A Sweet New Year

continued

We always make a point to try whatever the specialty is, and on a long table piled high with round challahs--round to show unity and wholeness in the coming year--we are drawn to the last remaining chocolate ring (if they are nearly sold out, there must be a reason). It's a giant bread frosted and layered with chocolate--sort of a cross between a doughnut, a chocolate croissant, and a seven-layer chocolate cake. To die for. We buy one challah to take home, too.

As we walk out of the building, I pick up a free coloring book that explains each of the Jewish holidays of the season--Rosh Hashannah, Yom Kippur, Sukkoth, and Simchas Torah. Little Brother works on this coloring book for days, keeping the warmth of this community celebration with us awhile longer. When he overhears Jewish neighbors say something about apples and honey, he volunteers, "I know about that. I was there."

The JCC Apples and Honey returns on Sunday, September 13.   

[Originally published in September, 2009.]