The Bagel
Recently, a book was written by Maria Balinska with the title, The Bagel: A Cultural History
Polish-born and half-Jewish, Balinska, who works at the BBC in London, tells us that the boiled and baked bagel as we know it comes from her homeland. She tells the story of the Krakow bagel, which was a product of the 1683 Battle of Vienna. Although the story is completely speculative and perhaps even fictitious, it is a piece of gastronomic lore that has endured throughout the ages. As the story goes, 17th-century Poland was the breadbasket of Europe, and King Jan Sobieski was the first king not to confirm the decree of 1496 limiting the production of white bread and obwarzanek (bagellike rolls whose name derives from a word meaning “to parboil”) to the Krakow bakers guild. This meant that Jews could finally bake bread within the confines of the city walls. Furthermore, when Sobieski saved Austria from the Turkish invaders, a baker made a roll in the shape of the king’s stirrup and called it a beugel (the Austrian word for stirrup). As Balinska says, “Whatever its origin, the story of the bagel being created in honor of Jan Sobieski and his victory in Vienna has endured.”
See here for the full review, and here and here for other ones. The bagel has gotten a lot of attention by rabbis, usually because of the question of which blessing is said on it. The quick, and to many, the correct answer, would be ha-motzi, since it is bread. But because a true bagel, not those bad imitations, is boiled before it is baked, some have held that the blessing said on it should be mezonot. In addition, one can find “mezonot bagels/bread,” i.e. bagels which are made with fruit juice instead of water. Some discussions of the bagels and its appropriate blessing can be found here, here , here, and here.
A quick search on the Bar-Ilan Responsa program turned up discussions about bagels in Igrot Moshe YD II, no. 33; YD IV, no. 4. Both of these responsa contain interesting discussions. In the first one, Rav Moshe entertains the possibility of buying bagels from a bakery which does not seem to have rabbinic supervision. In his opinion, it all depends on whether you can trust the owner’s statement that there is no animal fat in the bagel. From my own experience, I once asked this of a bagel store owner and he looked at me like I was from Mars. He said that a bagel is just flour and water, although some of these bagel recipes do include margarine, butter, or oil. In the second responsum, Rav Moshe admits that there was a typo in the first one.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:46 am
I realize that the above post about which blessing to say on a bagel was written in part as jest ( I hope), it neverthless drives me crazy. Frankly, why should we care and waste time and energy as to what bracha to say on a bagel? I hardly think that God cares, or that it really brings us to closer to God or is ” spirtual” in some way. It is one of the problems I have with halacha. It has become ( or always was) a legalistic fetish with an obsession on the most minor details. I just think it is not seeing the trees from the forest. A bagel is just a bagel regardless what blessing one says and the person saying the blessing would get just as much or as little out of it if it was motzi or mezanot.
Harry
November 14th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Wondering which blessing to say on a bagel does not have to become a fetish, it can just be a simple question that one wants to answer.
November 14th, 2008 at 10:46 am
The problem I have with Harry’s comment, is that it presents a false dichotomy: Namely, that there are forests and there are trees, and that focusing on the trees is a “legalistic fetish.”
In order to appreciate the gestalt (i.e., the forest) of the world of halakha, which is actually intended to foster closeness to God, because halakha is how we approach God, one must first be mindful of the individual halakhot (i.e., the trees). It’s not an either/or, it’s conjunctive.
I asked my rabbi once about the halakhot of putting on, and tying one’ shoes. I have trouble with minutiae like that (not to mention, I’m usually half asleep when I put on shoes). His response was that being conscious about the order of one’s shoes helps focus one’s mind on the totality of the halakha. That every aspect of our life is service to God and that we don’t compartmentalize. As an individual act, reciting a brakha, or putting on your right shoe first, but tying the left shoe first (which I never get right) is not about the individual act of spirituality, but to focus you on devotion to God.
But you have to know the halakha in order to get there.
November 14th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Legal fetish?? That would be hilarious if it weren’t so sad.
We MUST remember to give thanks on a nearly minute by minute basis and the brachas are an enormous aid for that. No one living in this world at this time has the ability to constantly feel grateful to Hashem without having praise on their lips at all times.
The question is pretty simple: if your purpose for being here isn’t to serve Hashem, what the heck are you doing here? If your purpose for being here is to serve Hashem, why wouldn’t you want to use the power of a bracha to help you on your mission?
Seems pretty simple to me.
By the way, I’ve launched a blog of my own: btofmosheisland.blogspot.com
It’s not as nice as this site and I’m not nearly as educated. Starting at 40, I’m trying to become the Rabbi Akiva of our times.
November 16th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
Oy Veh- I did not intend to upset anyone. Who am I to judge anyone who thinks that how one ties their shoes is serving Hashem? Who am I to to judge someone who thinks that the idea of serving hashem is pretty simple? The bottom line is this is not place to have a discussion on halacha. I will just go now and enjoy a bagel- even if I am not sure what the bracha is, and if I am indeed serving hashem. Harry
November 21st, 2008 at 12:27 am
I discussed this article on my blog at The Etymology of Bagel and back-linked to this blog entry.
November 24th, 2008 at 10:02 am
Gershom,
When I see something like “that would be hilarious if it weren’t so sad,” I assume the author is more interested in being condescending than in actual persuasion. I apologize if I’ve misjudged you.
Like you, I made a midlife decision to go Ortho. Unlike you (I glanced at your blog), I don’t think this automatically makes me a “baal teshuvah.”
You write, “The question is pretty simple: if your purpose for being here isn’t to serve Hashem, what the heck are you doing here? If your purpose for being here is to serve Hashem, why wouldn’t you want to use the power of a bracha to help you on your mission?”
There are people who “give thanks on a nearly minute by minute basis” and treat other people like garbage. There are people who are kind to others–if that sounds to goyish, we can say instead that they do chesed–who don’t do a lot of berachot. Who are you to say that the latter don’t serve God?
And who in the world are you to say to anyone “What the heck are you doing here?” just because they don’t serve God in the way you approve of? How does a person attain such chutzpah? Do you think you’re entitled to it because you’re frum? Yasher koach.
November 24th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Apologies to Gershon. First, for calling you “Gershom” (a fine name, as good as “Gershon,” but not your name). Second, for the tone of my note. I stand by the substance of what I wrote, but my guideline is that you shouldn’t write to someone in a way that you wouldn’t speak to them in person. I failed to follow that guideline, and apologize for my tone.