Challah
Eggs, fine white flour, water, yeast, sugar and salt | |
Challah (
Name and origins
The term challah in Biblical Hebrew meant a kind of loaf or cake.
In Rabbinic terminology, challah often refers to the portion of dough which must be separated before baking, and set aside as a tithe for the Kohen,[6] since the biblical verse which commands this practice refers to the separated dough as a "challah".[2] The practice of separating this dough sometimes became known as separating challah (הפרשת חלה) or taking challah.[7] The food made from the balance of the dough is also called challah.[8] The obligation applies to any loaf of bread, not only to the Shabbat bread, but it is traditional to intentionally bake bread for the Sabbath in such a manner as to obligate oneself, in order to dignify the Shabbat.[9] By synecdoche, the term challah came to refer to the whole of the loaf from which challah is taken.
Variant names
![Homebaked challah](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Challahbread.jpg/220px-Challahbread.jpg)
Challah may also be referred to as cholla bread.[10][11] In Poland it is commonly known as chałka (diminutive of chała, pronounced ha-wa), in Ukraine as 'kolach' or 'khala' and khala (хала) in Belarus and Russia.[12][13]
Yiddish communities in different regions of Europe called the bread khale, berkhes or barches, bukhte, dacher, kitke, koylatch or koilitsh, or shtritsl.[14][15] Some of these names are still in use today, such as kitke in South Africa.[15]
The term koylatch is cognate with the names of similar braided breads which are consumed on special occasions by other cultures outside the Jewish tradition in a number of
In the Middle East, regional Shabbat breads were simply referred to by the local word for bread, such as noon in Farsi or khubz in Arabic.
Ingredients and preparation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/Challah_Braiding.jpg/275px-Challah_Braiding.jpg)
Most traditional Ashkenazi challah recipes use numerous
.According to
Egg challah sometimes also contains
Challah is almost always pareve (containing neither dairy nor meat—important in the laws of Kashrut), unlike brioche and other enriched European breads, which contain butter or milk as it is typically eaten with a meat meal.
Israeli breads for shabbat are very diverse, reflecting the traditions of Persian, Iraqi, Moroccan, Russian, Polish, Yemeni, and other Jewish communities who live in the
.Rituals and religious significance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/ShabbatableS.jpg/220px-ShabbatableS.jpg)
According to Jewish tradition, the three
In some Ashkenazi customs, each loaf is woven with six strands of dough. Together, the loaves have twelve strands, alluding to the twelve loaves of the showbread offering in the Temple. Other numbers of strands commonly used are three, five and seven. Occasionally, twelve are used, referred to as a "Twelve Tribes" challah. Some individuals - mostly Hasidic rabbis - have twelve separate loaves on the table.
Challot - in these cases extremely large ones - are also sometimes eaten at other occasions, such as a wedding or a Brit milah, but without ritual.
Traditional Sabbath meal procedure
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Challa_Teller_aus_Basel.jpg/220px-Challa_Teller_aus_Basel.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f1/Shabbat_Challos.jpg/220px-Shabbat_Challos.jpg)
It is customary to begin the evening and day Sabbath and holiday meals with the following sequence of rituals:
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/Serwetka_szabasowa_na_cha%C5%82%C4%99%2C_M%C5%BB_42_01.jpg/220px-Serwetka_szabasowa_na_cha%C5%82%C4%99%2C_M%C5%BB_42_01.jpg)
- The challah is covered, customarily with a dedicated blessings, bread would precede wine. Covering the challah allows the Kiddushblessing to come first.)
- Kiddush is recited over a cup of wine.
- Each attendee ritually washes their hands in preparation for eating bread. (In some communities the hands are washed before the Kiddush. It is customary not to talk between this washing and consumption of the bread.[21])
- The challah cover is removed.
- The two loaves are held up together.
- The head of the household recites the blessing over bread: "Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu melech ha'olam, hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz" (Translation: "Blessed are you LORD our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth").
- The bread (one or two, depending on minhag) is sliced (or torn) and salted, and the pieces are distributed to each person at the meal to eat.
The specific practice varies. Some dip the bread into salt before the blessing on bread.[22] Others say the blessing, cut or tear the challah into pieces, and only then dip the pieces in salt, or sprinkle them with salt, before they are eaten.[23] Some communities may make a nick in the bread with a cutting knife.
Normally, the custom is not to talk between washing hands and eating bread. However, according to some, if salt was not placed on the table, it is permitted to ask for someone to bring salt, before the blessing on bread is recited.[24]
Salting
Salting challah is considered a critical component of the meal. Customs vary whether the challah is dipped in salt, salt is sprinkled on it, or salt is merely present on the table. This requirement applies to any bread, though it is observed most strictly at Sabbath and holiday meals.
The Torah requires that
To the rabbis, a meal without salt was considered no meal.[27] Furthermore, in the Torah, salt symbolizes the eternal covenant between God and Israel.[28] As a preservative, salt never spoils or decays, signifying the immortality of this bond.[29]
Special challah
Rosh Hashanah
On Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the challah may be rolled into a circular shape (sometimes referred to as a "turban challah"), symbolizing the cycle of the year, and is sometimes baked with raisins in the dough. Some have the custom of continuing to eat circular challah from Rosh Hashana through the holiday of Sukkot. In the Maghreb (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria) many Jews will simply bake their challah in the shape of "turban challah" year-round.
