Back to the Shtetl: Year 9 Step Into Jewish History

Flour‑dusted hands, dough lined up across benches, and the unmistakable aroma of fresh bagels beginning to fill the room - this wasn’t your typical Jewish Studies class.

In a Year 9 Jewish Studies elective, students have been exploring Jewish life in Europe from the Middle Ages through to the modern era, with a particular focus on the traditions that shaped Jewish communities in Poland between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries.

This week, learning moved from textbook to kitchen. Students mixed, kneaded, shaped, boiled, and baked their own bagels from scratch, discovering firsthand how this humble staple rose to prominence in the shtetl and became a beloved part of Ashkenazi food culture.

And parents, consider yourselves warned:
“I don’t know how to cook” is officially no longer a valid excuse.