Lior The Baker – Scottsdale, Arizona
My friend Bruce “Sr. Plata” Silver is understandably very proud of his Sephardic Jewish heritage. Sephardic, of course, is a term for Spanish Jews who were forced to Catholicism or face expulsion from Spain. Estimates indicate this diaspora was responsible for the movement of up to 300,000 Spanish Jews who settled in different parts of Europe and the Middle East. I’ve shared with him that my maternal grandmother practiced traditions consistent with a Crypto Jewish adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith. When a blood test revealed that my mom carried genetic traits also consistent with Judaism, I felt more justified in referring to Sr. Plata as my Jewish Brother. During our visit to the Phoenix area in 2021, the Hermanos Plata, Bruce and Loren introduced us to Lior the Baker, a kosher baker in Scottsdale. Lior the Baker has been enthralling diners in the Phoenix area for nearly a decade. The eponymous bakery is named for Lior Ben-Shushan, who runs the bakery with his wife Lily. Lior is an ubiquitous presence at his bakery where he probably has to answer the question “Are you out of babka already?” at least a hundred times a day. Get…