On the first day of my food studies class, we all had to identify a food that we felt best represented us. I chose challah because it brings people together. It is the one food item on Friday nights that begins the conversation at Shabbat meals. It is somewhat of a minor food relative to the meal that is to come. However, it serves an important purpose; it sets the stage. Its flavor profile is flexible in that it can be paired with pretty much anything, and it takes great craftsmanship and patience to prepare. While it consists of relatively simple ingredients, challah always rises to the occasion in accomplishing its intention to begin the meal.
Studying abroad, I knew that the High Holidays were going to be one of the times that I missed home the most. These are my favorite Jewish holidays and the ones that I most vividly remember from growing up. I have always been with my family during this time of the year.
It was Sunday afternoon, and I was on the train home from the Dolomites, and I remembered that Rosh Hashanah was beginning in just a few hours. I had planned on attending the orthodox synagogue, which is absolutely beautiful. It is truly an architectural masterpiece. I realized I was going to be in Florence next weekend and figured that I might as well look into services while I’m in Florence, and why not try Chabad?
I looked on the website and sent an email to the Rabbi to gather more information. Within ten minutes and three hours before one of the biggest Jewish holidays of the year, he responded, “Please join us, don’t worry about registration. Here’s the information.” I was so incredibly grateful and impressed by the invite, that I knew I should attend Chabad and visit the Great Synagogue of Florence another time. I arrived back in Florence from the most incredible hiking trip and got ready for services. It honestly felt very similar to arriving back at camp after Etgar and preparing for Shabbat.
On my walk to services, I looked around and thought about my goals for the new year. What do I wish to do or accomplish? Within the year, I will leave Florence and head back to the United States. I’ll begin my final year of college and start taking major classes. All of this seems so far away. However, last year, at this time, I had yet to apply to study abroad in Italy. I hope this year I will continue to travel and seek out opportunities, just as I discovered with Chabad.
I also considered why I was choosing to attend services. I was arriving back from the most amazing weekend, and I had a paper to complete and an Italian quiz the following day. One could say that I didn’t have a few hours to spare on my Sunday. However, living in Florence has allowed me to understand the privilege of practicing Judaism. The train station that I often depart and arrive from for weekend trips is the same location, where thousands of Italian Jews were deported to concentration camps during the Holocaust, not too long ago. It was a time at which celebrating the High Holidays would have risked everything. There is an eerie sentiment of knowing that the tracks that I follow led my ancestors to a much different destination. While no one has the ability to change what happened in the past, I have gained a sense of awareness of the privilege to celebrate my favorite holidays. It is for this reason that I felt an obligation to go to services.
As I walked into Chabad, I met Talia, a student studying abroad from Australia. We made small talk before the prayers began, and another person came sat down next to me. She said, “English?” I laughed and responded, “Yes, I’ve been asking that same question for the last four weeks!” Her name was Sarah, and we chatted about school. She is studying abroad through NYU in Florence. After services we all had dinner together. To be honest, I was initially a bit sad that I would be missing one of Giovanna’s home-cooked meals. However, Rosh Hashanah dinner with Chabad was invaluable and brought together people from all corners of the globe.
At camp, we used to sing a song that goes like this:
Wherever you go there's always someone Jewish
You're never alone when you say you're a Jew
So when you're not home
And you're somewhere kind of 'newish'
The odds are--don't look far--
'Cause they're Jewish, too.
It’s a silly song that never really meant much, until recently.
During dinner, I sat with Sarah and Talia and a few other students. Across from us was a family from Russia, who spoke no English. There was also a couple from California that was spending 18 months traveling in Europe, and they happened to be Florence during the holidays. These were just the people sitting near me. However, there were probably 150-200 people gathering to celebrate the new year with Chabad in Florence. During dinner we talked about our traditions for Jewish holidays, trips to Israel, our studies, weekend trips, and much more.
Prior to the meal, people began singing the songs that I used to sing on Shabbat at camp. It was only a few songs, but it brought a sense of familiarity to this unknown space on my favorite holiday. Talia said to me, “I feel like I am home.” We were both thousands of miles away from our families and sharing in new traditions, yet she captured the sentiment of the entire room. Very few people that were attending Rosh Hashanah services with Chabad were actually from Florence, yet we all shared in the most memorable way to begin the new year.
As the meal began, I took a bite of the most incredible round challah. I hadn’t eaten challah, nor seen it anywhere while abroad. I remembered back to my first day of class, where I talked about the power of challah bringing people together. Just as each strand of the braid is woven together in the most intricate beautiful pattern, I found myself discovering how we each act as a singular stand. Challah is noteworthy because of how each piece of the braid is intertwined around one another. It was as if our table that began as singular strands of challah dough, started to form a braid as we continued with dinner. It was the type of braid that was beautifully complex and rose up to the challenge of welcoming the new year.
It amazes me that my most memorable Rosh Hashanah began with people that just a few moments ago, were complete strangers. By the end of the meal everyone felt like family, and I found a sense of belonging and comfort through these new traditions, as we each began to understand the value of being together to share in this holiday. I am so incredibly grateful to begin my year in this fashion and discover the true power of challah in bringing together people from all corners of the world.
Shanah Tovah!