While Rubenstein's love of baking goes back quite a while, he didn't get serious
until ... Rubenstein started calling his business Slice of Heaven. "lt became very ...
locavore
Albany Times-Union life@home Magazine November 2009
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An v bak erwor t h h i s y e a s tw i l l te l l y o u th e re ' ss o methi ng d e e p l y s at is f y ingabou t tu rn i n g fl o u r a n d o th e r s i m p lei ngred i e n ts i nt o f r es h loav e so f b re a d - w h e th e rfo r th e msel ves, . o r R a b b iJ o n a th a nR ubenth e i r fa m iliesor t heir cu s to m e rs F ste i n ,i t ' s m or e t han s a ti s fy i n g ;i t' s s p i ri tu a l l ya n d re l i gi ousl y si g n i fi c ant . "Th e re is a s t at eme n t fro m th e M i s h n a h(th e fi rst maj o r wri t t en c om pilat io no f a n c i e n t J e w i s h o ra l tra di ti ons): 'Wi th o u t br ead t her e i s n o T o ra h ;w i th o u t T o ra hth e re i s no , e ra b b i a t T e m p l eS i n a i n S aratob re a d ," 's ay sRubens te i nth g a Sp ri ngs ". T he idea is th a t a p e rs o ni s n ' tg o i n g to g row and l e a rnsp ir it uallyunles sth e i r p h y s i c a ln e e d sa re m e t, b ut al so th a t b read has a s pir itu a ld i m e n s i o ni n e v e ry c u l tu rearound p e o p l es har ing,ar oundb re a db e i n ga s y mb o lo f th e g i fts that th e e a rt h giv es us , t ha t G o d g i v e s u s . In a l l th e b a ki ng and te a ch i n gt hat I do t here ' sth i s s p i ri tu a le l e m e n t." s v e o f b a k i n gg o e s b a c k q u i te a w hi l e, Wh i l e Rubens t ein'lo h e d i d n ' t get s er iousu n ti l 2 0 0 1 ,w h e n h e a n d h i s fa m i l yw ent o n a sabbat ic att o Cos ta R i c a .R u b e -n s te ibne g a n d e vel opi ng d i ffe rentr ec ipes but , it w a s n ' t u n ti l h e c a meb a c kto Saratoga th a t h e dec idedt o t ur n h i s h o b b y i n to a n o n p ro fi tb u si ness. On cebac k in New Y o rk ,R u b e n s te i ng ra d u a te dfro m hi sperso n a lo v en t o t he k it c h e no f h i s fri e n d R i c hF ra n k ,w h o ow ns th e Fo ur S eas onsNat u ra lF o o d sS to rea n d C a f6 .T h a t' sw hen R u b e n s t eins t ar t ed c a l l i n g h i s b u s i n e s sS l i c e o f H e a ven." l t b e ca m ev er y popular , "h e s a y s ." Pe o p l es ta rte dto c o m e i n on Mo n d a y sas k ingf or it , w a i ti n gfo r i t to c o me o u t o f th e oven." So o n ,R ubens t einm ov e d o v e r to th e k i tc h e n so f L o n g fel l ow s
and the Ol de B ryan Inn, ow ned by fri end S teveS ullivan,becauseS ul l i vanhad room for R ubenstei non Fri daym or nings. " l w anted to,makechal l ah,"R ubenstei nsays." Mo ndaysjust di dn' t seemri ght to makechal l ah." For those w ho mi ght not know w hy the day of t he week egg bread,usually i s i mportant,chal l ahi s a yeast-l eavened brai ded,that i s eaten by many Jew s on the S abbat h( which starts at sundow n Fri day ni ght), hol i daysand other special occasi ons.l t al so makesa mean Frenchtoast,and you don't have to be Jewishto enjoy it in any form.
E I rom i ts i ncepti on,S l i ceof H eavenhasal w aysbeenabout more than baki ngand sel l i ngbread." My i deafrom t he beginni ng w as to have a proj ect that w oul d contri butet o hunger relief,"Rubensteinsays,"so the very first check I wrote after w orki ngat Four S easonsfor a w hi l e,asi defrom buyingingr edi ents,w as to the S aratogaC ounty E OC (E conom icO ppor tuni ty C ounci l )for the food pantry." A bout a year after starti ng S l i ce of H eaven,Rubenst ein brought the busi nessi nto Templ eS i nai ,w i th the blessingof the boardof di rectorsand a grant f rom the A l fredZ. Solom on C hari tabl eTrustto bui l d a new ki tchen.A t that point ,Slice'of Heaven became a true community effort. "(After I started) baki ng at the templ e on Fri days,peopl e started com ing in to vol unteerand bri ngi ngthei r ki ds i n," R ubenst einsays."l started to make contact w i th agenci esfor adul t s wit h disabi l i ti es,so the mi ssi onexpandedto not onl y rai sem oneyf or
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.1i.. Rabbi Rubenstein,left, leads prayer over the bread before hi s vol unteers start di vi di ng it t o br aid int o loav e s .S t e p b y s t e p , t h e strands of dough are brai ded i nto a l oaf of c haI I ah.
