P

(

mately call myself a five or six-time
Jew this year, but that's due to a few
family obligations and, unfortunately,
a couple of funerals. I can't recall the
last time I went to services without a
specific purpose. Yet I still consider
myself a reasonably faithful Jew.
I don't know if many rabbis or my
former Hebrew school teachers would
agree, but for me, Judaism is more
about faith and cultural tradition than
prayer. I'm aware and proud of my
religion on all those days spent away
from the synagogue, mainly because
being Jewish is just a fundamental
part of who I am.
It's no accident that I've planned a
long weekend at home over Rosh
Hashanah. I suppose some religious
Jews could say I may as well have cho-
sen any random time, since what's on
my mind is new clothes and social
gossip rather than prayer and atone-
ment.

It's important to
be with family on
the holidays.

The truth is, I'm going home
because it's important to me to be
with family on the holidays. When I
think about the High Holidays, I con-
jure an image of my mother and me
slyly swaying to the rhythm of our
cantor's familiar tunes. I think about
playing with the tassels on my father's
tallis.
If I didn't return home for Rosh
Hashanah, I'd miss running over to
my grandma's house after services to
help set out plates and slice pickles for
the holiday feast. I wouldn't be able to
take an afternoon walk with my dad
and uncle on what is almost always a
perfect autumn day. I'd miss hanging
out in the den with my cousins after
my grandma has stuffed us all beyond
boundary.
This is what Rosh Hashanah is
about for me: beginning and ending
the year with the people I love most,
at the synagogue that has been a sanc-
tuary for my family since my mother
was a small child.
It's about renewing friendships,
acknowledging all that too often
unappreciated, and remembering from
where I come.

❑

Time To Make The Bagels

josh Charlip comes home to a strong family and a booming business.

DEBBIE FEIT

Special to the Jewish News

D

was way too academic," he explains. "I
was more into experiencing things
rather than sitting in a classroom."
With a philosophy like that, it's no
surprise that Charlip's next stop was
"the middle of nowhere" — the small
fishing village of Pelican, Alaska,
where he got a job working in a can-
nery and fishing for salmon. Why
Pelican? He was looking for a job
where he could save money, "and there
certainly wasn't anything to spend
money on there."
Of course, moving back to his par-
ents' house as a way to save on rent
was not an option, having been on his
own for six years at that point.
(Certainly no reflection on his rela-
tionship with his parents, as he now
goes home every Friday night for
Shabbat dinners.)
Charlip identifies "strongly with the
spiritual aspects of Judaism, which I
think are common to all religions.
And I identify strongly with Israel. I've
always felt a strong connection to the
pioneering aspect of Israel that really
doesn't exist anymore."
After a third trip to Israel, a stop in
Spain and plans to return to Alaska,
Charlip got his calling — in the form
of a phone call from Dad. "He said

espite the fact that his Bagel
Factory Cafe offers 27 dif-
ferent varieties of bagels —
among them spinach feta,
banana peanut butter chocolate chip
and cranberry walnut — owner Josh
Charlip prefers the basic egg flavor.
"I'm a hardcore traditionalist when it
comes to bagels," he explains.
But that's where his traditional side
ends.
After graduating from the
University of Michigan in 1988,
Charlip didn't know what to do.
Coursework in psychology and Jewish
studies "didn't set me up to do any-
thing," he recalls. Rather than move
back in with Mom and Dad in West
Bloomfield, he joined the World
Union of Jewish Students and headed
off to Israel.
For six months he lived in "an
absorption center" in Arad, taking
classes, studying Hebrew and immers-
ing himself in all things Israeli. "I
ended up working on a kibbutz north
of Eilat for 2 1/2 months, pruning
date trees and planting melons."
After that, C _ harlip returned home
— but not for long. He
left to go backpacking in
Europe and eventually
found himself back in
Israel.
"I was determined to
stay there this time," he
says, "but all I had was a
backpack." He flew back
to the States to retrieve
more of his belongings,
only to have his travel
plans interrupted by the
Persian Gulf War.
Not one to sit still,
Charlip moved to Berkeley,
Calif "I thought I might
go to graduate school at
the Graduate Theological
Union," he says. "I was
going to get a master's
degree in Jewish studies
and comparative religions."
Instead, he ended up
working for Noah's New
York Bagels. "I started the
[graduate] program, and it Josh Charlip: Entrepreneur with an adventurer's spirit.

that a bagel shop was for sale. So I
came back, and here I am."
The 31-year-old now owns the
Bagel Factory in Southfield and the
Bagel Factory Cafes in Birmingham
and Commerce Township. (The cafes
are co-owned by partners, Doug, Marg
and Suzanne Forier.)
During his senior year at U-M,
Charlip spent a week working at the
Bagel Factory in Ann Arbor. Preparing
for his future career? Hardly. "I was
trying to save money to see the
Grateful Dead in Berkeley," he says. "I
ended up selling my sax."
These days, most of Charlip's trav-
els are to and from his three stores. He
divides his time between managing
staff, dealing with broken-down deliv-
ery trucks and working 50-60 hours a
week. He attributes his success to
determination, hard work and his
sense of adventure.
"I had no idea what I was getting
into," he says about purchasing his
first store in 1994. "I knew how to
make bagels and how to work a cash
register. Fortunately, I'm a quick learn-
er.
And there's nothing he won't try.
Except, perhaps, a peanut butter
chocolate chip bagel. ❑

kV\ Va t e

x

10/3
1997

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