Bamba, and a power struggle of biblical proportion

While looking through a folder of things I've saved to blog about later, I came across this gem of a story: "Dispute over Bamba blessing underscores rabbinical power struggle."

Did you ever think you'd hear the words "power struggle" and "Bamba" in the same sentence? I certainly didn't, unless it was in the sense of "We had a power struggle over who would get to finish the last bag of Bamba."

(In case you don't know what Bamba is, it's this amazing Israeli snack food that is basically like peanut butter Cheetos, although the consistency is more like Pirate Booty, if you've ever had it. It's the best food ever.)

Anyway, in a plot worthy of the Bible (or maybe Shakespeare), there are two rabbis who are each trying to become the Sephardic chief rabbi of Jerusalem. They also happen to be brothers, and are the sons of the spiritual mentor to the influential Shas party. Both of them have an opinion on the correct blessing to say over Bamba - one says you should say "borei pri ha'adama" ("the creator of the fruits of the earth") and the other says you should say "shehakol" ("who brings everything into being").

I won't go into the arcane details of why each thinks his blessing is correct, but the greater point is that each wants their father to give his blessing to their, er, blessing. Ostensibly, whichever son gets the OK is getting the tacit endorsement for the chief rabbi position, which will also probably put him in a position to become the Shas party rabbi.

I find the idea of a power struggle over Bamba fascinating, and I love how Jacob-and-Esau the whole situation is. Hopefully it'll get resolved soon so we all can go back to eating our precious, precious Bamba with the light of God shining down on us.

Speaking of Bamba, I'd really like to know where to get it in the Bay Area, if it's possible. A couple stores were selling it for Pesach, but I'm down to my last bag and it's making me sad. If you know where to find this peanuty miracle (I seriously think manna was Bamba), please comment below or e-mail me!

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