Why Challah?

You know, I’ve been “into challah” for over 25 years.

In addition to my book, A Taste of Challah that I wrote, had photographed and published — an endeavor of love and excitement that took over two years to complete —

I’ve also been involved in reaching out and teaching about challah to all kinds of women and girls.

Love of Challah

It’s nearly universal.

That love of Challah.

Yes, there’s something so intriguing about how to make a great dough.

About how to braid (or plait, if you are from an English or South African background!) gorgeous loaves.

About seeing those challahs coming out of your very own oven, ready to be served to your family and guests.

About the whole process.

It’s most definitely not just another cooking show!

So much more than just another bread

Challah is not “just another bread”.

Challah is unique, it’s got something about it that is more appealing than nearly any other Jewish food.

And I’ve seen it time and again.

Generational

Challah is also something that for generations has been passed down, from mother to daughter, from family to family.

Nearly every background of Judaism — Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Yemenite, Chassidic, and much more, each has their own culture of what challah means to them.

But it started way before everything, with our Foremothers in their tents.

Challah at the beginning

The holiness of their mitzvah of Challah is even mentioned in the Torah. Like it says about our first Foremother, Sarah Imeinu:

“And there was a blessing in her dough.” (Bereishis 24:67, Rashi)

It speaks of tradition, of times long ago. And when it is coupled with prayers and heart, it goes beyond just being “fancy twisted loaves”.

The mystique of Challah

There just something about Challah that reaches out and touches the Jewish soul.

Yes, you can say it’s the look. It’s that incredible smell in your home. It’s the warmth and the hominess, the mystique of it all…

Our prayers, and the Torah mitzvah of “hafrashas challah” adds holiness to our dough. To our homes. Our families. And that touches our inner essence, our soul.

And this enters into us too as only challah done with its full mitzvah can.

But the magic begins way before that

We pray while we mix the ingredients.

We pray again during the holy Torah mitzvah of separating a portion of the dough.

When we invest our own yearnings and prayers into this mitzvah while making challah, it infuses our challahs with so much more than just a good taste.

It adds holiness. Something sublime.

How?

This separation of the dough, before we do anything else at all with it, is Torah mandated. When we separate off that piece, that special piece is then holy. This adds holiness to our challah.

In the times when we had our Beit Hamikdash, that separated challah piece was eaten only by the Kohanim, the priests, in the Holy Temple.

Today we cannot eat it; yet it still links us to our past history, it reminds us of our glorious past as a nation of priests and royalty in the Temple of Old.

It proves that we still keep this mitzvah and that we long for our Beit Hamikdash to be built once again.

And the link to Jerusalem?

The gates of Heaven are open for all prayers at the time that we women perform this mitzvah.

Our first collective prayer at this time — is about asking for the return of the Beit Hamikdash in Jerusalem! This signifies our Final Redemption as a nation.

And our mitzvah called “hafrashas challah”, has the potential, together with our prayers, to bring us back once again to our greatest hope: our newly rebuilt Beit Hamikdash, the Temple in Jerusalem, G-d willing very soon, here in Jerusalem, our holy city.

What better place to experience the magic of challah than the center of it all, Jerusalem?

What better place
to experience the magic of challah
than the center of it all,
Jerusalem?

The Jerusalem Challah Experience

Experience it for yourself.
And take the inspiration home with you.
You’ll remember it for a lifetime.

As we weave the strands into majestic braids we are connecting to our shared history – and to one another.

Let’s experience this, here in Jerusalem, together!

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More about the Mitzvah

Need recipes? Inspiration? Know-how?
A pictorial guidebook to all things challah? Check out www.aTasteofChallah.com.

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