The Two Bakers and the Cake

AI generated art

Not too long ago, on the mountains not too far from Jerusalem, in the small town Shechen-Ya, there were two women who lived on the opposite sides of the town, and both desperately wanted to bake a cake for Shabbat. Yet no matter how hard they tried, something always went wrong. One woman was missing eggs, the other was missing sugar. One did not have a whisk, the other did not have a bowl. 

For weeks, these two women tried preparing and doing all they needed: they checked their list of ingredients, used different recipes, asked advice from their mothers, from parents, from expert bakers. If it wasn’t ingredients, it was missing utensils. If it wasn’t the ingredients or the utensils, it was a hole in the mixing bowl or pan. If it wasn’t the ingredients, or the utensils or the mixing bowl or the pan, it was the oven. No matter how hard they tried or how much they prepared -- something always went wrong. 

After many weeks of trying and always failing, both women found their way to the bakery at the center of the town. The center of the town was a bustling type of place, where everyone would come to buy all sorts of goods for Shabbat and celebrations. The bakery at the center of town had one of the best bakers in all of Jerusalem. “Surly,” they each thought, “this baker will be able to help me figure out what I am doing wrong.” So off they went, each woman in her own time, to speak and receive advice from the famous baker.

The baker was a very kind man. His desire was pure - to help bake divine pastries, loaves of bread, cookies and cakes for all to enjoy. His kindness was known all across the land, as he would always bake double, so he could give to those who could not have. So when the women asked for help, each one on a different day, he asked questions, he listened, examined the situation, and said “I am honored that you think I can correct this problem, I am not sure how, but we will figure this out - I will help you bake your cake, in your own house!” he added to them both, each in her own time “return to me in two weeks. By then I’ll have a plan.”

Grateful and happy, each woman went her way. “Soon I’ll have my own cake” and they both started to pray. “Please G-d, may this work” one said “please G-d, make this cake” the other prayed. And G-d already knew, for he had an angel watch their case. 

The baker saw the recipes and baked it in his oven. Both cakes came out amazing, so different, both delicious. “The problem isn’t the recipe” he noted to himself, and kept examining the utensils and all the broken bowls and pans. “it ‘s strange that they have holes in places they should not be. These baking tools are new, yet they broke with such ease.” the baker thought it strange, he did not understand this, so he devised a plan, to mix their batter in his own dish.

Two weeks have gone by, both women had returned, to each he gave the better of the recipe she chose. Excited, they returned home, all filled with hope and faith. Yet this was not the end -- they could not bake the cake. The ovens did not work, they both had ruined cakes. One cake just did not cook. They other went up in flames. 

To the baker they went to bake, disappointed and discouraged. “No worries,” said the baker, “I will come to see your oven.” A week went by and the baker went to each house to check, what is the problem with the oven - why will the cake not bake. He brought the better to each house and set it in the oven, but one oven was too hot, the other was too small of a fire. “Let me think,” said the baker, “come back in one more week.” and off he went, leaving both women desperate for their treat. 

 At his bakery the baker set his ovens to their settings. He tried and tested baking these cakes in his ovens, and it was not working. The cherry cake would just not bake in an oven with such low fire. The chocolate chip cake would not rise in an oven with such strong fire. He had one batch, a last one made and was not sure what to do. So he put it in the fridge and waited for the women to return. 

A week had past and to each woman the baker had explained “I am not sure that this will work. Take this last batch and bake it in your oven. Pray to G-d for maybe He will find the way to make this cake bake this time” 

The baker did not realise that as he reached into the fridge, the hand of a guardian angel had pushed his hand aside. To each woman he had given the wrong batch of batter. The cherry to the woman who wanted chocolate chips, the chocolate chips to the woman who wanted a cherry cake. Unaware, the three did not know that G-d had heard their prayer to celebrate and had found a way to answer their prayer. 

The woman with the chocolate chip batter put the cake in the oven to bake. The woman with the cherry batter put the cake in her oven to bake. And they both waited. When it was time to bring the cakes out, the chocolate chip was all burnt - they could not eat a bite. But lo and behold, the woman with the cherry - her cake “it worked!” she finally had made it! The joy, the gladness, the gratitude, she had a cake for shabbat! Yet something wasn’t right - the smell was not of chocolate. She tasted a crumb from the edge and realised it was cherry! 

The woman ran to the baker. “Thank you baker, oh so much, for all of your help. I finally have my very own cake!” then she added “it’s not that I am not so grateful, but what you gave me was not my recipe - it was not my chocolate chip cake.” embraced and confused, the backer said “I’m sorry. I don’t understand how I could have made such an error. I must have mixed the batters.”  He told her of the other woman from the other side of town. 

Embarrassed for his mistake, the baker went to the other woman who had the chocolate chip cake. “Did you manage to bake your cake?” the baker asked. “I tried, and again, it burnt, nothing left but ashes that fell to the ground.” 

The baker was not sure what to do, there was no cake to be switched with. But he know he had to tell the truth, to explain what had happened: “It was not your batter that burnt this time. It was a chocolate chip cake I made for someone else.” The baker explained how the other woman had also had a problem with baking her cakes, and how they both came to him with the exact same problem. “I am not sure how I switched your batters. But what I do know is that somehow the cherry cake can be made in the other woman’s oven.”

