Challah, hallah (חלה), Barches (German and western Yiddish), Barkis (Gothenburg), Bergis (Stockholm), khala (Russian), khale (eastern Yiddish) is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish braided bread eaten on Shabbat and Jewish holidays except Passover, when leavened bread is not allowed.

According to Jewish law, every Jew must eat three meals on Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath). Traditionally, a "meal" must include bread, so observant Jews eat challah at the beginning of their Shabbat meals. As with any other type of bread, the blessing, "Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha'olam, hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz" is recited before the challah is eaten. Translated, this means, "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth".

Origin of name

The term challah actually refers to a small piece of dough—about the size of an egg—which is separated from the main quantity of dough before braiding in compliance with halakha. Depending on the quantity of dough used, a blessing may or may not be said over this act of separation; afterwards, the dough is burnt and discarded. The challah must be burnt because its true purpose cannot be fulfilled in the absence of the Temple in Jerusalem. During the time the Temple stood, the challah which was separated from the dough was earmarked as a gift to the kohen (member of the Jewish priestly class). The kohen was supported by the community; toward that end he received gifts of challah and terumah (a small portion set aside from the fruits of the field and vineyard) to feed his family. His wife would take the many small gifts of challah they received and put them together to form her own batch of bread. Thus, the name of the mitzvah was ascribed to the bread itself.

Ingredients and preparation

Traditional recipes call for an especially large number of eggs, white flour, and sugar; more modern recipes call for fewer eggs (and even "eggless" versions), whole wheat, oat, or spelt flour, and honey or molasses as sweetener. The dough is rolled into three, four, or six rope-shaped pieces which are braided together before baking. Poppy or sesame seeds are sprinkled on the bread before baking; the seeds represent the manna that God gave to the Israelites to eat during their 40 years' sojourn in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. An egg wash may be applied to the dough to bring out a golden color during the baking.

On Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, raisins are added to the dough and the challah is rolled into a circular shape; this could evoke a crown, representing the kingship of God, or the cycle of the year. Some press a small ladder shape onto the top of the challah as a wish that the prayers of the day will go straight to heaven.

The laws of kashrut prohibit the consumption of dairy and meat at the same meal. Since the first two Shabbat meals (on Friday night and Saturday morning or early afternoon) are usually meat-based in Ashkenazi tradition, classic challah is made without the addition of dairy products. This distinguishes it from brioche and other enriched European breads, which often contain butter, milk or both.

Over the past few decades, increasing rates of vegetarianism among Jews have led some to add milk products to challah dough, since Jewish vegetarians need not worry about eating meat with their bread. However, this is uncommon in Orthodox households because there is a Rabbinic requirement that breads with dairy ingredients be visually distinguishable from breads without dairy ingredients, so that dairy breads are not accidentally paired with meat products.

Cultural and religious aspects

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 guarding family purity). With that in mind, the Midrash relates that the braiding of the bread alludes to the way God adorned the hair of the first woman, Eve, before her wedding to Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Famous cooks

A number of famous cooks have created recipes for challah. These include British kosher chefs, Evelyn Rose and Nigella Lawson and American kosher breadmaker, Laura Trachtman.

External links

• The Laws of Challah
• Traditional Challah, Rye Oatmeal Challah, Raisin Challah and Moroccan Challah recipes

See also

• shewbread, showbread
• terumah
• Talmud

Breads | Jewish cuisine | Shabbat

Challah | ハッラー | Bergis | חלה | Hallah