The Jewish festival of Purim { the Hebrew Scripture story of Queen Esther's badassery } was this past weekend. I felt the need to do something special here at home { since joining our reform Jewish neighbors for Sabbath services was impossible this year thanks to COVID} Part of the joy of being interfaith is { at least for me} bringing to life my Yiddish culture to my very WASP-y spouse. He had never eaten challah-- and rather go to the store on the off chance I could find some, I did a Google search for a recipe.
Baking bread is strangely prayer-full & very healing. For some reason, I became more open to the Spirit as I methodically stirred i the 8 cups of flour to my mixture of warm water, yeast, honey and a dash of salt. I felt my entire body fall into a comfortable. contemplative rhythm as I added flour to the increasingly gooey mix.
After covering the dough and letting it sit for the time required for the yeast to work, I scoped the blob of dough from the bowl and put it on a sheet. Carefully I kneaded the bread with my fingers as I added some golden raisins to the risen dough. I gave thanks for the elements of flour, yeast, water and honeybees that made the basic challah recipe possible. I kneaded and shaped the bread into two big loaves, not attempting to braid the dough as is traditional { Maybe in the future I'll be brave enough to try that , but not yet! The kitchen was a mess by the time the bread went to the oven anyway!}
As the bread slipped into the over, I felt a sense of accomplishment that is similar to when I finish a painting . I knew I gave my best to the creation of that bread, and I thanked God for the means and physical ability to bake bread.
Its odd that I enjoy bread making , because I do not consider myself a " Sarah Homemaker" at all. As a matter of fact, my Home Economics teacher in middle school probably could not figure out why such a visual -thinker such as myself HATED{ and I mean hated} sewing & cooking. Sewing, especially was torture-- I had a perfect rendition on paper of my sewing project, but lacked the eyesight needed to enjoy sewing. Cooking was not much better-- what I envisioned in my brain never quite materialized in reality.
Bread-making, with its scientific formula, allows one the freedom of knowing what the result will be. Having very specific instructions, allows for me to know " what comes next" & therefore allows me to enter into a contemplative state of mind/body/soul. Plus, when I pull the fresh bread from the oven, my heart is happy knowing that I can create something from scratch that can fill others' bellies.
I look forward to baking more challah & am already researching other bread recipes to try.
In the Name of the Holy Three...
Amen.
~Sarah McCarren
2 Lent 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment