Friends of Itamar

Parshat Bo – January 2025

Memories of Butter bun Bakery on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, where I used to wait for the school bus, has me watering at the mouth. My fellow classmates loved candy while I loved a nice plain croissant. Ah, the onion buns. Suzi always loved the black and white cookies and when she slept over it was the highlight. Her neighborhood in Canarsie probably had its own delicious bakeries but Butter Bun- WOW! Ecstasy. Moshe lived in Flatbush right across from our school, Yeshiva Rambam, and I can even recollect the seven layer cakes his father bought for Shabbat. I found that very grand- in honor of Shabbat! On Rosh Hashana my parents would send me to Butter bun to buy the round sweet challah breads, mandel bread and kichalahch. This reminiscence resonates spiritually with me, as I feel the vibe of the holidays of my childhood. They were wonderful and delicious. The sponge cakes and whiskey at shule after service were just as much a part of the exaltation.

Only later when I found myself on a bald mountain facing empty hills here in Israel’s heartland, with not a bakery in sight, I learned the private acts of baking bread. This is something, I believe, we inherit as women. Rachel, my new Moroccan neighbor (at the time) taught me what was passed down through her family recipe. Over time, Itamar developed and even sells challahs in the local store, but I do try to bake. As my bread is kneaded, entire prayers not written in any psalm book pour forth: for our daughters’ future families and homes, for the safety of our sons and their families, for the release of our hostages, for Am Yisrael and the list goes on. I try on occasion to bake things my grandmother made, honoring those that have passed away, their recipes living on. I see her smiling now in this.

Baking gives a feeling like those babushka dolls, that the home is cocooned into the deepest layer from the world outside, the kitchen nestled deepest. We bake when we emotionally and physically survive through good and hard times. Dough needs to rise- it takes great patience.

This took thousands of years-

TIME TO GO

I can tell you a lot of what has transpired in my life as I transitioned into an Israeli settler. Reflecting on the past and my origins as a second generation holocaust survivor- but mostly straddling the next phase of history, of the merit and worth in the face of consequences of my decision. Forever shaping my character as the State of Israel stands and I stand on its heart- truly a rare mission. The longing I feel for the future, of fixing horrific mistakes that have been made in relinquishing our holy sites here in the heartland- all that is embodied in the next page of restoration and its challenges- I knead, I knead and the bread answers in a fragrant whiff our Matriarchs experienced so, so long ago. Going back to the beginning of this story- the pilgrimage site for Israel as a people- we long to return in the full sense of the word. This is what every Jew prays for. They baked here!

Chazzal teach us that during the tenth and final plague, as we were collecting the back pay for our slave wages in gold, silver and garments, Moshe Rabbeinu was extracting the bones of Yosef from his coffin the Nile. We do not leave with dough of bread. The ebb and flow of time is in Hashem’s hands. Sometimes it can feel like eternity – then- there is no ample time for the dough to rise. Eat Matzah. The Yosef era- the “Goldena Medina” of exile that you have blessed and made rich, and built storehouses and businesses and you thrived along with Egypt ENDED. Now, you are walking out with a burnt piece of Matzoh. And by the skin of your teeth. At first Yosef blessed the land with bread- in the hardest of times. Then time went by and Yosef was forgotten. Putting a mask over our mouths we had no voice. We became hostages not even realizing it.

The lesson – Israel is only in exile for a limited time.

We eat the matzah remembering that the bakeries of Mitzrayim are only temporary. We begin our return holding a thin matzoh and then baking new bread in The Land.

Chodesh Tov to our dear Friends of Itamar! We will be planting 150 trees this Tu B’shvat here. For all of those who would like to participate in this special mitzvah – please earmark your donation- FOR PLANTING TREES. The whole landscape here is changing thanks to you!

Donate

Shabbat shalom and blessings- Leah