Halkin rocks!
Bagels and Pretzels: Sure, I can make the connection. In fact, I use the kosher bread-like pretzels for Sabbath-challah (they even come with their own packet of kosher salt)which are found in American grocery stores:
http://www.superpretzel.com/history.html
You simply tear off the tab and make the B'racha over challah and micro-wave for one to two minutes!
"there are some hints in his writing. For example, in this week's column he quotes Prof. Meir Bar-Ilan, who happens to be Halkin's cousin."
i don't think is evidence that the author is halkin (although it is of course halkin)
"today it's easy to find in Israel lox, cream cheese and "American bagels"."
israeli bagels are subpar
I agree that quoting a cousin isn't proof. But if you're saying that you know that it is Halkin (how?) then you can see why he might quote Bar-Ilan.
I'm satisfied with Israeli bagels. The Shifon bakery in Neve Daniel makes what they call a "brit bagel", which they don't sell on Fridays. Softer than usual in the middle - very tasty.
The G and L of Bagel had me thinking of other Hebrew 'round objects' having a gimel and lamed. (eegool and gulgul)
where it appears as כעבין
Kaf and bet alternate, or is the bet a typo?
It's a "typo" - but not one of mine. According to Ben-Yehuda, it's a scribal error, but was eventually accepted into Rabbinic Hebrew, where it appears in the Shulchan Aruch as well.
In London they are still referred to as beigels. I say "they" - a small, tough, circular piece of boiled dough with a hole in the middle is sold in Brick Lane under this name, thereby handily distinguishing it from its American cousin. The cousin, needless to say, has a franchise...
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