By Chloe Baker, Senior Opinions Editor
In the heart of the Negev Desert, a group of bakers in Yerucham have created a haven of warmth and connection. Ariel Pollock Star, the founder of Lechem Ze, isn’t just baking bread – she’s baking a better future for both the people of Yerucham and Israel at large.
Yerucham is a small town with only around 11,000 residents and is famously known for its Hesder Yeshiva. Immigrants from Romania, North Africa, Persia and India make up the majority of the town’s population today. The town struggled with economic depression for many years, facing challenges shaped by its remote location and limited opportunities. However, activity is on the rise for this welcoming and diverse community.
Lechem Ze, a cooperative of baker’s from different backgrounds with different personal histories and traditions, was founded by Pollock Star during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was born out of the need for connection and economic empowerment. However, what started as a way to support local bakers and food-based businesses quickly grew into something much larger – a space where bread became the vehicle for healing, resilience, and unity. “During the COVID-19 pandemic a lot of the public sphere was closed down and people were in their homes, selling things from their homes and very isolated,” Pollock Star told the YU Observer in an interview. When the COVID restrictions eased up, Pollock Star, who started making NY-style bagels during the pandemic, decided she wanted to open up a space where people who were trying to create new food based businesses could come for support and opportunities in a professional kitchen space.
The business scene in Yerucham is no different than in any other small town. “There are a lot of people who do a lot of interesting things here, but in a town of 11,000 people there isn’t enough purchasing power to make sustainable store front businesses for all of the niche things people do and sell,” said Pollock Star.
In the food industry, she saw a common cycle of people opening up restaurants, ice cream shops and unique cafes, which unfortunately had to close their doors after a year of operating. “They [the small business owners] would invest a lot, rent spaces, get licensed and, after a year or two, would close the physical space and instead operate out of their homes,” said Pollock Star. Due to a lack of foot traffic in the area, ventures were unsustainable.
Pollock Star realized that if she focused on one thing, baking, and brought together other bakers who had small scale ventures, they could all “live in the commercial sphere by creating a welcoming, dynamic front and also offer broader economic opportunities for all the people who were selling their products in WhatsApp groups or by word of mouth.”
Through founding and operating Lechem Ze, Pollock Star has been shown the deep powers of bread, and how it is truly more than just a food. “I think that our deep emotional attachment to bread probably comes from the fact that it really is the most basic form of alchemy,” she explained. When cooking other foods like vegetables or meat, transformations do occur, but “nothing as drastic as the transformation of flour and water.”
For Pollock Star, this transformation draws parallels to other Jewish traditions. “In Judaism in particular, it resonates so deeply with our culture because rather than the magic, we think about the holiness that’s given to such basic things and turning them into something else,” she reflected. “From a religious perspective, we might say that only with Hashem’s help can we do such a miracle. It fits so integrally with the Jewish belief of taking things that are basic and everyday and elevating them.” She likened this to the rituals of Kiddush or reciting the bracha (blessing) of Asher Yatzar, which elevates the mundane, serving as a reminder that “God is really there with us.”
When the Israel-Hamas war broke out, Yerucham became home to 500 new families, a big addition to an already small town. A few weeks into the war, Lechem Ze began offering therapeutic baking sessions. “We built a program by doing a fundraising campaign and relying on the expertise of some of our bakers who are trained in the area of culinary therapy.” With their help, Lechem Ze was able to build a rigorous program and offer it to the families who were rapidly flooding in.
The initial baking therapy program was four sessions long, and the groups consisted of people who did not know each other, but were relatively close in age. “The connections that were formed over these four sessions were just incredible, as was the resilience and safe space that was created,” said Pollock Star. The baking therapy program received great feedback from its participants, most of which was due to the fact that it was a group setting rather than an individual intervention. “People who shared similar experiences and traumas were able to sit around a table together and use baking bread as a tool to deeply connect with one another.”
Pollock Star takes immense pride in what Lechem Ze has become, describing it as her most meaningful professional accomplishment. “The space we’ve managed to create, and the uniqueness of it, resonates so deeply with the people who come in,” she shared, whether they are participating in workshops, attending events, or simply shopping for bread on Fridays. The atmosphere that has blossomed within the bakery is something Pollock Star cherishes immensely.
Looking ahead, Pollock Star is particularly excited about the expansion of Lechem Ze’s therapeutic baking programs, which have proven to be a powerful tool for resilience-building – not only for residents of the Gaza envelope, but for diverse groups such as youth at risk, the elderly, school groups, and even workplaces.
What makes these programs so impactful, Pollock Star believes, is that the skills learned in the bakery’s kitchen can be applied in one’s own home. “Everyone has a kitchen,” she noted, “and you can really take the lessons learned and move them forward in your own life.” With a new fundraising campaign underway, Lechem Ze hopes to continue expanding these therapeutic programs, helping more people heal and connect through the simple, yet profound, act of baking bread.
It’s amazing how much one can create with just flour and water.
Photo Caption: Members of Lechem Ze in their shop
Photo Credit: Ariel Pollock Starr