Sometimes the top is brushed with honey to symbolize the "sweet new year." According to some traditions, challah eaten on Rosh Hashana is not dipped in or sprinkled with salt but instead is dipped in or sprinkled with honey. As above, some continue to use honey instead of salt through the Sukkot holiday.[30]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%AA_%D7%9E%D7%A4%D7%AA%D7%97.jpg/220px-%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%AA_%D7%9E%D7%A4%D7%AA%D7%97.jpg)
Shlissel challah
For the Shabbat Mevarchim preceding Rosh Chodesh Iyar (i.e., the first Shabbat after the end of Passover), some Ashkenazi Jews have the custom of baking shlissel[31] challah ("key challah") as a segula (propitious sign) for parnassa (livelihood). Some make an impression of a key on top of the challah before baking, some place a key-shaped piece of dough on top of the challah before baking, and some bake an actual key inside the challah.[32]
The earliest written source for this custom is the
The custom has been criticized for allegedly having its source in Christian or pagan practices.[33]
Challah rolls
Challah rolls, known as a bilkele or bulkele or bilkel or bulkel (plural: bilkelekh;
Similar breads
Similar
Unlike challah, which by convention is pareve, many of these breads also contain butter and milk.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Sephardic_Rose-Encrusted_Challah.jpg/220px-Sephardic_Rose-Encrusted_Challah.jpg)
Food historian
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Challa (disambiguation page)
- Pain petri
- Kubaneh
- Mouna
- Israeli cuisine
- Jewish cuisine
- Prosphora
- Kolach
- Korovai
References
- ^ "challah". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ a b Numbers 15:20
- ^ "Strong's Concordance".
- OCLC 251355373.
- ^ Köhler, Ludwig (1948). "Miszellen". Theologische Zeitschrift. 4 (2).
- ^ Jastrow, חַלָּה (meaning 2)
- ^ "Ask the Expert: Taking Challah". MyJewishLearning.com.
What does it mean to take challah
- ^ "AlHatorah Concordance-Dictionary, s.v. חַלָּה".
- ^ "Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 242:1". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
- ISBN 0-408-001437.
- ^ "Loaves For Jewish Festivals "Not Bread"". The London Times. No. 55124. London. 4 July 1961. p. 8.
- ISBN 978-5444803783.
- ^ Barbara Rolek. Polish Egg-Twist Bread Chalka Recipe. The Spruce, 2017.
- ^ Come ’Round. Forward.com, 2004.
- ^ a b South African Challah?. Forward.com, 2005. The etymology of kittke is given as Kitt + -ke: Kitt in German means "putty" [1]; "-ke" is the Slavic diminutive suffix found in many Yiddish words and names. Kitke referred not to the whole challah but simply to the braids or decorations that were attached to the challah like putty before baking, and the word must have originally referred to these.
- ^ Colac (in Romanian). DEXOnline: Dictionar Explicativ al Limbii Romane (Romanian online dictionary). References: Miklosich, Slaw. Elem., 25; Cihac, II, 67; Conev 66
- ^ Колач (in Russian). Max Vasmer. Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Winter, Heidelberg 1953–1958 (in German). Russian translation by Oleg Trubachyov: Этимологический словарь русского языка. Progress, Moscow, 1964–1973.
- ^ Spolter, Rabbi Yair; Simmons, Rabbi Shraga (7 September 2015). "10. Three Mezonot Categories". aishcom. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
- ^ Maimonides (d. 1204), Mishneh Torah Hilchot Shabbos, Chapter 30, Law 9. (Hebrew)
- ^ Sol Scharfstein, Understanding Jewish Holidays and Customs, page 16 (1999)
- ^ a b "Salt". Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
- ^ Isserles, in Shulcḥan 'Aruch, l.c.
- ^ Both practices are based on different parts of the same verse in Leviticus
- ^ Shulchan Aruch, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 167:5; Jacob Zausmer, "Bet Ya'aḳob," No. 168; comp. Berachot 40a.
- ^ Leviticus 2:13
- ^ Tosafot, Berachot 40a
- ^ Berachot 44a
- ^ Silberberg, Naftali. "Why is the Challah dipped in Salt". Chabad.org. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
- ^ Rabinowitz, Louis Isaac. "Salt". Encyclopedia Judaica.
- ^ some keep the salt on the table, to not "withhold" salt from being present, per Lev. 2:13
- ^ or schlissel
- ^ a b "Second Thoughts: The Key to Parnassah." Hamodia, Feature Section, p. C3. 23 April 2009.
- ^ Shelomo Alfassa, Shlissel Challah – “The Loaf of Idolatry?”
- ^ "Reteta Colaci impletiti".
- ^ "Adventures in Armenian Cooking". St. Sarkis. Archived from the original on 21 May 2008.
- OCLC 1200038942.)
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