam. I'm the young man. I grew up in New York. That's what can happen in the Lower East Side.  It's normal. Right next to the Jewish owner. There was still hella Chinese right there. Yeah. Chinese people and Jewish people have been in the Lower East Side together for a century now. You never see this anywhere else. You're burying up knishes down from the basement on a bell hop. This is something that they've been doing this whole time. I got the knish guys. The best knish. If you are just holding Jewish food in your hand, I think Jewish people know you are and they'll just talk to you. Where's the sour cream? Yo, what is an egg cream? I've never had an egg cream, Liam. So an egg cream traditionally in Jewish history. Seltzer, chocolate, and milk. So there's no egg in this. No egg, no cream, unlike the name. Egg cream. You got the chocolate, I got the vanilla. Oh, that's good. It kind of tastes like something you made at home. I've never had a knish before in my life. It's like cream cheese, potato, and blueberry. Is it kind of like one of those pastries? I've experienced it more as a savory food, but it's definitely more traditional. Blueberry knish. Perfect for the weather. Got the flaky pastry crust on the outside. Some kind of firm cream cheese in the middle. Spinach knish. That is like some really tasty and kind of salty spinach mashed potatoes wrapped up in a pastry. Let's just try these new flavors. We're just going to guess what they are. All right, definitely multi-grain. This is a healthy one. Okay. It's like a squash type of thing. I got the vegetable one right here. I'm just going to bite it. Whoa. Pumpkin joint looks crazy. I've got pumpkin, you've got cherry cream cheese, and you've got broccoli potato. I'm not going to lie. I'm really feeling the mashed potato ones. I'm rolling with the potato knish from Yona Shimmel. Derry, got to get it. Must have. Here, we got the classic knishes. What they would be eating in homeland Ukraine. That might be the best one. Really?  This was so ravey, it would be fire. That's like Thanksgiving in a bun. We're about to hit Grand Street. New spots, newly redone spots, and old school spots. So let's go to Grand Street. All right, so we have made it to Granite Essex in the Lower East Side, and we're right in front of a classic called the Pickle Guys. Pickles are very kosher, and Jews people love it. So they're not big on the history, but it's a tradition. What's really cool is they actually opened up a kosher burger spot using their pickles right next door called Diller. We're going to be checking out both of them. But first of all, let's take a look at some pickles. Pickles have been here since 1910. So it used to be the Pickle District. Used to be 40 pickle stores here at one time. Now there's only one left. This is it. We have about 40 different varieties left. And when I first started, there were only eight. And these are the best pickles in the world. What makes your pickle so good? Well, first of all, you start with good ingredients. Everything we do here is bundled by hand, not by machine or factory. Anything cracked, broken or bruised, goes to the garbage. You only get the best here. This is salad pick, the most popular pick we have. That crunch is incredible. I don't even know if I've seen them smile about anything in this video so far, but that pickle, spicy new pickle. I feel the kick in the back. There we go. That snap and crunch is real. All right, guys, we're here at Dillers. We're a spin-off for the Pickle guys. And Pickle talked to me one day and said, listen, I'm trying to be the side piece. I want to be the main dish. So we made a fried pickle as a main dish, and that's what we're sticking with. We started kosher over there, so we catered to the kosher community. We're outside of Dillers and we have a whole spread in front of us. We got fried pickles. We have a pickle pineapple lemonade. We got the pickled lentils, egg rolls, and then we have the kosher burger right here. But it's not just regular kosher. There's a word for it. That cheese on there is a hot level kosher. Halaf is real. Halaf is real, all right. Kosher beyond burger. You can tell those pickles are high quality because there's like that crunch and sweetness coming from their pickled lentil egg rolls. I'm not mad at that. Fried pickles from Dillers. I've had fried pickles before. These are the best ones. Fried sliced pickles, this might be my thing. I'll give these about a 4.5 out of 5. Last but not least, man, I think you got to go for this pickled pineapple lemonade. Pickled pineapple lemonade. Like that traditional lemonade with a little dill to it, but it's overwhelming