Challah
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Challah, hallah (חלה), also known in different parts of the Jewish world as barches (German and western Yiddish), berches (Swabian), barkis (Gothenburg), bergis (Stockholm), khale (eastern Yiddish), and kitke (South Africa), [1][2] is a special braided bread eaten by Jews on the Sabbath and holidays.
The word challah does not mean bread or dough. Challah is the name of a tithe of bread that in Jewish tradition was given to the priest.[3] The root of the word is chol which means ordinary or secular.[4] After the sanctified portion of the dough was set aside and tithed, the rest of the dough was rendered fit for ordinary consumption.
Codified Jewish custom requires that Sabbath and holiday meals begin with partaking from two loaves of bread.[5] It is these loaves, which are often recognizable by their unique traditional braided style, that are commonly referred to by the term challah.
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[edit] Ingredients and preparation
Traditional challah recipes call for a large number of eggs, white flour, and sugar. Modern recipes may use fewer eggs (there are also "eggless" versions) and replace white flour with whole wheat, oat, or spelt flour. Sometimes honey or molasses is substituted as a sweetener. The dough is rolled into rope-shaped pieces which are braided before baking. Poppy, nigella, or sesame seeds may be sprinkled on the bread before baking; the seeds are said to symbolize the manna eaten by the Israelites during their 40-year sojourn in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. The dough is brushed with egg yolk before baking to add a golden sheen. Sometimes raisins are added. On Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, the challah may be rolled into a circular shape, symbolizing the cycle of the year. Sometimes raisins are added to symbolize having a sweet new year.
Traditionally, halacha prohibits the baking of dairy bread, so challah is always parev. This distinguishes it from brioche and other enriched European breads, which often contain butter or milk. Use of dairy is common in challah recipes created by those who are not kosher-observant.[6]
[edit] Cultural and religious aspects
[edit] Hafrashat Challah
The term challah also refers to a small piece of dough — about the size of an egg — that is traditionally separated from the rest of the dough before braiding. In biblical times, this portion of dough was set aside as a tithe for the Jewish priesthood (see Numbers 15:17-21). In Hebrew, the ritual is called "hafrashat challah."
Today, this commandment applies more to professional bakers than the home cook, as it involves batches of challah using more than 2 kilos of flour.
The Bible does not specify how much dough is required for challah, but this issue is discussed in the Talmud. The rabbis said that 1 part in 24 was allocated to the priest in the case of private individuals, and 1 part in 48 in the case of a baker [7]. If the baker forgets to set aside challah, it is permissible to set aside the same portion of bread.[7].
According to the Talmud, the requirement to separate challah from the dough was imposed on the owner of the dough, not on the person who kneaded it[7]; hence if the owner was not Jewish, even if the kneader was, hafrashat challah was not mandatory[7]. The requirement did not apply to quantities of less than one omer in size[7], to bread prepared as animal feed[7]; to dough prepared from a flour derived from anything other than wheat, barley, oats, spelt, or rye[7]. Although the Biblical expression when you eat of the bread of the land might be understood as applying only to bread eaten in the Land of Israel, classical rabbinical sources argue that hafrashat challah should be observed in the Diaspora[7].
Since the destruction the Temple, no one is considered ritually pure. The idea of "priestly descent" still exists, and the title of "cohen" is passed down from father to son, but there are no rites comparable to those practiced in the Temple. Hence the custom of separating "challah" is a symbolic act, with a blessing recited before the dough is separated and thrown into the fire or discarded[7].
Challah was a means of sustenance for the kohanim, who had no income of their own. This is a point upon rabbinical sources and modern scholars agree. The Priestly Code, containing the law of challah, is believed by textual scholars to be a series of accretions to the earlier priestly source, and to postdate the law codes in the Torah [8][9][10]. Thus the instruction concerning challah is believed to be a later development, perhaps reflecting the emergence of a full-time professional priesthood[10].
Many deeper insights are cited for challah in the Midrashic and Kabbalistic literature. The mitzvah of separating challah is traditionally regarded as one of the three mitzvot performed especially by women (the others are lighting the Shabbat candles and family purity).
[edit] Challah's Role in the Traditional Shabbat Meal
It is customary to begin the Friday night meal and the two meals eaten during the Sabbath day with a blessing over two loaves of bread. These loaves are commonly referred to as challah (plural: challot).
After kiddush on a cup of wine, the head of the household recites the blessing on bread: "Baruch atah hashem, elokeinu 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".
[edit] Shlissel Challah
For the Shabbos after Pesach there is a tradition to bake "shlissel challah," which either has an impression of key made on top of it or an actual key baked inside of it. It is supposed to be a segula for one's livelihood.
[edit] See also
[edit] Citations and notes
- ^ "South African Challah? - Forward.com"
- ^ Volume III of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research’s Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry devotes nine pages, complete with linguistic maps and charts, to the various names for Sabbath and festival breads in Central and Eastern Europe. Although “challah” is predominant in the United States, berkhes, dacher, koylatsh, shtritsl and kitke are common in other parts of the Jewish world. Forward. The Jewish Daily, Nov 18, 2005
- ^ Numbers 15:17-22
- ^ The Meaning of Challah
- ^ Maimonides (d. 1204), Mishneh Torah Hilchot Berachot ch. 6; Rabbi Joseph Caro (d. 1575), Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 274. The reason for the "double loaf" custom (in Hebrew: lechem mishneh) is to commemorate the manna that came to the Jews from the heavens while they wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion of manna fell in anticipation of the Sabbath or holiday. Sol Scharfstein, Understanding Jewish Holidays and Customs, page 16 (1999)
- ^ Cook's Illustrated Magazine's Baking Illustrated (2004, ISBN 0936184752) includes such a nonconforming recipe.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Jewish Encyclopedia
- ^ Richard Elliott Friedman, Who wrote the Bible?
- ^ Peake's Commentary on the Bible, passim
- ^ a b Jewish Encyclopedia, Priestly Code, et passim
