Aloha Bread Lovers

Aloha Bread Lovers – this Sunday we will be serving our tangy Shakshuka for brunch. For those who need reminding what that is, please see below. As for our Infrequent Motek Talk Story Sunday – after a number of attempts that were negatively impacted by the Kona lows that crossed the state, we are now on track to call it for Sunday, April 5^th. We are thrilled that our resident whale researcher C.J. will share her insights from her years studying the whales and dolphins that frequent our shores. We’ll call it for 7:00 pm as the days are getting longer (just crossed the Equinox) and we need it dark enough to show slides.

April 1^st marks the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover. Normally this is a great holiday for Jewish bakeries as you are not allowed to eat any bread or any other leavened anything. In fact, observant Jews are required to clean their homes and businesses of any bread, bread crumbs, flour – you name it, just about anything that has flour in it. For those who take it very seriously, they are expected to be so thoroughly cleaned that they must inspect all of the dark crevices with a candle and a feather – a candle so that they can see what they are cleaning and a feather so that they can sweep up even them most minute particle of a bread crumb. This is done in order to keep the holiday “Kosher for Passover” in recognition of the fact that ancient Hebrews had no time for their bread to rise while they were escaping Pharoah and his army in their exodus from Egypt. No worries, we will remain open even during Passover and have no intention of doing the candle and feather thing. We will of course have a family Seder – the Passover meal that recounts the story of the Exodus. “Seder” literally means “order” as in the order of things. That is because for millennia Jewish people have been conducting the very same meal the same way, carefully retelling the story by following a Haggadah – a small book that is pretty much like a paint-by-number of what to do and what to say.

There is one part of the Seder where you open the door and invite in Elijah the Prophet to come and drink some wine. As children it was our favorite part as we would all stand around the table, keeping a keen eye on the special cup filled to the brim for Elijah. Someone would open the door to let the prophet in while an uncle or cousin would surreptitiously shake the table, causing the wine glass to jiggle as if Elijah had just taken a swig. It never occurred to us that Elijah would need to be drinking from a lot of cups that night and would likely fall over in a drunken stupor. More than anything, Passover is about freedom. While it is true that it focuses on the story of how the Hebrews were liberated from their bondage in Egypt, the key theme is to see it a celebration of our being unfettered and free – physically, spiritually, mentally…free.

Happy Passover – David and Yael

P.S. – A Funny Related Clip – it is somewhat irreverent so click on this at your own risk:

P.P.S. Shakshuka = tomatoes (lots), onions, garlic, olive oil, spices all slow cooked overnight. When you order it, we crack an egg or 2 (your choice) in it, pop it in the oven where the egg cooks in the shakshuka and then serve it with a fluffy roll baked fresh to mop it all up.