As you will read on Page 10, Margi Kahn, who writes “The Passionate Palate” food column for the Light, discusses Yom Kippur food traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. Margi had emailed me to ask if the Futterman family had any special “break fast” traditions, but all I had to report was the standard: bagels, lox, sliced tomatoes, pickled herring, whitefish and, if I was up to preparing it, my mother’s (and her mother’s before that) sweet noodle kugel.

Don’t get me wrong: Bagels and lox are a favorite and with the cost of smoked salmon, herring and whitefish, a treat. But it didn’t seem all that historic or culturally unique, until I began reading a new book that landed on my desk, “Encyclopedia of Jewish Food” (Wiley Publishing, $40) by Gil Marks, a chef, rabbi, writer and historian.

At 636 pages, this tome is a comprehensive A-to-Z compendium of Jewish foods, recipes and culinary traditions as they developed within the cuisine of North Africa, Europe, Persia, Asia and the Mediterranean.

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I was amazed to find out that the “beigel” was first mentioned in 1610 in the Krakow Jewish community as an appropriate gift for women about to give birth (and here I thought the only thing we could eat was ice chips). In addition, the original bagel was much smaller and much thinner (more hole, less bread) than the modern bagel, and that its circular shape led to its symbolic usage at various Jewish life-cycle events, including meals before and after fast days. When during the 1930s, many Jews abstained from eating the fashionable but non-kosher American brunch classic of eggs Benedict, they substituted a bagel for the English muffin, lox for the ham and a schmear of cream cheese for the hollandaise sauce. And herein was born an American classic with a Jewish flair. According to author Marks, lox and cream cheese had never touched a bagel in Europe.

So Saturday at sundown, if like me, you happen to be breaking your fast with a bagel, lox and cream cheese sandwich, know that in doing so, you are honoring an 80-year-old American-Jewish tradition.

New Beginnings at the New Year

A new, unaffiliated Conservative congregation has formed in St. Charles County. Some former members of B’nai Torah, a Reform congregation in St. Charles, have formed Ahavat Shalom, which loosely translated means “Love of Peace.” The new congregation, which may or may not seek affiliation, comprises roughly a dozen families. Beginning in October for three months, it will rent space for some Saturday morning services at the St. Peters Community Arts Center, 1035 St. Peters-Howell Road. Sunday School will be held at one of its congregant’s homes.

Look for more details about Ahavat Shalom in next week’s Jewish Light. In the meantime, for more information, email Rolf Cooke at [email protected]