Baking bread with Sarah
Welcome back to 'The Life of H: Sarah, Reimagined,' where I explore the story of the biblical matriarch through poetry and a poet’s prose.
This week’s Poem
This week’s poem, prompted by my experience of learning to bake challah for the first time in the days immediately following the October 7th attack, was originally published online at the Jewish Writing project here, and in my other online newsletter here.
At first, I didn’t think of it as one of my “Sarah” poems, even though Sarah is mentioned it it.
But then, as I reviewed all of the poems I’ve written for this project, I began to feel differently.
Read or listen to the poem, and then scroll down to read some thoughts on Sarah’s, and my, relationship to baking challah.
Listen to the poem:
"21 Alternative Challah Recipes: Notes from a Google Search History" ©️Tzivia Gover, Third House Moon, LLC, was first published on The Jewish Writing Project blog.
When questions are all you have … write a poem
I wrote “21 Alternative Recipes for Challah” shortly after October 7, 2023.
At the time, a poet friend and I had been typing questions that were on our mind into a shared Google doc. It was a playful and creative way of staying in touch between phone calls.
But during those first horrific weeks of October, feeling disoriented and overwhelmed, I was thinking in fragments. My mind felt like a field of stuttering static. I didn’t have anything to add to our conversation in questions.
Then it occurred to me: There was a transcript of sorts that provided a record of what I’d been wondering.
Whether I’m looking for answers large or small (how to get wine stains out of cloth or what constitutes a miracle) I often start by typing my query into the oracle of our times: Google.
Scrolling through my recent Google search, I found a list of questions that would give my friend (and me) a glimpse into what was on my mind during those first stunned, heartbroken, and nightmarish days.
Interspersed with queries about what was happening in the Middle East, I’d been looking up recipes and baking tips for making challah — an endeavor I undertook for the first time that month, as a way of getting grounded, praying with my hands in dough, and staying connected to the rituals of my ancestors.
The list I cut and pasted into our shared Google doc struck me as poetic. With minimal editing, I used it as the basis for “21 Alternative Recipes for Challah,” whose title I lifted from among the names of web pages that popped up in my search results.
Feeling at loose ends and in need of sorting out what’s on your mind? Try writing a “Google Search History Poem.” Write the poem in the form of a simple list. Let your questions lead the way. With just a little cutting and rearranging, you might just find a poem amid your queries.
Did Sarah bake challah?
Three miraculous phenomena that occurred in the tent during Sarah’s lifetime resurfaced when Isaac married Rebecca: the candle remained lit from one Friday to the next, the dough was blessed and always sufficed for the family and guests, and a Divine cloud “was attached” to the tent. (Bereishit Rabbah)
If Sarah did make challah, it certainly didn’t resemble the loaf pictured above or anything you’d buy at Zabars or Russ & Daughters.
More likely, she would have baked a crusty fermented barley loaf, like the one described in the “Hymn to Ninkasi,” which included a recipe that was found inscribed on a clay tablet from around 1800 BC.1
A similar recipe may have been taught to Sarah by her mother, aunt, or grandmother as they shaped their loaves together then served them to members of their household in a reed hut like those that were common in southern Iraq where her original home in ancient Ur, would have been.
The people of that area, like Sarah herself, were known for their welcoming hospitality.2
A recipe, a meditation, and a tradition
My initial impulse was to file this poem apart from my Sarah poems. But when reading all the pages together, I noticed that among the poems that jumped between different poetic styles and time periods, some unifying themes were emerging. One of those was transmission: the handing down of stories, wisdom, and traditions through the generations.
Baking challah on Friday afternoons is one such tradition. Although to my knowledge neither of my grandmothers, and certainly not my mother, baked her own bread, the recipe and ritual were passed on to me by an Israeli woman living far from home days after her country was attacked. By way of coping with her grief, she taught a group of us, via Zoom, how to bake the Sabbath loaves.
That lesson helped me, just as writing these Sarah poems has, find my place in that lineage.
Baking challah has since become like a meditation for me as I pray for peace and understanding, and as I contemplate my connections to my foremothers, stretching all the way back to Sarah.
With prayers for love and peace,
Coming soon
The next DOTP Mini is Tues. May 14
Let’s make (more) magic in under and hour!
DOTP Mini Writing Circles take place the 2nd Tuesday of most months from 11 a.m.-11:45 a.m. US ET. Gather for time to connect with your creativity and one another, a writing prompt, and sharing. Free for all subscribers. The next mini takes place:
May 14
No minis in June and July during my summer break. Stay tuned for more dates.
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Just published
The Little Deck of Dreams is now available to purchase in your favorite bookstore or online!
The Little Deck of Dreams is beautifully illustrated deck of 50 cards. It provides insight into the symbolism and meaning behind common dream themes and types, including recurring dreams, nightmares, and lucid dreams.
Order The Little Deck of Dreams from your local bookstore or online: Amazon.com Barnes&Noble.com IndieBound
Registration is now open
Registration is now open for the Summer Stay Home and Write online retreat.
In this low-cost Write-at-Home retreat, you’ll write at home at your desk or on your porch—or close to home: at the beach, at a local café, or library—it’s up to you.
Work on a big project or just get in the flow with daily writing prompts and virtual check-ins with a community of other writers.
Friday-Sunday, Aug. 16-18. Beginning at 4 p.m. Friday through 4:30 p.m. Sunday. $75 regular price with generous sliding scale price options.
Get more info here.
Dreams in The Netherlands
Tzivia will present her workshop “Joyful Dreams” at the 41st Annual International Association for the Study of Dreams Conference, June 8–12, 2024. This year’s conference will be held at the magical Rolduc Abbey in Kerkrade, The Netherlands.
See details and register at: https://iasdconferences.org/2024/
Ninkasi: the Sumerian Goddess of Brewing.
Inspired by: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/ancient-mesopotamian-dinner?fbclid=IwAR0e2fPX5Dzp7GdvgwAAFs7zdZi3DEssm2W9Bz4TR6QUXmc1sywey0ubNyU, https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/mudhif-0016908, and you can find the Hymn to Ninkasi if you scroll down in this article: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/222/the-hymn-to-ninkasi-goddess-of-beer/