{"id":526325,"date":"2026-03-10T07:40:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526325\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T07:40:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T07:40:15","slug":"in-brighton-a-plan-to-save-its-remaining-kosher-shops-and-sustain-a-vibrant-jewish-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/526325\/","title":{"rendered":"In Brighton, a plan to save its remaining kosher shops and sustain a vibrant Jewish community"},"content":{"rendered":"

Seated on a stool in the backroom kitchen of Malek\u2019s Bakery, head baker Tom Quinn\u2019s hands move with rapid precision, interlacing strands of dough to form loaf after loaf of challah.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould I do it blindfolded?\u201d he asks as a reporter looks on, drawing laughter from two others prepping bread at the table.<\/p>\n

The space is cramped. And today, there is added congestion and commotion as repairmen work to assess a problem with the oven.<\/p>\n

This bakery on Monroe Avenue in Brighton has existed as Malek\u2019s for more than a half-century, and under a different name before that. The slicers date to the 1950s, operators say. The serial number on the oven is 2. And when the oven breaks, food prep has to relocate to one of the town synagogues so the challah and other staples are ready for Shabbat.<\/p>\n

Malek\u2019s is the only kosher bakery left in the Rochester area. Just like Lipman\u2019s, a few doors down, is the area\u2019s only kosher meat market.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/p>\n

Tom Quinn, head baker at Malek’s Bakery in Brighton, preps a loaf of challah on Jan. 28, 2026, in the back kitchen area of the Monroe Avenue shop. Malek’s is the only kosher, dairy-free bakery in the Rochester area.<\/p>\n

Both are pillars of the Jewish community. And plans are moving ahead to bring the businesses under one roof near Twelve Corners, creating a \u201cJewish food hub,\u201d of sorts, offering cooking classes and culinary lectures, a small market or grocery, a cultural component, an outdoor pocket park dedicated to Holocaust survivors and, of course, updated facilities and more room to move around.<\/p>\n

The new location is a single-story, former medical building with a blue awning at 885 S. Winton Road, a five-minute walk from Malek\u2019s. Location was \u201ceverything,\u201d said Naftali Hanau, who with his wife, Anna, recently bought and now operate the two shops.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kosher-keeping community is centered on the Monroe Avenue corridor,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have four synagogues, basically, between Twelve Corners and Culver. \u2026 So we have to be where people can easily get to, where they can walk, or where they can send their kids to pick something up. Or it won’t work.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘The community needs this\u2019<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s era of increasing health consciousness and demand for food transparency, the market for kosher food is expanding nationally and around the world<\/a>. At Malek\u2019s, the customer mix is majority non-Jewish at times, toward the beginning of the week. But that market growth overall is largely being captured by major food labels like Manischewitz, Empire Kosher, and Nestl\u00e9 U.S.<\/p>\n

Malek\u2019s and Lipman\u2019s, meanwhile, are struggling \u2014 despite Greater Rochester having the largest Jewish population in the state outside of New York City, and Brighton being the center of that community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many ways in which we operate at a loss,\u201d said Hanau, who grew up coming to these shops. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to build these businesses together, because the community needs this. But it’s not actually viable to operate this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Anna<\/p>\n

Anna and Naftali Hanau own and operate Malek’s Bakery and Lipman’s Kosher Market on Monroe Avenue in Brighton.<\/p>\n

The proposal for the new, combined market is set for a public hearing before the Town Board later this month. Among those lining up behind the proposal are the Farash Foundation, The Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester and a host of area rabbis.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a vibrant Jewish community, it’s really essential to have certain things, and one of those primary ones is kosher businesses,\u201d said Rabbi Peter Stein of Temple B\u2019rith Kodesh.<\/p>\n

Stein joined seven other rabbis, representing every synagogue in and adjacent to Brighton, signing onto a letter of support sent to town Supervisor Bill Moehle<\/a>. In the letter, they also note the importance of Hillel Community Day School, writing that without these institutions, \u201cat a minimum, Rochester becomes a non-starter as a destination for any observant individual being recruited to our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a time when the area\u2019s thriving Jewish community supported many butcher shops, bakeries and other businesses along and around Joseph Avenue in the city. But over recent decades, the population shifted to the suburbs and declined in number.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo sure, the Jewish community of Rochester has changed over the years. The numbers have changed, the religious practices have changed,\u201d Stein said, though adding that his congregation is growing in number from kids to adults. \u201cBut one of the reasons why there’s been this advocacy effort is there’s a real need to maintain the strength of our community. And this is a piece of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Nothing more powerful\u2019<\/p>\n

Before operating Malek\u2019s and Lipman\u2019s, the Hanaus lived for two decades in Brooklyn, where they founded and ran a kosher meat company, Grow & Behold Foods. So they arrived understanding the flow of the holidays, Anna Hanau said, \u201cand just all of the ways that food is a part of the community rhythms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so when we decided we were going to take a break from New York City, try Rochester,\u201d she said, \u201cit was just a really good fit, because this is what we do<\/a>. We feed people.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she and Quinn worked in Malek\u2019s backroom on a recent weekday, customers came in and out, scanning the display cases filled with cookies and fruit pastries, muffins, knish, babkas and more breads.<\/p>\n

\"Malek's<\/p>\n

Malek’s Bakery in Brighton serves a variety of kosher, dairy-free pastries, cakes and breads at its shop on Monroe Avenue. But operators say they lack the space for pre-packaged items and the display cases are more labor intensive, requiring staffers to hand each item to customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the bakery, we make the vast majority of the products in house. That’s not something that really needs, or you want, to change,\u201d Naf Hanau said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are very attached to the way things have been,\u201d Anna Hanau added. \u201cThis is the birthday cake I have for this event, you know? So we like to tell people that we’re only changing the things they don’t like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not to say there haven\u2019t been changes.<\/p>\n

They have introduced new products, more catering and platters and shiva events, added online pickup and delivery options. These businesses, though, are in old spaces that likely were inadequate from the beginning, set up for what Naf Hanau described as \u201ca very old-school model of operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each has only four parking spaces. And all those display cases require staffers to hand the item to the customer, as there is no room to shelve prepackaged items or prepared foods. All that would change with the new building.<\/p>\n

But tradition is important. In the new, combined market, Anna Hanau said, they plan to create a historical display about Jewish food history in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s important to us to link,\u201d she said. \u201cYes, it’s a new location, so it’s a shift. But link it to, you know, what’s come before, and that this is a tradition of culture in Jewish Rochester, and Rochester in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A proposal to combine Malek’s Bakery and Lipman’s Kosher Market under one roof would move the Monroe Avenue businesses to this building at 885 S. Winton Road near Twelve Corners in Brighton.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Stein sees the connection, and the opportunity, more broadly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s nothing more powerful than breaking bread together,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd if we have these kinds of facilities, it’s an opportunity for not only the Jewish community to have its needs met, but also to be a cultural center bringing together different people of different identities \u2026 sharing food, the culture and traditions behind the food.\u201d<\/p>\n

So much wrapped up in two little shops, that soon could become one.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn’t grow up here, but coming back, it really feels like we’ve been entrusted with, you know, we’re not rabbis, but this is a pillar of the community,\u201d Anna Hanau said, where people turn at different milestones, whether it is for shiva, brises, baby namings. \u201cSo, you know, it has to work for our family, but it is very much in service of the community and all of the rhythms of life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seated on a stool in the backroom kitchen of Malek\u2019s Bakery, head baker Tom Quinn\u2019s hands move with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[49,48,84,395],"class_list":["post-526325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-nutrition"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}