Oberlin Alumni Magazine
Good For the Soul
January 28, 2025
Hanna Raskin ’98

Rabbi Charlie Schwartz ’03 values the open exchange of ideas. That’s why he opened Lehrhaus, a full-service pub where anyone—Jewish or not—can page through one of the 3,000 Jewish texts shelved around the stylish dining room or listen to a talk on the meaning of dreams in the Torah.
Still, Schwartz drew the line at word- play when his team developed menus for the Somerville, Massachusetts, restaurant, which opened in 2023.
“We don’t use any puns,” he said of his effort to distinguish the “house of learning” from Jewish engagement endeavors buttressed by pastrami punchlines. “I love schtick; it’s not a value judgment. The Jewish community is vast enough for multiple aesthetics. But that was a rule I had in the beginning—and then I started working with bartenders.”
Ba dum tss.
As Schwartz discovered, bartenders are passionate about puns. So, the Lehrhaus cocktail list now includes Bloc Party, saluting Eastern European shtetls; Love Shak, flavored with lavashak, a Persian fruit leather; and Some Like It Harif, with the Hebrew word for “hot” signaling to drinkers that they’ll find schug, or chili paste, in their tequila.
But Schwartz only lost the battle. Nomenclature aside, the cocktail menu, which is heavily annotated with background on theology, geography, and culinary history, reflects Lehrhaus’ mission to celebrate the Jewish diaspora in its diverse traditions.
Moreover, as impressed restaurant critics have noted, the featured drinks are exceptionally well-made.
“To really draw a wide level of people in, the food has to be amazing; the drinks have to be amazing,” Schwartz said of the decision to “shoot for excellence” rather than operate an all-day vegan café. “Thinking about my experiences at Oberlin, I wanted to make these eating moments special.”
The son of a Jewish educator, Schwartz chose Oberlin because he wanted to prepare for the rabbinate by studying philosophy and religion at a college with an active Jewish community. He also needed a place where he could thrive as a tuba player.
But Schwartz also specifically points to his membership in the Kosher Halal Co-op, which from 1995 to 2021 prepared a weekly Shabbat dinner to which everyone on campus was invited.
Although he served a term as the co-op’s tofu maker, Schwartz didn’t find fulfillment in the kitchen. Instead, he gravitated toward tasks associated with hospitality. As holiday coordinator, he made sure that students observing Passover didn’t have to worry about leavening in their meals and that students observing Ramadan could count on an iftar after sunset. He also helped set the table for Shabbat.
“When tablecloths are out and the places are set just so, that [indicates] this is a place where something great is about to happen,” Schwartz said. “It gave me a sense of what it means to welcome people into a space.”
Following graduation, Schwartz earned his ordination and an education degree at the Jewish Theological Semi- nary in New York City, then relocated to the Boston area for a series of jobs in Jewish education. When the pandemic started, he was working as Hillel International’s senior director of Jewish education.
“We were imagining what the world might look like post-COVID,” Schwartz said of lockdown chats with his friend Joshua Foer, the Atlas Obscura cofounder who also co-founded Lehrhaus. Assuming people would seek out offline interactions, “we started imagining a space that put forth the best of the Jewish world.”
The pair conjured a study hall noisy with debate, where the gamut of Jewish cultures was represented, and envisioned a tavern where access wouldn’t be narrowed by membership fees or entrance exams. Schwartz and Foer also pictured Lehrhaus operating as a nonprofit, meaning they needed grant-based support.
Prospective funders who shared their enthusiasm for creating a proudly Jewish space amid mounting antisemitism were initially skeptical that two thinkers without restaurant experience could make the project work.
But Schwartz and Foer trusted their chefs: The crew came up with dishes such as herring tartine and coffee-stained deviled eggs that helped land Lehrhaus on Esquire’s 2023 “Best New Restaurants in America” list—the first kosher restaurant so honored. The pair are now imagining where they’ll open their next location.
“To have this place be a locus of Jewish joy is really powerful,” Schwartz said.
Hanna Raskin ’98 is editor and publisher of The Food Section, an award-winning newsletter covering food and drink across the American South.
Amba

Schwartz calls it “bonkers” that a Boston magazine named Lehrhaus’ fish and chips among the best in a city serious about its fried pollock. But the version at Lehrhaus is distinguished by several Jewish touches, including Old Bay seasoning, created by a Jewish immigrant who fled Nazi Germany, and amba. The punchy green mango sauce was brought back to Baghdad by Jewish traders who did business in India.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 unripe green skinned mangos, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) ¼ cup white vinegar
2 cups water
Directions
In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the mustard and fenugreek seeds until they become fragrant (about 1-2 minutes). Be careful not to burn them. Once toasted, grind the seeds into a powder.
In a saucepan, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add the cubed mangoes and sauté for about five minutes, until they start to soften.
Stir in the remaining spices. Add vinegar and water, then bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let the mixture simmer for about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mangoes are very soft and the sauce has thickened.
Use an immersion blender to blend the mixture until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Let the sauce cool completely before transferring it to a clean jar or airtight container. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
Note: OAM publishes recipes as provided but doesn’t test them independently.
This recipe originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine in the story “Good For The Soul.”
This story originally appeared in the Fall 2024 issue of the Oberlin Alumni Magazine.
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