Bagels From Bethlehem

Tuesday we had a Professional Development at work. Each quarter, several departments collectively provide breakfast for our colleagues. For the last 15 years or so, I have been bringing bagels. Being that I live in Central Pennsylvania, legit bagels are hard to find. Most of them are baked like bread, in the shape of a bagel but not made as a bagel should be. Simply, it should be boiled in water before baking. This process gives the bagel a crispy outside and a deliciously tender and chewy inside. And, the bagels go stale quick. Nothing better than a bagel freshly made.

There is a place nearby that make bagels correctly. The downside is that the bagels are costly. Over a dollar a piece. I have stopped looking at the receipt and just hand over my credit card. I take one for the team and my colleagues appreciate it. Since I am a Central Pa. transplant, hailing from the Philly 'burbs, I am probably a bit more cosmopolitan than most in these parts. Essentially, I was raised in the Blue State part of Pennsylvania but have lived in the solidly Red Part for most of my adult life. The exception being when I lived in Lancaster City from 1993-1999 which is very Blue--and even more so now than when  I resided there. So, I have an appreciation for those finer things that money tends to afford. Including authentic bagels.

Further, my World War I immigrant grandparents lived in New York City or environs their entire lives here in the States. Specifically, Flushing, Queens, with a whole lot of Jewish delis and bakeries. In the 1970's, Oma and Opa would come to our house in the Philly suburbs bringing freshly made rye breads and bagels from NYC that morn. I remember making a beeline for the bag of bagels and grabbing a couple of the doughy goodness before my brothers could attack. I fondly recall the fresh smell of bagels emanating from the big brown paper bag. I could have lived in the bag. I still do in my memories although my grandparents have long since passed.

A Jewish buddy this morning questioned my bagel post as if to say, "Yo, this is redneck Pa. No way you can call these bagels you bought legit." But,  I know. I am not from these parts. He's got cred but so do I, and on this one, I win.

The bagel remembrances brought to my mind that story in the Old Testament where David says aloud that he wished that he had water from the well in Bethlehem. At the time the Philistines occupied Bethlehem and David longed to re-establish his residence there. It was about the water but it was more than just the water. It was remembrance of hot days and cool refreshment, perhaps when the world wasn't so violent and bloody. David was a warrior yet underneath it all, he was a shepherd boy.

Bethlehem's name means House of Bread and biblical commentators observe that the Davidic Line was to bring forth the Messiah. And the Messiah, would be a common man just like bread is a common foodstuff. But, He would be food for the soul rather than the stomach. Each culture seems to have a common carbohydrate staple be it wheat, rice, corn, or etc. In fact, without the high-energy that carbohydrates provide, it would be unlikely that civilizations could have arisen without the cultivation of carbs. Of course, we denude and denature our carbs for shelf-life and that is nutritionally poor. Yet, properly cultivated, Christ fulfilled the name of where he was born. 

So, it is about the bagel to some degree, but it is more about my past and the honoring of my grandparents who took the risk and gained the rewards of leaving Germany. It wasn't easy for them being German in the States, particularly during World War II. But, they had no sympathy for Hitler and Nazism. They left mutated and misplaced loyalties behind when they got on the ship to America. They bought the bag that was this country and lived as loyal citizens, evidenced by frequenting Jewish businesses and buying bread and bagels, rather than boycotting and/or burning them down. They bought the promise rather than betray it.