Home for the Challah Days

Second chance romance is a trope that pairs particularly well with the Jewish high holidays – a time when all Jews have the potential to receive a second chance. We are given the special opportunity to make things right between ourselves and God. The process is available all year round, but is especially accessible during that time of year. It is a time to take stock, but also to set goals for the upcoming year. So I really loved how Jennifer Wilck’s second chance adult romance, Home for the Challah Days, uses Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur as a backdrop. 

Sarah is a motivated career woman making a difference by working with Jewish nonprofits in Washington DC, but she’s come home to her small town for the holidays. It’s a needed break to think over her boyfriends recent, surprise proposal of marriage, but also to realize how much she has changed during her time away. And small towns being small towns, she also can’t help but keep running into her old high school flame Aaron who is taking over his family’s deli as his parents prepare to retire. 

Distance and poor communication killed Sarah and Aaron’s relationship after her move, but it’s clear from their very first meeting that these two still harbor feelings for each other. Those feelings may whiplash between hate and love so quickly the reader gets neck pain trying to keep up, but it’s clear there is so much unresolved emotion that is still there for both of them. After an antisemitic vandalism incident rocks the town, Sarah is able to step up and realizes she can also make a difference by using her advocacy skills at home. This has the added bonus of not requiring her to give up her entire personality to be what other people, namely her DC boyfriend, think she should be. Meanwhile Aaron realizes that he still misses her, needs to accept help from others, and above all has to work on his communication. 

I particularly enjoyed the Rabbi character, as she is both wise and relatable. Sarah spends a significant amount of time thinking about the dietary, exercise, (and fashion) changes she has made to accommodate her boyfriend so this may not be the book for anyone with an eating disorder who would find that triggering. In addition, there is a very sexy bagel eating scene that I would suggest not reading while eating an actual bagel unless you are OK with dropping it by accident as you get caught up in the action. The book is medium to high heat with several open door sex scenes. 

My only issue with the story comes in the resolution of the antisemitic incidents. Judaism has separate processes for atonement and forgiveness, and no third party should ever pressure a victim to forgive when they are not ready, especially without any visible atonement from the perpetrator. In addition, if one feels the criminal justice system in which they reside is unjust then they should endeavor to keep all people from it, not just the lightest offender. So there was some unevenness there for me. However, in the subsequent pages we finally do meet the offender in question and see a process of repentance that is well under way. I just wish we would have gotten to see this earlier, before victims were asked to extend clemency.

Yom Kippur does not work to absolve sins between people in which someone was harmed. Unlike in some other religions, Judaism does not promise forgiveness to all those who simply confess their sins against others. There is work involved. Changing as a person and performing victim-centric reparative action is required. It was lovely to see Aaron and Sarah acknowledge the mistakes they made in their pasts and figure out how to do better -together.

Note: BookishlyJewish received a review copy of this book from the author after she offered one in hopes of an honest review. 

---

Find It: Goodreads | Bookshop | Amazon