Breaking Bread at the Little House of Glencoe

For much of secular America, the two-day weekend is still, even in these tough times, a nice break from the hectic work week.

But for Rabbi Julie Pelc Adler of Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living in Glencoe, it's just a bonus on top of the sabbath or shabbat, as it's called in Hebrew, which center members observed at the Little House of Glencoe, while the sun set Friday night.

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“It's hard to keep things holy with cell phones, TV and jobs,” Adler said, as families from the center strolled through the front door of the community house and greeted each other over appetizers.

The whole event, Adler said, was put together by two women from the center, whose intentions were to celebrate the sabbath in an upbeat and community oriented way (with a lot of bug spray, mind you).

“People reinterpret [the sabbath] to mean different things,” she said. “Some people say, 'We have dinner by ourselves,' and some people invite guests.”

Two candles, one to keep and one to remember the sabbath, were soon lit, followed by traditional song and the breaking of challah, a slightly sweat yeast bread popular on the day of rest.

Kids sat around the fire and ran through the woods during a scavenger hunt, parents told stories and Adler mingled with her members.    

“At Aitz Hayem we're really doing things that aren't being done yet,” Adler said of her center, which "integrates Jewish questioning and even cynicism with committed idealism," according to a brochure.

"It's nice to do something that's so forward-thinking," she added.

For member Howard Reese, a self-proclaimed right-hand man who "schleps" for the center, it's been a time of spiritual awakening.

"It's all interconnected," said Reese, who took a brief hiatus from Judaism when he was a young man. "We all touch each other [when breaking bread] because it took a community to make that loaf of bread."

It's that sense of community bound by faith that ultimately humbles people, he added.

For more information about available programs, contact the center at 847-835-3232 or by email at aitzhayim@gmail.com.

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