The Bagel Theory

With Pesach just days away, I really need to be cleaning the kitchen right now. Instead I'll share some thoughts on an email a congregant sent to me today.  First, I must quote a bit from this article in the email, written by Jessica Levine Kupferberg:

The Bagel Theory stands for the principle that we Jews, regardless of how observant or affiliated we are, have a powerful need to connect with one another. To that end, we find ways to "bagel" each other -- basically, to "out" ourselves to fellow Jews.
There are two ways to bagel. The brave or simply unimaginative will tell you straight out that they are Jewish (a plain bagel). But the more creative will concoct subtler and even sublime ways to let you know that they, too, are in the know. (These bagels are often the best; like their doughy counterparts, cultural bagels are more flavorful when there is more to chew on.)............Ultimately, why do we feel this need to bagel? Does it stem from our shared patriarchs, our pedigree of discrimination and isolation, a common love of latkes or just the human predisposition to be cliquey? I maintain it is something more. Our sages say that all Jews were originally one interconnected soul which stood in unison at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. Now scattered across the Earth, as we encounter each other's Jewish souls, we recognize and reconnect with a piece of our divine selves. The bagel may have a hole, but we bagel in a quest to feel whole.  So the next time a sweaty stranger at the gym says to you, "I haven't been this thirsty since Yom Kippur," smile. You've just been bageled -- adding another link in the Jewish circle of connection.

I can seriously relate to this article because I am bageled ALL the time.  Wherever I go.  It's one thing to run into congregants at the nail salon, the supermarket, and when I'm at the gym.  It's another to meet people in public places who see that I wear a kipah, who then stop me to ask me something about Judaism.  Our recent bagel experience was when Adam and I took a day off in Northampton.  We're walking around the town and a woman pulls over in her car, shares that her daughter attends a Jewish preschool, and asks for advice on whether the girl should be encouraged to wear a kipah. Unbelievable.  Yes, people like to connect. Yes, it's strange to see a woman in a kipah so people like to comment. And perhaps it is like the author said above, there's something in the hole of the bagel that makes us want to search for the whole.  As we prepare for Pesach, perhaps it's also about searching for and preparing for the holy.  That's why we connect.  That's why we are cleaning and cooking and shopping and schlepping - we bagel each other so we can be whole and holy together.  Now if only we could eat bagels this week!

OK, enough of the rabbi stuff. You'd think if I was procrastinating from cleaning the kitchen I'd at least be working on my sermons. But the Red Sox finally scored and that will be the focus of my faith tonight!