ginger taste. Perfect. Okay, so three doors down from Dillers and the pickle guys. We have Kosher's and this is traditionally a huge Jewish community. So of course, you know, you're going to have a very high density of Jewish businesses. Kosher's has been here since 1936. But recently there was a change in ownership and it kind of modernized it to a younger generation. But you know what? I think the Bialys and the bagels and the recipes are generally the same. So Bialy, it's like a bagel, but without the whole it's baked, it's full with onions and poppy seeds. This is something that's exclusively Jewish. You will only find it Jewish spot. You can't find this out of a bagel. You can't find this at most delts. Moppers' opinion, better than bagel. I do know a lot of people like the Bialy better because it's softer generally. Okay. Hey, Liam, you got to hype into Bialy. Our bagels versus Bialys right here at Kosher's. Plain cream cheese Bialys. And then a plain cream cheese bagel. Yeah, both of them toasted because the battle is going down between the Bialy and the bagels. Can we do one order of the Bob the French toast? Yo, Liam, what do you think about the younger generation wanting to keep the traditional life but like, you know, more modernizing it? As diverse as this neighborhood is in, you have to keep evolving into this as in your food. This is exposed to the younger generation now as they use it. All right, we're here at Kosher's. They're known for the Bialys guys. Bialy with cream cheese. It's kind of like English muffin section. Kind of like a fluffy pizza dough. More garlic flavor. Bagel with cream cheese. The Bialy had more flavor and was easier to eat and it has a better ratio of carb to smear. Yeah, I feel overwhelmed with the bagel. I feel like it's almost a little dry in my opinion. I would take this over a Bialy. That's two to one. Bialys, last but not least, here at Kosher's, we have chocolate Bob the French toast. Bobka is a Eastern European Jewish bread and they have made French toast out of it on the griddle. Chocolate Bobka French toast. I'm gonna tell you, that is decadent. That chocolate is built in, but it doesn't taste like a chocolate chip. That's what I like. That is a five out of five. Six out of five. Yo, the chocolate Bobka French toast, everybody get it. You guys, we're going on a Jewish food crawl right now. We're near the end of it, but we're not done. Just keep it pushing. All right, going along with our theme of modernization, we are here at Rivington and Clinton in front of Davidovic bagels. What is like an old school technique they use here at Davidovic that a lot of bagel shops are not doing anymore? Well, it's kind of rolled up though, that's flip with a stick rather than a machine. Like you don't see that anywhere else in New York or even in the country. If you go to any bagel spot and they say that they sell hand rolled bagels, it's likely that they are bought from Davidovic. Davidovic bagels. You got only got rainbow. I don't, is that the traditional Jewish thing? The rainbow? I don't know about that, man. Not the Davidovic bagels. We have rainbow. We have holla bread. We got the grugolas, right? And then we got the pastrami bagel with everything on it. Rainbow bagel. The honey walnut spread is really sweet. Not traditional. I'm loving it. Pastrami bagel. How do you guys like the bagel? It's kind of thick, but it's not too hard. It has a good feel to it. It cuts in perfect. Unless I love Cozars, it's a better bagel. Salmon lox and cream cheese. That salmon lox was better than rest of the dogs. In my opinion. What? What? That's kind of the first. Grugola. This one's a little dry, Davidovic. Last but not least, we got the holla bread. It's the holiday season. I just want to break bread with the fam. You know holla bread. The bagels clearly taste different. I think it's the stick flip. Onto our next spot, but I got to say, shout out to Davidovic. All right, you guys. We just went a little bit further down on Grand Street. This is one of the most classic kosher bakeries. It's called Boiches. Boiches.  