Latkes, matzah, kugel, and hamantashen: these are all foods that I feel like I was born to love. They are just a few of the many foods associated with Judaism on select days of the year. While these all have some religious significance, there are many foods, like bagels, that are coveted by so many Jews that they are thought to be “Jewish.†After researching that bagels originated in Eastern Europe, an area populated by a lot of Jews, it now makes sense. I have also discovered that the word “bagel†has Yiddish roots.
At my Hillel break fast last week, I was almost embarrassed when selecting the components of my meal. It is usual for people to break fast with breakfast items such as bagels, lox, fruit, and eggs. Of course they had an extensive selection of all of the above, and much more. However, while everyone else at my table excitedly bit into their bagel, I did not.
I really don’t like bagels. In fact, I never really have… I don’t think it is the issue of never having a “good†bagel, because I’ve tried them from multiple places, including New York. The concept of a roll with a hole in the middle just doesn’t really have an appeal to me. Though I am not entirely opposed to bagels, I just never have a desire or a lust for them like many of my Jewish friends have.
I’ve even tried forming an acquired taste for flavored bagels, like cinnamon raisin or blueberry. That hasn’t worked, as I tend to just pick out the raisins or the blueberries and leave the dough behind.
Fortunately, I love nearly all other Jewish foods, so I am usually just as excited at other holiday meals as my friends were for bagels at this year’s break fast.
In a way, my dad makes up for my weird taste buds at my break fasts at home. My father, who is not Jewish, has repeatedly told me about the moment he bit into his first bagel when he was thirty years old. He had traveled all over the world before that, both with family vacations and with the United States Air Force. At the time he was dating a Jewish girl (prior to my mother), so it was simply appropriate for him to try a bagel, a “Jewish†food. To him, bagels bring such bliss that he now eats bagels almost habitually for dinner. With the religious barrier still intact, my dad looks forward to the break fast meal simply for the bagels. I’m glad that my dad can embrace a part of the Jewish culture, even if it is one that I am not fond of.
