Aloha Bread Lovers – This Sunday we will be serving Uncle Yosef for breakfast (or brunch?). Our Uncle Yosef is very similar to a Georgian Khachapuri which is a flat bread filled with 3 types of cheese, spinach and a egg that we crack on top and bake together in the oven. It is quite tasty! We will of course have our Uke Jammers to entertain (still not sure if Gordon will be making his triumphal return…we hope so).
Next week is the Jewish new year – Rosh Hashana. We will be closed Saturday, September 12th in observance but not before we bake special round challah’s (the soft, braided bread that we bake every Friday) as is customary for Rosh Hashana. Why round? Because we end one annual cycle and begin a new one, hence the round challah. There are also those who see the roundness as representing a crown, as a reminder that God is crowned the King of Kings, and still others who see the circular shape as being a wheel of fortune symbolizing life’s ups and downs, all ultimately directed by a divine hand. IT is also customary to make a sweet challah to represent our desire for a sweet year ahead. If you are interested in ordering challah please text us at 808-640-5581 or email to motek.bakery.hi@gmail.com by Tuesday so that we can plan and prepare accordingly.
Another custom at this time of year is to ask forgiveness. Observant Jews will wake up especially early for what is known as Selichot – a set of prayers seeking forgiveness. In religious neighborhoods a shammas - the person who essentially keeps the cogs of worship oiled and running smoothly, coordinating all aspects of synagogue functioning – would walk around in the predawn hours, banging a mallet or wooden stick on the shudders of homes to wake worshipers up. Not to worry, there is no shammas in N. Kohala. Rosh Hashana is the high point of a month-long period of soul searching and seeking forgiveness. A Jewish person is supposed to unburden his or herself from anything heavy that could weigh upon ones soul as part of a period of deep introspection. It is customary to ask people that you know for forgiveness for any slight, injury or insult that you may have caused either knowingly or unknowingly. People will call each other and say “I am sorry if I hurt you in any way, please forgive me” and it is incumbent upon you to say “I forgive you”…those are the rules. Even for us Secular people, the concept of unburdening your soul by asking and giving forgiveness is kind of nice. Often times, it is something that we need to ask first and foremost of ourselves as we can be our own worst adversaries. Food for thought…that and a nice round challah.
Mahalo – David and Yael
P.S. A Joke: WARNING – Click on this link at your own peril: https://www.oldjewstellingjokes.com/2022/01/12/mike-frenkel-condom-599-15
