Dr. Jedidiah’s Diary
Dr. Jedidiah is a psychiatrist who loves
traveling, meeting new people, and exploring different cultures. As a single
father who lost his wife to drug overdose 10 years ago, he has not been his old
perky self for the last decade. During those hard years, he has met hundreds
of, thousands of people from various walks of life around all over the world.
Meeting new people and listening to their stories outside his office have given
him different feelings from the ones through the formal encounter groups or
being truly honest with himself. Here is Dr. Jedidiah’s monologue that has left
him with some food for thoughts in life…. or a fodder to justify his own
mistakes in the past.
Episode #88. Ishmael’s Bittersweet
Treats
Ishmael’s buns and Rugelach always soothed and filled
my hunger pang to the last bite. His sense of humor lifts up people’s mood especially
on cloudy days, making the first time customers become his regular crowd. The special
chocolaty ‘Ganache’ filling was the very ingredient of all the sweet
treats at his bakery that made them come to beg for more. I was one of those
happy folks that savored the heavenly taste of Ishmael’s delectable creations
until his confessions in the letter left me utterly nonplussed. I
thought it was no more than meaningless hokum, because his bakery had
been people’s major hangout in German town. I could feel that Ishmael must have
been the most serious and frank in all the years I had known him when he wrote
about his grandfather Samuel’s story. I still keep Ishmael’s letter he sent me one
year after he closed his bakery and left this town for good.
“Dear my friend Dr. J,
I guess it’s time for me to write you a sincerest letter
by now. Hope my Rugelach and other sweet buns are still in your memory. And so
am I. I remember each time you stopped by, the boborygmi from your hungry
tummy was always within my earshot. Then I was like ‘Woah! You must be working
all day listening to all the sad souls in your office and haven’t got time to
grab something to eat!’ I also wanted to confide in you about my life and the
sorrowful story of my grandfather, but if I’d done so, it would have made
another straw on the camel’s back. You already looked too exhausted to be all
ears to somebody’s mind-boggling stories. So I’ve kept it inside for all those
years without letting you know that. You might think it’s weird for a Jewish
descendant like me to open a bakery in the middle of the German town. When I graduated
from a culinary school, I became strongly determined to open my own bakery in
this German town. As you might already felt, I had been kind to the local
German folks quite in a begrudging way. I was willing to crack an
insulting joke opprobriously by the time my German customers felt close
enough to me to tell about their personal or family stories. Quite often times,
they looked a little embarrassed or even offended. Yes, their interpretation of
my jokes was right on. Each time I saw them leaving my bakery with a
bitter smile, I sang a song of victory inside saying to myself ‘Yes! I knocked
them out again.’
My grandfather Samuel was one of those Holocaust victims.
He wasn’t able to make it to see the light of freedom after years of struggling
to survive as the forced labor at Auschwitz. My grandma used to tell me
Rugelach was the only thing that grandpa had craved and dreamt of eating again so
much before he passed. As a Holocaust survivor, my grandma’s sad and miserable reminiscence
about her husband had made her life feel like an empty house gutted by
fire. I grew up listening to the painful story of my grandparents’ as if it were
told to me for the purpose of hypnopedia every night. Then one day, I
decided to open a cozy bakery in the center of this German town. You know how
these German fellas loved my buns, bread, and especially my grandfather’s
favorite Rugelach. Now that I’m not there anymore, I could tell you the secret
to my one-of-a-kind Rugelach they digged. You would often see them looking
somewhat high or smiling like they are on top of the world, eating my Rugelach.
Yes….I added a secret ingredient to my recipe for their favorite sweet treat. Nutmeg.
Since you are a doc, you know we all need to be cautious when using nutmeg in
baking. I was making my German customers feel gradually hallucinated after
eating my special Rugelach. I kept giggling in my own kitchen, witnessing them
getting high and bimbling or stravaging around. Whenever they had
family function, they would buy two dozens of my Rugelach in which I
used more nutmeg than usual as my own way to galvanize my German
customers to buy more and more of these toxic treats. I am not asking for your
forgiveness as a friend or understanding as a psychiatrist, Dr. J. I just needed you to know that I did not give
you even once my special Rugelach containing nutmeg at all. Lastly, I am glad
that I left the town before someone like you caught me in the kitchen one day
and said “You’re busted!” when I was pouring nutmeg in the mixing bowl.
Best wishes,
Ishmael”
Expressions
1.
Rugelach: a
filled baked confection originating in the Jewish communities of Poland
2.
Ganache: a
glaze, icing, sauce, or filling for pastries, made from chocolate and cream
3. nonplussed:
perplexed/
embarrassed/ surprised
4. hokum:
nonsense
5. boborygmi:
stomach
growling/ stomach rumbling
6. begrudging:
reluctant
7. opprobrious:
scurrilous/
disgraceful
8. right
on: (an
indication ofs support, enthusiasm, agreement, or encouragement) exactly right;
perfectly accurate
9. to
knock something/ someone out: to get rid of
something/someone or to cause something/someone removed
10. gutted: destructed
or (figuratively) bitterly disappointed or upset
11. hypnopedia: learning
by hearing while asleep or under hypnosis.
12. to bimble: to walk
or travel at a leisurely pace
13. to stravage (or to stravaig): to roam,
wander, and ramble
14. family function: family
reunion/ gathering/ event
15. to galvanize: to shock
or excite (someone) into taking action
16.
to be busted: to
be caught/seen/or arrested by the police for doing something illegal
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