“It wasn't even a choice. Bringing up our children to observe Shabbat and not leave the home on Friday nights and holidays are holidays – instilling that in them from a super young age, from the day they were born, was just not a question for us,” says LA-based Sivan Kobi, who you might know by her social media handle Sivan’s Kitchen.
I’m speaking to the hugely successful food influencer (she has a staggering 2.3 million followers on Instagram alone), as she’s about to touch down in London for the launch of Yonah Inspired Living, a new charity founded by Rebbetzen Joanne Dove.
Yonah’s mission is “to build strong homes that nurture inspired living and strengthen generations across the Jewish community”, and Rebbetzen Dove and her team will be doing this through a diverse roster of learning programmes and experiences, from a mother-daughter batmitzvah journey to challah making and spa trips.
Rebbetzen Dove believes that strengthening Jewish identity and connection is a positive response to rising antisemitism, and through Yonah, she aims to make Jewish life accessible across the religious spectrum.
Sivan, who tells me “we're not Orthodox, but we are very observant,” says the initiative immediately spoke to her. “I love working with Jewish organisations and organisations that give back,” she says, “I liked everything about them.”
During her short time in London, Sivan will be hosting two events for Yonah – Faith & Flavour, a live cooking demonstration and discussion on November 17 and an exclusive dinner on November 18, which she's cooking with her husband Avi.
Explaining how she and Avi – who have been married for almost 30 years, and have four children and three grandchildren – built their Jewish life together, Sivan tells me: “We really do mix everything that we have, and we bring in the traditions from both sides.
“I grew up in an Iraqi household, and then once I got married, I learned a lot from my late mother-in-law who was Syrian and a lot from my sisters-in-law and my husband himself.”
Later she adds: “Believe it or not, I'm half Ashkenazi, so we will have gefilte fish with a lot of spicy horseradish on the holidays, and it’s something that we love. Even on my husband's side, he's like: ‘sure, bring it on. I love that too!’"
This mixing of food traditions from across the diaspora is not only something that Sivan is seeing more and more, but as one of the leading Jewish food influencers, is helping to advance.
“We see Ashkenazi women who never cooked with paprika before, never cooked with za’atar, never cooked with baharat or any kind of spice, who are suddenly implementing all these spices into their food and loving it so much, so it's really been nice to see that,” she says.
In fact, Sivan says that one of the most wonderful, and unexpected, joys of becoming a Jewish food influencer are the "incredibly heartwarming” messages she receives from her followers.
"You've changed our lives… my children now know what it is to eat home-cooked Jewish food, I'm lighting candles for the first time because of you, I'm making a Shabbat, I'm 75-years-old and I've baked a challah for the first time in my life because of you.
“I think that especially after October 7, people feel the need and the thirst to bring in Jewish food traditions into their home more than ever before,” she says. “As they say – you make something good from something bad.”
Join Sivan Kobi and Rebbetzen Joanne Dove for Faith & Flavour, an uplifting evening of food, connection and inspiration on Tuesday 17 November. Tickets available at www.charityextra.com/faithandflavour
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