“A Place at the Table” is a commemorative project that documents the favorite dishes of those lost on October 7 with the help of their families.
Ever since Keren Flash was little, having pancakes was a family event. She and her sisters would sit at the table with their dad Igal while their mother Cindy worked her magic in the kitchen. “The smell was intoxicating,” Keren recalls. They couldn’t resist sneaking into the kitchen to steal a pancake and the sisters would compete to see who could snag the palest pancake from the stack.
Keren’s mother brought the recipe from the United States where she was born and raised. It yields thick, fluffy pancakes, perfect with sweet or savory toppings. “As kids, we always ate them with maple syrup, and my dad would have them with pastrami or avocado,” Keren laughs. “We used to stare at him in shock, but as we got older, we started doing the same, having savory pancakes first and finishing with something sweet. It became a multicultural family tradition.”
Even after they moved out, Cindy would make them when the kids visited. And when all the pancakes were done, Cindy would take the last of the batter and make one final extra large pancake for herself and sit down to eat with them.
Cindy and Igal Flash had just celebrated their 40th anniversary in July 2023. They met at Kibbutz Nir Am, where Cindy was a volunteer and Igal came as part of a Nahal military group and decided to stay. After four years, they got married and built their home nearby on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where their three daughters, Maayan, Tali, and Keren, were born. In 2023, they renovated their home and temporarily moved to Be’er Sheva. They returned to their newly renovated house about 10 days before October 7.
When the sirens began, the couple took shelter in their safe room with their dog, just as they did every time the sirens echoed through the kibbutz, which is just meters from the border fence. But this time, they realized, was different. They spent the entire day in the safe room, glued to WhatsApp, sending updates and photos. Around 5 p.m., the terrorists reached their home, broke into the safe room, and shot them both. Their daughters have yet to find their parents’ dog.
“My parents were the best parents anyone could ask for,” says Keren. “They were people full of light, who always believed in the good. Wherever they went, they left things a little better than they were before.” She describes her mother as a dreamer, someone who believed you should always follow your heart. Her father was the son of Holocaust survivors and an engineer who spent his life working in agriculture. He was the practical one. They were two opposites who completed each other, she says. “She needed the structure, and he needed the spark.”
Their deep love for the kitchen was something they shared, and even there, they complemented each other. While her father took charge of the cooking, her mother was usually responsible for baking and desserts. He would search for recipes and tweak them, trying out trends and adjusting the seasoning to his taste. She, on the other hand, stayed loyal to precise recipes, finding joy in the quiet magic of baking. Keren recalls her mother’s handwritten recipe notebook, filled with dishes collected over the years from her grandmother, her own mother, and friends from the kibbutz. As various dietary restrictions emerged in the family, Cindy always made sure to adapt her recipes to be gluten-free, sugar-free, or whatever was needed, so that everyone could enjoy them.
“The kitchen was never off-limits. It was a fun place to be, a place where everyone gathered,” Keren says. “One of the proudest moments of my life was when I managed to make pancakes that really matched the texture, taste, and shape of the ones my mom used to make.”
The first time she made them after October 7, she could feel her mother’s presence with her; it’s a presence she misses deeply. But her mother, Keren remembers, always taught them to look for what’s good and positive, and that’s what Keren tries to hold on to. “Terrible things happened,” she says, “but there’s also so much good. We were so lucky to have had such incredible parents. The things they taught us stay with us, and carry us forward. My father’s family lost everything in the Holocaust, and they came here and built a family, which built a family of its own. Life, by its very nature, has to go on.”
Did you prepare the dish? Share a photo of it and tag it #A_Place_at_the_Table to honor the memory of the late Cindy and Igal Flash
2½ cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, softened at room temperature
2 eggs
2½ cups (600 ml) buttermilk
Salted butter, for frying
To serve:
Maple syrup
Any additional toppings you like
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Add the softened butter and mix it in using a fork, mixer, or food processor until there are no clumps of butter.
- In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the buttermilk until smooth. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and gently mix with a fork. Avoid overmixing, the batter should be a little lumpy.
- Heat a large pan over high heat, then reduce to medium heat and grease with salted butter. Once the butter melts and begins to bubble, use a ladle to pour in 3-4 pancakes. Cook over low heat until bubbles form on the surface, then flip. Cook until golden and cooked through, 1-2 minutes. Stack on a plate and drizzle with maple syrup.
* This recipe remains faithful to the original from the family. No modifications were made.