THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509240072
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
Meyera E. Oberndorf had prepared painstakingly for her family's celebration of Rosh Hashana, which begins the Jewish New Year.
She had made sure the house was scrubbed and spotless and had carefully set out the candles she'll light Sunday evening when the three-day holiday begins.
But Oberndorf had forgotten to pick up the bread.
``I'd been focusing on my duties as mayor, and it crept up on me,'' said the woman who leads Virginia's most-populous city.
To make matters worse, when she went looking, the mayor couldn't find a single loaf of kosher challah (pronounced ``hala''), a staple of family meals during Judaism's upcoming high holy days.
Once she'd realized her glaring omission, Oberndorf looked high and low in local bakeries and grocery stores before tracking down a stock of the twisted, rounded loaves of sweet bread.
After finally finding the bread at Uncle Louie's restaurant in Norfolk, ``I breathed a sigh of relief,'' she said.
Oberndorf's meticulous preparations are like those undertaken by millions of Jewish women around the world with the approach of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and the 10 days that link these two most holy of Jewish holidays. Rosh Hashana is a time of introspection and planning that leads up to Yom Kippur, or the day of atonement, Oct. 4.
Around Hampton Roads, which is home to 20,000 Jews, special services will be held in temples and synagogues, and families will gather for meals, continuing ancient holiday traditions.
The symbolism of bread is something shared by the world's Jews and Christians, with their common roots in the Old Testament, explained Rabbi Samuel Sobel of Kempsville's Conservative Kehillat Bet Hamidrash synagogue, where Oberndorf worships with her family.
``In the Christian church, bread became the body of Christ,'' said Sobel. ``The Bible says that priests placed 12 new loaves in the temple as a symbol of God's caring for people.''
The swirled loaves of challah that Sobel will buy at The Kosher Place in Norfolk are topped with a ``peak. . . that's raised heavenward,'' symbolic of the prayer Jews will make ``for a year of happiness for all humanity,'' he said.
Steve Kayer, who runs Mama Kayer's Bakery in Norfolk and supplied Uncle Louie's with its challah this year, said that he'd received so many calls for the bread that, by Thursday, he'd sent out to local retail markets all of the thousands of loaves he'd baked. Holiday challah is ``richer'' than the square loaves he bakes other days, Kayer said. It contains eggs as well as extra measures of sugar and shortening. And it's more time-consuming to make, because the loaves must be twisted by hand.
Rabbi Arthur Ruberg of Norfolk's Conservative Beth El Temple said all Jews whether Orthodox, Conservative or Reform, celebrate Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, though traditions may differ slightly among the three major branches of Judaism.
During Rosh Hashana, ``the idea is that a plan is set by God for us and by us for ourselves to make decisions and shape our lives in the coming year,'' Ruberg explained. ``Every year is another chance to commit to the kind of life God would like us to lead - introspection, a look ahead, meanings, goals.''
The meaning inherent in Rosh Hashana is symbolized by another ancient tradition - the blowing of the ``shofar,'' an instrument fashioned from the horn of a herbivore, or plant-eating animal.
``It's a wake-up call, a sounding of an alarm for ourselves to wake up to our moral duties,'' Ruberg said. ``Our duties to God, family, selves - a home and community centered holiday.''
Rabbi Elliott Marmon of Virginia Beach's Conservative Temple Emanuel tuned up his gazelle's horn Thursday in preparation for Sunday's ``prayer without words.'' The long, marbled spiral of polished horn issues a low-pitched wail in ``a plea to God for a good year to come,'' Marmon said.
The blowing of the shofar is symbolic of another tie between Christians and Jews, also from the Old Testament: Abraham's realization that God does not want human sacrifice, Marmon explained.
According to the Bible, Abraham was poised and ready to plunge a knife into the breast of his first-born son Isaac in order to appease God, when he saw, nearby, a ram with its horns entangled in brush. Abraham took this as a sign from God, and when he sacrificed the ram and spared his son, Abraham sealed a ``quid pro quo'' arrangement with God, Marmon said.
Special services in Hampton Roads' temples and synagogues during the holiday period will include readings from the Torah focusing on the birth of Isaac and his binding by Abraham.
Perhaps the most universally recognized tradition of the Jewish religion - that of eating only kosher foods - also has its origins in the occasion of Abraham's vision. And, as symbol of this, Jewish families will share festive meals during the upcoming holidays.
After the Oberndorf family has gathered around the dining table tonight and Meyera Oberndorf has lighted the welcoming candles, her husband, Roger, will ask God to give them all a ``sweet'' year to come.
Then family members will break off chunks of the soft, chewy challah, dip them into a mixture of honey and apples, and Roger Oberndorf will ask God to bless what they are about to eat.
On Monday, after attending synagogue, the Oberndorfs will toss into a stream crumbs they've saved from today's loaf of challah and carried in their pockets, at the same time asking God's help in keeping the Ten Commandments.
Rosh Hashana ``reminds us all that we are all unique,'' said Rabbi Marmon. ``In an age when we humans can be depersonalized by numbers, and machines can outdo us,'' the holiday speaks not only to ``frailties,'' but also to ``the power of individuals to achieve.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/Staff
Jennifer Grow rings up two loaves of hard-to-find challah bread for
a customer in the deli at Uncle Louie's in Norfolk. The bread is a
staple of Jewish meals during high holy days.
KEYWORDS: JEWISH HOLIDAYS by CNB