Challah!

 Numbers 15:20-21

20   Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it. 

21   Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the LORD an heave offering in your generations. 

In Hebrew, the first letter of the word for each of these mitzvot spells a name: Chanah. The first letter of “challah” is a chet, the first letter of “nidah” is a nun, and the first letter of “hadlakathaner” is a hei. Chanah is of course spelled: chet nun hei.

Like in every word in Hebrew, the primary letter of Chanah is the first one, in our case the chet hich stands for challah. So, we will begin by looking at the mitzvah of challah. As we shall see later, the separation ofchallah relates specifically to our matriarch Rachel.

These three letters—yud, hei, and vav—as they appear in G-d’s essential Name, correspond to the sefirotwisdom, understanding, and knowledge, respectively. Thus, the order of the feminine mitzvot based on the acronym Chanah (challah, nidah, hadlakat haner) is understanding-wisdom-knowledge, or hei-vav-yud, which arouses the faculty of might in the heart. So not only does the first letter of Chanah allude to the feminine sefirah of understanding, but the acronym as a whole alludes to the sefirah of might—the most feminine of the heart’s qualities.

The inner experience of might is “fear,” in the sense of fear, or awe, of the Almighty. Because of this, king Solomon says: “the woman who fears God is praiseworthy.”⁹

Challah is the first mitzvah done when the challah loaves for Shabbat are baked (as we shall see later on, there is a deep significance that the Shabbat bread has come to be known as “challah,” even though challahis taken from weekday bread as well), usually long before Shabbat (on Thursday night or Friday morning). Candle-lighting time is next, as the Shabbat candles must be lit before Shabbat. Finally, the holiness of family purity is revealed on the Shabbat eve, after the Shabbat meal.

Challah in the Torah

The mitzvah of separating challah in the Torah is found in five verses in the portion of Shlach Lecha(Numbers 15:17-21). Shlach Lecha is the 37th portion of the Torah. This portion begins with a recounting of the “transgression of the spies” (cheit hameraglim), which caused the nation of Israel to wander for 40 years in the desert instead of proceeding directly into the Land of Israel . As we shall see the mitzvah ofchallah is the primary rectification for the nation’s abandonment of the Land of Israel .

Whereas challah is one of the three mitzvot dedicated for women, the final verses of this same Torah portion describe the mitzvah of tzitzit¹³, which is the primary rectification for the men’s role in abandoning the Land of Israel (even though it is definitely permissible for a woman to wear tzitzit and there were many great women who did). Nonetheless, the Torah does not explicitly mention that challah is for women andtzitzit for men.

What Exactly is Challah Bread?

Challah is a loaf of braided bread that is made with eggs, flour, yeast, and salt. It is typically pale yellow due to the number of eggs used in its creation. Some challah recipes actually call for raisins, honey, and seeds, but it all depends on your preferences and what you are celebrating.

Challah Bread is Equally as Delicious as it is Symbolic

Challah refers to the mitzvah (a blessing or good deed) of separating a portion of the dough before you begin braiding as a contribution to the Kohen (priest). This commandment is called the hafrashat challah. Moreover, on some occasions a blessing is said over two loaves of bread, symbolizing the two portions of the manna that was distributed on Fridays to the children of Israel during their Exodus from Egypt. 

The bread is covered on the table by a decorative challah cover or a white napkin, which represents the dew that is collected on the manna in the morning. Poppy and sesame seeds sprinkled on the bread also symbolize the manna that fell from heaven.

Challah bread is made in various sizes and shapes that have several meanings. For example:

• Braided ones, which may have three, four, or six strands, are the most common, and because they look like arms intertwined, symbolize love. 
• Three braids symbolize truth, peace, and justice. Twelve humps from two small or one large braided bread recall the miracle of the 12 loaves for the 12 tribes of Israel. 
• Round loaves, where there is no beginning and no end, are baked for Rosh Hashanah to symbolize continuity. 
• Ladder and hand shapes are served at the meal before the fast of Yom Kippur, the ladder signifying that we should ascend to great heights, the hand that we may be inscribed for a good year. 
• On Purim, small triangular loaves symbolize Haman’s ears; at Shavuot, two oblongs side by side represent the Tablets of the Law (the 10 commandments). 
• The bulkah is a segmented rectangular challah. Sweet challahs with honey or raisins are baked during the festive season to bring joy and happiness.

Even the name “challah” is derived from the Hebrew word used for portion in the biblical commandment of the first of your dough, you shall give unto the Lord a portion for a gift throughout your generations.

There are seven basic ingredients in a challah recipe; water, yeast, sugar, eggs, oil, flour, and salt. There is a special eighth ingredient that is unique to each and every one of us, and that is our souls. When we are making the challah we are putting our personal energy into the dough.

As we add each ingredient we can add a new blessing to our dough, which will enhance the spiritual blessings, for whoever is eating our challah will also ingest these blessings.

Water: Water represents Torah. Just as we cannot live without water we also cannot live without Torah. Water brings life and nourishment to all things, so it represents the attribute of chessed(kindness). As we add the water, we can think of something in our lives that we want G-d to bless us with in abundant kindness. It should flow down into our lives, just as water flows.

