4*
Avital Cohen, granddaughter of Chayim Cohen, is the manager of her family’s kosher Brooklyn bakery, Best Babka, a role she has reluctantly assumed after being diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, a painfully chronic condition that forced her to shelve her budding photography career and move home with her family. Ethan Rosenberg is the orphaned grandson of Moishe Lippmann, wealthy owner of a hugely successful commercial baked goods company, who has demanded that Ethan go undercover at Best Babka to steal the recipe for Chayim’s famous pumpkin spice babka in retaliation for how Chayim wronged him over many decades. It goes against Ethan’s moral code, but he feels he has no choice if he has any hope of gaining his grandfather’s approval and affection, an impossible task given that Moishe is pure evil as evidenced by the severe verbal abuse he has heaped on his grandsons in the 12 years since their parents’ death. When Avi and Ethan meet at his interview, there’s an instant attraction although neither of them recognizes it in the other. It doesn’t take long for Ethan to realize there’s no way he’ll be able to follow-through on the plan given his growing affection for Avi and every reason to believe there will be no future for them if, and when, the truth of his deception is revealed.
There’s so much to unpack in this novel and a slew of triggers readers need to be aware of, including trauma, death, grief, chronic pain, suicidal ideation, and traumatic brain injury. There is intense focus on Avi’s condition and the way the medical establishment dismisses patients either by minimizing their pain, not investing sufficient money for research into finding a cure or failing to offer ways to alleviate their suffering. As a result, many end up taking their own lives because they can’t see a future free from the pain. At one point, Avi even talks about how chronic pain can steal your life, and people acting like you’re still the same person you were before your diagnosis is a form of ableism.
Although not mentioned in the story, I think it’s worth drawing comparisons to what’s happening today. In the wake of Covid, there are millions of patients suffering with Long Covid who are being villainized for masking and demanding precautions in healthcare settings, being denied coverage, minimizing their suffering or dismissing their problems as anxiety, and finding that there are very few doctors who even understand their conditions. As Avi says, “The worst part of chronic pain had never actually been the disease…it was the lack of hope.” Millions of sufferers (an ever-growing number) are facing systemic ableism that smacks of eugenics and are dying, either from their illness or by their own hands.
As Ethan learns of the challenges Avi’s illness presents, he is compelled to help her find solutions. So, he approaches his pothead brother Randy for answers, which leads the couple to visit a dispensary and learn from the Rabbi Jason, the unconventional owner, all about the benefits of medical cannabis and the elevated role women and intimacy in the Jewish faith. It’s a deep, but illuminating, journey for Meltzer’s readers.
As much as Avi is dealing with physical pain, the emotional pain and guilt Ethan suffer is also a focus and the thing that ultimately binds them together. As an excuse for Moishe’s intense cruelty towards his grandsons (which is referred to it as “bad behavior”), Meltzer gives this explanation: “the by-product of transgenerational trauma. Expulsion. Pogroms. The Holocaust. In every generation, some villain rose up, seeking to destroy them. And sometimes, the parents came home – and collapsing under all those generations of bloodshed, antisemitism, and disrupted family units – traumatized their children, too. It was the dirty little secret of the Jewish world. Abuse.” In her author notes, Meltzer even mentions the growing anti-Semitism today.
Although Meltzer’s Kissing Kosher is, at its heart, a romance between star-crossed lovers, it goes well beyond a simple love story by tackling everything from chronic pain to transgenerational trauma, the role of intimacy in Jewish relationships, medical cannabis, the mysteries of the Jewish faith, unimaginable grief, and even verbal abuse and neglect. At times, it’s difficult to read, but it’s ultimately about hope and joy, managing physical and psychological pain, and finding support from chosen family.
One final note? A better title would have been “What the Heart Kneads” (which becomes obvious near the end of the story).
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from MIRA through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
