Guest post by Anne Mintz, who blogged about the NHC Summer Institute for Jewschool last year.
I threshed wheat this morning for the first time. Along with about 15 others in Jonathan Rubenstein’s challah-baking class at the NHC Summer Institute, I went outside, took the bizarre-looking tool that looked like a prop from a Ben Hur movie, and swung with all my might to smash those sheaves of wheat wrapped in the sheet on the ground in front of me. I was mildly successful in separating liberating the seeds from the stalks – others were really good their first try. We stopped TheWanderingJew as he walked by and insisted that he partake in this experience. We then literally separated the wheat from the chaff by dropping the separated seeds in front of a blowing fan and letting the seeds drop into a bucket while the chaff blew away. We had to finish this by hand, picking the chaff out of the remaining seeds.
Fortunately, Jonathan brought an electric grinder for the rest of the process, and we ground the seeds into flour. Two sheaves of wheat from his home field yielded over two cups of whole wheat flour that we will be using tomorrow morning as we set out on our class task to bake challah for the entire institute – over 300 people. He tells us that his front yard is a wheat field, although these particular sheaves were from another field that he planted. One can only imagine what his neighbors think!
In addition to the process of grinding our own flour today, we also indulged in babka-making, which was a break from straight bread. (I can’t wait to taste the finished goodies at dinner tonight.) Because we didn’t have enough rolling pins for all the dough, we needed to use a bottle of wine to roll out one of the recipes – improvisation at its best. Tuesday we baked oatmeal-maple bread, and Wednesday it was his newly created “seven species bread” (Deut. 8:7-8) with barley, wheat, dates (honey), figs, raisins (vines), pomegranates, and olives (oil). I’m taking the time to focus and breathe as we knead and cajole the dough into fabulous creations.
The most interesting part of this class turns out not to be the baking, or even the threshing – it’s Jonathan himself. He and his wife Linda Motzkin, who met at the beginning of their rabbinical school years, have shared a pulpit at Temple Sinai since 1986 in Saratoga Springs, NY, where they raised their family. He is a long-time baker who founded Slice of Heaven Breads, a non-profit, volunteer, charitable bakery operated out of the synagogue. It produces a variety of baked goods for the daily table and special occasions, and supports hunger relief among other charitable causes. It gives the bikkurim – the first fruits of their labors – to these causes. Today we had the pleasure of celebrating his 60th birthday with him as we learned more of the Torah of bread and challah. He’s a wonderful role model for following one’s heart and creating a parnasa (earning a living) at the same time.
Onward to preparing the challot for Shabbat, and all the Torah/learning that accompanies it.