A flaky cheese pie with much meaning

By Joan Nathan, The New York Times

For the members of New York’s Aleppan Jewish community, the tinier the meat- or cheese-filled pastry, the better the cook.

At Hanukkah, which this year begins Thursday evening, they take as much pride in their distinctive tradition of using two candles rather than one to light the menorah — representing both the miracle of light and the welcome they received from Syrians after fleeing the Inquisition — as they do in those small meat- or cheese-filled pastries.

Rachel Harary Gindi, 92, who was born into this close-knit community, based in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, remembers her mother gathering with her friends to make sambousek, served at holidays. Gindi especially adored the ones filled with cheese, reserved for Sunday evenings when her family traditionally ate a dairy meal.

“You couldn’t order them from anywhere,” she said at a recent sambousek-making session at her apartment, which overlooks the...