Some of Joan's Favorite Links:

• Jewish Community Federation of Greater Rochester
• Jewish Community Center of Detroit
• Bay Area Council for Jewish Rescue & Renewal Online
• Boulder Jewish Community Foundation

Joan's lecture and classroom schedule can be found at AuthorsandExperts.com.

"The goal of my efforts--my mission," says Joan Kekst, "is to present and to inform my students and readers of the traditional Jewish customs and ceremonies alongside the kosher food component needed to celebrate Jewish Holidays and Simchas." Joan is convinced that given the basic information, they will gain the courage to make modifications according to their individual needs, desires, background and culture yet keep the Jewish content, emotion and nostalgia of each occasion.

Cooking has always played an integral role in Joan's life. For over twenty years, she has written the food column for the Cleveland Jewish News, and freelanced for many national Jewish publications, including The Forward.

Joan spent many years teaching and lecturing on Kosher food and Jewish holiday cooking. This experience gave her the opportity to meet students of all backgrounds who possess a hunger to learn Jewish customs and cooking. Many students, especially young Jewish homemakers and those new to Jewish cooking, along with her family motivated Joan to create her book. "Write it down--we will need to know and do these rituals ourselves, one day,” her family said.

Joan holds a Bachelor's degree in Home Economics from Notre Dame College and a Master of Judaic Culture from the Siegal College of Judaic Studies. She completed several prestigious cooking courses, including La Varenne in Paris and the New York Cooking School. She created "Jewish Kitchen Culture," a curriculum for life-cycle classes at the Siegal College of Jewish Studies and taught the Jewish holiday classes at Synergy, the Culinary Institute of University Hospitals' rehabilitation program.

Currently, Joan conducts instructional programs for numerous Cleveland institutions: Jewish Education Center of Cleveland (JECC) and the Passover Workshop for the Agnon Day School, lectures regularly, and holds private classes in addition to her writing. She is also working on another book, Aff Simchas – At Celebrations of Jewish Life, which assembles basic Jewish law, contemporary customs and more kosher recipes.

As hinted at, a large part of Joan's life is her family. Joan was married for 52 years (and dedicates her book to noted Cleveland architect Keeva J. Kekst, "her everything") and is the mother of five children and grandmother of eight. [Her granddaughter, Becky, is pictured with the author above.]