Yeah, for sure. I actually live in the building right on top of it. Jewish food in the LES. How long have you been working here? Fifteen years. Fifteen. Fifteen. Do you eat Chinese food on Christmas and stuff? It has to be kosher. The first thing we got is a homotage. This is very, is eaten during prom, which is basically the Jewish Halloween. Okay, it represents the Haman, who was an evil figure in the Purim story. It could represent the ear or the pocket of health, but it represents a green man. That's why it's filled with cream or a prune-like flavor. Or eating something that represents an evil man. Almost, yeah. Okay. So why do we eat him? Is it like kind of teach him a lesson? We're like, yo, this is a representation. I've never seen poppy seed like this before. David, you're trying the prune one. I'm going to go in on this poppy seed one. Hey, Haman, I'll teach you a lesson. Eat your ear. I really like the prune one. It's underrated. The prune one is underrated. Prune one is about. This one was weird. This is rugola. Yiddish for a little twist. It's a dough wrapped in more like a poppy seed or a chocolate texture. Rugola. It has a deep cocoa flavor, a lot of cinnamon. Not bad. Coming up next, we have the famous black and white cookie. It's just a Jewish staple. I can't say for sure that it's coherently Jewish in terms of Jewish culture, but it's made by Jews for Jews. Jewish black and white cookie. Let's go. Chocolate vanilla. Can't go wrong, guys. Last, definitely not least, mandel bread. Mandel bread. It's something my grandmother used to make when I was little. Okay. Well, we saw this lady in there. She had been working there for 50 years. She used the old traditional bread slicer to cut this. They got the oldest good slicer out there. Is this chocolate bread? It's almost, yeah, it's like a chocolate bread. It's almost like, like, biscotti. Mandel bread. I know what you mean. This is like a chocolate-covered biscotti. Yeah, biscotti. It has that kind of, like, vanilla flavor to it. Oh, oh, oh!  Oh! Y'all both said y'all was gonna try that. Coast your soda. Maim chaiim. Oh, carbonation is very... Very bubbly. Very high. Lahaim. All right, we've made it to our last spot on Division Street. It is Miceli Bakery. It's a new bakery owned by a young Israeli guy. Spain to Middle East is Sephardic Jews and the Mizorai Jews in North Africa. And then, of course, Andrew, the Kaifeng Jews. Oh, the Kaifeng Jews from China. From Zhengzhou. If we thought that the other bakeries that we went to were a little bit old school, I'm sure this one is much different. Let's go check it out. All right, you guys, we are here at Miceli Bakery. Like you said, this man is from the center of Israel. He comes from a, you know, a very famous baking background. Here we have the chocolate bob cake on the bottom. Another way of making rougala. Okay, so kind of, I'm seeing some similarity to the knish here. Yeah. And then here I have the spinach one right here. Israeli baked Jewish goods. Very French. It has this, like, Frenchiness of a croissant. But it still has that, like, texture of a rougala.  That's, like, the tradition. But this is, like, the new one. As you can see, this is, like, a twisted one. Babka. If you like Jewish bakery goods, but you kind of want it in, like, a more French croissant, decadent style, this would be a good pick. To twist the original form. All right, you guys, that brings us to the end of our traditional to modern Jewish food crawl through the Lower East Side. There was so much history. Like we said, a lot of these spots have been around for, like, a hundred years. My favorite thing was the pastrami sandwich at Katz. Maybe, actually, potatoes, spinach knish. I got to go with that French toe spinach. I don't really like fish, but that bagel and laks was delicious. I think that potato knish really blew me away because I didn't expect that. I think it was really cool just to be in the community and see how excited everybody was that we were filming the video. People were excited about us being excited, and that made me excited. I definitely want people to go out of their comfort zone. What do you want them to do?  The homotation. That's my third pick, the prune joint. Yo, Liam, huge shout out to you. Thank you for doing that, man. You don't have social media. All right, man. That's crazy. You're a young guy. Thank you so much for watching that traditional to modern Jewish food crawl in the Lower East Side. There is no better place to do it than the LES right now in the comments down below. Let us know if there's, like, another food that you guys want to see us explore in New York City. You know, I know it's hard to travel right now, but you can still travel within your own city. So thank you so much for watching. Hit that like button, click subscribe, turn on your notifications, and until next time, we out. Peace. How old is that machine? Older than you and me together. Does Father Stephen, you know his Father Stephen? I used to come here, I have a long hair. You think I remember? Liam, this sign says be a mensch. Wear a mask. What does this word even mean? Be a mensch? Be a good person in Yiddish. Wear a mask. You're helping the community right now. Be a mensch.