Would someone actually steal kosher honey from a Maryland State Senator?

We may never know what really happened.

During the Special Session of the Maryland General Assembly, volunteers from the Jewish Federation of Annapolis & the Chesapeake hand-delivered thank-yous from 2,789 people, along with kosher honey from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, to every member of our County Council and state legislature, as well as to our lieutenant governor and governor.

In most cases, we delivered the honey in person to elected officials or their staff. We emailed people in advance to let them know we were coming.

In some cases, we were greeted at office doors with a smile and the words, “Are you the honey people?” Turns out, many of our elected officials use a lot of honey in their tea—and they were pretty excited to see us! Also, frankly, we were often told that politicians get a lot of complaints and not many thanks…

But sometimes people weren’t in their offices, so we left the honey and a card by their office doors.

And then there was one case involving an especially beloved senator.

The senator returned to their office—and their honey was missing.

What happened? Was it too tempting? Did someone pick it up, intending to make sure it got to the senator? We just know that it was gone.

So our co-founders, Federation President Jody Goldsmith and Secretary Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, brought the thank-yous and honey directly to the senator’s home.

There was just one problem: We were out of our kosher Maryland honey.

Luckily, Jody had recently been to Israel and had brought back honey from a kibbutz to give as gifts. Thankfully, he had one jar left.

Talk about lucky!

Why the extra effort?

Because we REALLY appreciate that Maryland’s elected officials have our backs. They are standing up against hate of all kinds and supporting security grants for faith-based and nonprofit organizations at risk of hate crimes.

So, to all of our elected officials: THANK YOU! And if you happen to see a jar of kosher Maryland honey that looks suspiciously familiar…well, you know where it came from. ????