I thought mine was the only one.  A supply of chocolate secreted away in a drawer at the office, just in case, just a little break, just for those moments.

This other drawer was disclosed to me by chance, when I spoke to the HUC-JIR First Year students about Jewish values and chocolate in the conference room near the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) office in Jerusalem. IRAC’s Executive Director, Anat Hoffman, sat in on the talk and revealed the stash to me. IRAC’s staff has one-upped me with a very Israeli style chocolate drawer. Perhaps inspired by the socialism of Israel’s pioneering years, theirs is a communal addiction. In a tip to fairness, the supply is replenished voluntarily. As would be appropriate in Israel’s security conscious setting, the chocolate’s location is hidden to newcomers to the staff, disclosed only after proper “basic training.” While I could probably retrace my steps without a map,  I have been instructed not to reveal its location. It is, as the Hebrew idiom goes, “ai sham,” or somewhere, in an undisclosed place.

Just the other day, Anat bemoaned in a recent email that she had returned to her office after a trip to the States to find the chocolate drawer empty! Her staff consumes almost three pounds per week, each department claiming that another eats the most. However, they had “forgotten” to fill it while she was away so it is now stuffed with American brands, instead of what I had glimpsed a few weeks ago, primarily Elite’s Shokolad Para.

Chocolate Drawer at IRAC

I am thinking about this particular IRAC collection of American chocolates, as they are kosher yet neither fair trade nor organic, certifications that my book will discuss in a section that explores chocolate and our Jewish values.  At least their after-lunch chocolate snack fortifies the lawyers and others to persist in their powerful advocacy and religious justice work.

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