Yeast: Yeast is what enables our dough to rise. Yeast represents growth and expansion. So as we add the yeast, we can think of each one of our family members and friends and pray that they grow and expand in their emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. Yeast also represents rising, rising to our full potentials. We ask that God help all of us rise to who we are meant to be in our fullest potential. Yeast in Hebrew is shmarim which comes from the same root shomer, which means protection. As we add the yeast, we should pray for protection for ourselves, our families, Israel, the IDF, and all of the Jewish people.

Eggs: Eggs represent the renewal of the lifecycle and the potential of what is about to “hatch.” Again, while making the dough, we pray for life, children, and anything going on in our lives that we want God to reveal to us.

Oil: Oil represents anointing. Oil was used to anoint the Jewish kings. When adding your oil pour a little at a time “anointing” each one of your loved ones by name and pray for their specific needs.

Sugar: Sugar represents anything sweet in our lives, all the revealed good. We ask G0d for open blessings and open good at this time. Sugar also represents emunah (faith). When we have the proper faith then everything becomes sweet. Even the challenges in our lives we realize are all from G-d and all for the best.

Salt: Salt represents discipline or criticism. It is important to have this, but in smaller measure. When adding the salt we should shake a little off the top. As much as we feel we need to rebuke others, we could always give a little less rebuke than we feel is necessary. Salt also represents purification. We pray that anything that is toxic in our lives, minds, souls, and bodies be removed.

Flour: Flour represents sustenance, not only our livelihood, but also our relationships with others. We pray that G-d should bless us with a livelihood that we should use for the right reasons, and that He helps us sustain a relationship that might need some assistance, and thank Him for the relationships we do have that sustain us.

The last step in making the dough is to take all of these essential ingredients that bring their own important blessings and unify them. We think about the oneness of God and the oneness of the Jewish people, and as we knead the dough this is also a special time to pray for anything you, your family, friends, or the world needs.  

“ברוך אתה ה’ אלקינו מלך העולם המוציא לחם מן הארץ”
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech haolam, hamotzi lechem min ha-aretz.
(Blessed are You, Lord our G.d, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth). 

“ברוך אתה ה’ אלוהינו מלך העולם, אשר קדשנו במצוותיו וציוונו להפריש חלה תרומה”

Baruch Ata Ado-nai, Elohenu-Melech Ha’olam acher kidechanou bemitsvotav vetsivanou leafrich challah teruma

“Blessed are You, Lord, our G-d, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with his Commandments and commanded us to separate challah from the dough”.

The Talmud says that a miracle happened every week: Sarah’s bread kept its freshness from one Friday to another and her Shabbath candles remained lit (Genesis 60-16 בראשית). The divine force that she could relate to – shekhina, divine presence – would never leave her. The Talmud also says that in her role as matriarch, Sarah laid the foundation for the spiritual future of every Jewish woman.

There is a reason why Sarah was the one who had experienced this miracle and not Abraham. Men and women each have a specific direction in their spiritual path. While it is said that men are supposed to bring the divine light to earth, through the study of Torah, women raise this world and allow it to connect to G.od. On the death of Sarah, the miracle no longer occurred, although Abraham continued to separate challah dough. The miracle only resumed when their son Itshaq, who married Rivka, took her into the tent of his mother Sarah. Ah, the presence of a woman!

Women have a primary role in the importance of this mitzvah.

According to halacha (Jewish law), there are three commandments that Jewish women are required to observe:
– challah
– niddah, laws of family purity
– hadlakat nerot, meaning the lighting of candles on Friday evening before Shabbath and on holidays.

It is said that by observing these three commandments (mitzvot), women become the spiritual leader of the house. With her challos, a woman can receive and bestow blessings to herself, to her household members and to anyone who asks her. Just by kneading challah, she has the right to ask G.od to cure many illnesses, since this commandment is the body and soul of Jewish life and it has a great impact on the heart and mind.

Why is challah bread braided?

And what about the shape that is given to this Shabbath bread? What are the origins of this braided loaf of Jewish bread?

Historically, Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews used to give a classic shape to the breads they prepared during the week. On Shabbath, the only importance was to use white flour, usually reserved for the upper class, as opposed to whole wheat flour.

During the early medieval period, Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews began to use only white flour for Shabbath breads. Some communities, however, especially Persians used whole wheat flour even on Shabbath.

Yemenis still use a thin bread called lahoh for Shabbat. Indian Jews use flat breads such as naan or chapati, and the Jews of Mumbai add coconut milk and sugar to their chapati for Shabbath.

Originally, Ashkenazi Jews too gave no specific shape or name to their challos. They just prepared several kinds of white breads and called them either Yiddish broyt or lechem (Hebrew word for bread לחם). It was not until the fifteenth century that Austrian and South German Jews adopted a new oval-shaped braid challah modeled on a popular Teutonic bread, called berchisbrod or perchisbrod in the south of Germany.