Bridging the Balkans

Last weekend I had the honor of presenting at the annual JDC regions event "Gesher" or bridge in Hebrew.  This event aims to bring together jews from the Balkan communities. From Romania, to Greece, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey and more young jewish leaders and community members all gathered in Thessaloniki.

Seeing so many young jews who were passionate and excited to keep their communities alive was inspiring. After seeing how much spirited fun these communities have when they come together I'm almost ready to move to Greece or Serbia (not to pick favorites).

One of the highlights of the weekend was splitting up and doing community service all around the Jewish community of Thessaloniki. I chose to join the group that went to the Jewish day school to revitalize the playground. We painted a murals and games on concrete play area.

Later in the afternoon five other people and myself each spoke on a panel about Jewish life in our five respective countries.

Over and over again I realize how lucky I am to have grown up in a country where jewish life is as abundant and full of personal choice. Going to an event like Gesher makes it hard not to appreciate the privilege I grew up with as an American jew who got to chose between which summer camp I wanted to attend or which day school to attend. Even still I envy the Balkans ability to be so interconnected with international jewish communities. They have many opportunities to learn from one another, while in America I used to think that our version of Judaism was the only one.

After spending most Fridays in Germany baking challah with children I led a workshop doing the same with young adults. We had some challah veterans but most of the participants had never baked challah before it was so much fun experimenting with my approximation method of challah baking.

For those who want the recipe I use here it is:
-1 kilo- Flour (approx. 8 cups)
-3 Eggs
-1 Egg yolk
-1 cup of water
-1/4 cup oil
-1/4 cup sugar/ honey
-1 pinch Salt
-1 package of yeast

1. Mix yeast and slightly warm water together in a bowl. It doesn't hurt to add some sugar to help activate the yeast. Let rest for 10 minutes.
2. Mix in eggs, sugar (or oil) and honey into the yeast. Then the pinch of salt.
3.  Gradually start adding flour and stirring one cup at a time until the mixture no longer sticks to your hands.
4. Once the bread is kneaded well let it sit (covered with a towel) for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
5. Separate bread into two loaves.
6. Divide each loaf evenly in three pieces and roll into three long snake-like pieces.
7. Then connecting the three pieces at one end braid them together by alternating the three strands and pinch them together at the end.
8. Using the remaining yolk brush the top of the challah with the egg to give it a golden crispy outside
9. Put in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes

Hope you Enjoy some challah baking this week!

In the end though the biggest learning experiences came from the one-on-one encounters talking with people about all kinds of life experiences from jewish community, to dating and employment (I really was looking into moving for a minute there).

Despite it being a short weekend I truly miss the people I met, and the friends I've made and maintained. Can't wait for the next time our paths will cross!