u n g e rp ro g ra m sb u t to o fferj ob trai ni ngand s oc ializ at ion t o oeople who c o u l d u s e i t . " Ev er y Fr iday , Rubens t ein a n d h i s v o l u n t e e r s b ak e f our dif f er ent k inds of c ha l l a h - w h i t e a n d whole wheat , wit h or wit hout r a i s i n s- a n d g r a n o I a ( v egan, glut en- f r ee and s a l t - f r e e ) ,m a d e w i t h or ganic f lour s and loc al ingr e d i e n t s w h . e n e v e r pos s ible. Rubens t ein, k now n a s R a b b i J o n a t han, pr ac t ic es a t r adit io n a l J e w i s h r i t u a l \ s epar at ing t he c hal l a h , w h i c h i n v o l v e s * E c at t ed ) " I t ear ing of f and bur ning a s m a l l p i e c e o f t h e dough. This is s y m bolic of t h e a n c i e n t p r a c t ic e in whic h pr ies t s wer e g i v e n a p i e c e o f dough t o m ak e s ac r if ic ial off e r i n g s t o G o d . "l us e t his r it ual as a t eac h i n g m o m e n t , " h e say s . "W hen l' m wor k ing wit h k i d s o r a d u l t s , w e ta lk about ingr edient s , wher e t he y c o m e f r o m a n d how ev en t hough we m ak e t h e d o u g h a n d f o r m \ t he loav es we c ould nev er m a k e t h e s u n s h i n e \ and t he r ain and t he wheat a n d t h e o t h e r v e g et able and m iner al ingr ed i e n t s t h a t g o i n t o it . ( This t eac hing) hlnt s a t t h e J e w i s h i d e a , whic h is als o f ound in ot he r r e l i g i o n s ,t h a t t h e ongoing ener gy of c r eat io n i s r e a l l y a p a r t ner s hip bet ween G od and h u m a n b e i n g s . " Rubens t ein s ells his c halla h t o c u s t o m e r s o n t he Slic e of Heav en e- m ail li s t , m a n y o f w h o m pay ex t r a t o s ubs idiz e a br ead d o n a t i o n p r o g r a m for loc al nur s ing hom es and hos p i t a l s . O n We d n e s da y s M ay t hr ough O c t ober , Rube n s t e i n b a k e s a n d \a
,,,
s e l l s s w e e t b r e a d s a t t h e S a r a t o g a F a r m e r s' M a r k e t , a l o n g w i t h g l u t e n - f r e e c h o c o l a t e ch i p co o ki e s b a k e d b y h i s w i f e , R a b b i L i n d a M o t z ki n , a l so o f T e m p l e S i n a i . T h e c o - r a b b i s a l s o o f f e r ye a r - r o u n d w o r k s h o p s o n b a k i n g a n d s c r i b a l a r t s ( M o tzki n 's a r e a o f e x p e r t i s e ) , w h i c h a l o n g w i t h S l i ce o f H e a ve n c o m p r i s e T e m p l e S i n a i 's B r e a d a n d T o r a h Pr o j e ct. A l l o f t h e p r o c e e d s f r o m S l i c e o f H e a v e n g o to th e B r e a d a n d T o r a h P r o j e c t , l o c a l f o o d p r og r a m s a n d other charitable causes. R u b e n s t e i n b e l i e v e s t h e c o m m u n i t y a sp e ct o f Slice of Heaven is what gives it such broad appeal. " ( l t 's b e c a u s e ) s o m a n y h a n d s a r e i n vo l ve d i n i t a n d w e r e a c h o u t t o d i f f e r e n t p o p u l a t io n s, ( p l u s) i t 's c h a r i t a b l e a n d t h e r e 's a s p i r i t u a l a s p e ct to i t." A s p i r i t u a l a s p e c t t h a t , R u b e n s t e i n s a y s , tr a n sce n d s r e l i g i o n . 'r l t h i n k t h e t e a c h i n g s t h a t u n de r l i e i t a r e u n i v e r s a l . I p r e s e n t t h e m i n a J e w i s h co n te xt, b u t t h e y 'r e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y u n i q u e l y J e w i s h te a ch i n g s." A s f o r R u b e n s t e i n , d o n 't e x p e c t h i m t o l e a ve th e t e m p l e f o r a f u l l - t i m e b a k i n g g i g a n y t i me so o n . "l s t i l l l i k e b e i n g a r a b b i . l t 's m y a v o c a t i o n," h e sa ys. " l t 's a c r e a t i v e o u t l e t f o r m e , a n o p p o r t u n ity to te a ch .@ s o m e t h i n g t h a t l 'm r e a l t y p a s s i o n a t e a b o u t." For more information about Slice of Heaven, go to http:,//tlnyurl.com/LAH-NovO9-locavore ar call the synagogue at (518)-258-5546. To get on the mailing list for weekly offerings, send an e-mail to sliceofheaven@ nycap.rccom. For more photos, go to www.timesunion. com/homes.
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