The woman with great excitement proclaimed “Oh! That is wonderful! I need that cherry cake! I have a celebration, a birthday for my man. Please bring me this cake now. I want to have it ready. You made me so very glad -- I had lost all hope of having this party.”

The baker was now broken.  “What have I done? I cannot take the cake from the woman that baked it with her own hands.” He went back to his bakery to back a few more pastries, for in his toil he finds peace, in work he finds his answer. He called both women to come back to him to speak about this in the morning. 

Morning came and dread covered the women with the cherry cake. She worked and planned and invited guests to join her in celebrating this cake - she did not plan to finally have made a cake only to need to give it away. The intention was always for this cake to be for her, to celebrate with her neighbours and family; to have it in her home.

The woman with the burnt cake excitedly walked to town. She did not know a cake was made until it was all done. And now she gets to enjoy its smell, its taste and all its pleasures - to celebrate with all her friends and family; it felt like finding a hidden treasure. 

 The baker had an inspiration, an idea came from G-d; this is the only reason this cake would have ever been had. 

In walked the two women, one so scared, one so excited. The baker then explained his understanding: “The cake belongs to both of you” the woman looked confused “It is a gift of G-d that made it so. Neither of you could bake a cake, yet with combining your efforts a cake was made. You prayed for G-d and G-d answered; he took your recipe and placed it in an oven that can bake it.”

The women were not happy. “What do you mean? We cannot both have this cake. It is for her or me!” 

“Not true,” said the baker. “There is another way, for this you need to listen very closely to what I say.” the women came in nearer, trying to calm their pain. They listened to the baker, each one wanting her own cake. “Neither of you could have had this specific cake, if you were not tied in this confusion.”

To the woman with no cake he said “Your oven would have burnt it - to a crisp this cake would have become. Yet G-d has answered your prayer, and led your batter into an oven that could bake it. Do not be upset. Now you know that this specific cherry cake can only be made in an oven that was not your own.”

To the woman with the cake he explained “Your batter would not have cooked, it needs an oven we don’t have in our lands. You only have your cake because G-d had set up this plan. And so I ask - offer this cake in open hands so all can marvel at this divine miracle at hand.”

The baker spoke to both women: “This cake belongs to no one else except for G-d Himself. To be able to enjoy it, make sure you celebrate G-d. Give thanks for this cake being baked and do not fret and fight. I invite you both to celebrate with me, here in the center of town. bring your family and neighbours, bring your family and friends - together we will have a celebration so much wilder than either of you could have had alone. For G-d has chosen to connect you two, there is help you can give each other; for one of you understands in cherries, while the other does the hard work of cleaning the ovens. See past this mistake, see the beauty G-d provided.”

And so it was. The two women joined their families and friends in one large celebration. A celebration of a cake that would have never been baked if it wasn’t for this mixup in the batter of the cake.  

The women became close friends, closer than family. They started helping each other out, switching recipes, making batters. For they were knotted through this event, through G-d’s direct intervention; He gave them both a celebration. This joy would not be possible if they would have kept trying to make this cake alone. G-d gave them not only this cake, he gave them a whole new family to celebrate with and be supported by. 

Since that day, the families celebrate the day of union between the family; a birthday of the cherry cake. When two struggling baking women became the bakers of a cherry cake. 

A note for contemplation: A mixup in batters can feel like an error, yet through the lens of gratitude for G-d, we see the miracle that was done; the hand of an angel had executed G-d’s plan. Like Moses in his test at Pharoa’s palace, when an angel pushed his hand towards the coal, ensuring Moses’s survival. The cost to Moses was burning his tongue or lip and becoming heavy in speech for the rest of his life. He had initial pain from the angel’s intervention, for a greater purpose that could only be understood decades later. 

Sometimes an angel will cause us to go through something very painful and negative just so something significantly better can come out of it. Maybe a mix of batters was needed in order to have a cherry cake be made. If it was not for the mixup, the cake would have never come into existence, and no celebration would be possible at all. By shifting the perspective from focusing on the error that was made, to the gift that G-d has provided, this cake can become a gift to many more people than it would have been to start with. This is only achievable when we understand that the cake is made by G-d, not by “men.” The error itself is part of a divine plan. When we see it as such, we can focus on the good that can come out of such mixups. 

In dedication to “Baby Sofia”

May your life be the shining beacon of hope and peace and love and light that you can be for so many people. May your very miraculous existence, that could have not happened in any other way, be seen as a point of unity and communal celebration.

May your family be the largest and happiest one, bringing together genes, biology, environment, love, care, support, parents, uncles, siblings, neighbours and friends.

Sofia, you were born to unite an impossible situation, may you shine your light through all the pain -- even now, at your very young age. You don’t have to do anything to be this shining star -- the fact that G-d placed you in the “wrong” womb is the very “mistake” that made you who you are -- you will grow up to be a force to behold. May you and your family always remember the miracle they have witnessed, without which you would have not been born at all. 

Sometimes, when G-d sends an angel to push a hand the wrong way, it is to bring into the world a miracle that would have not been born any other way. This time, the miracle is you!