Challah

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Revision as of 17:27, 13 March 2007

== Challah ==[[1]]

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 to be eaten.

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".

History

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 (and not the flour it comes from) before braiding, in compliance with halakha. This small portion was originally allocated to the Jewish priesthood, in accordance with a biblical law in the Priestly code requiring that the challah should be separated from the first of [the] dough, as a heave offering for this purpose[1]. Many gifts of challah were usually combined together to be baked into single batches of bread; for a priest, the challah was an entire loaf, and so challah came to be used for the traditional Jewish form of bread in general.

Although the biblical instruction does not specify how much dough there should be in the portion that becomes challah, Classical Rabbinical Literature reports that traditionally 1 part in 24 was allocated to the priest from the dough of private individuals, but 1 part in 48 from the dough of a baker[2]. If the separation of this challah had been forgotten, then it was permitted to count an equivalent portion of the resulting bread as the challah[3].

According to the classical rabbinical sources, the requirement to separate challah from the dough was imposed on the owner of the dough, not on the person who kneaded it[4]; hence if the owner was not Jewish, even if the kneader was, the dough was not allowed to be partitioned, and no portion could be given over to the priests[5]. Further exclusions also existed, according to the classical rabbis; no portion had to be separated, or given to the priests, if it was less than one omer in size[6]; if the dough was prepared as food for animals, it was excluded from the requirement, unless men also ate it[7]; if the dough was made from flour derived from anything other than wheat, barley, oats, spelt, or rye, it was excluded[8]. Although the Biblical expression when you eat of the bread of the land is considered by most scholars to imply that the regulations concerning challah only apply within Israel[9], classical rabbinical sources argue that it should nevertheless be observed outside the region, so that it was not forgotten during the Jewish diaspora[10].

Due to the current inability to perform the ritual of the Red Heifer, or to make sin offerings at the Temple in Jerusalem, and the considerable time that has passed since these were possible, Judaism regards everything as being in a state of impurity, and hence there are no ritually pure priests; as a result, the challah portion of the dough is usually burnt and discarded[11]. Depending on the quantity of dough used, a blessing may or may not be said over the act of separation, but traditionally a blessing was expected to be spoken when the challah was thrown into a fire[12].

Challah are evidently intended to support the Jewish Priesthood, who were technically mendicant, something on which modern scholars, classical and medieval rabbinical sources, and tradition, all 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 most of the other law codes that constitute most of the laws given in the Torah, specifically the earlier Covenant Code, Ritual Decalogue, and Holiness Code[13][14][15]. Thus the instruction concerning challah is believed by scholars to be a later development, perhaps reflecting the later development of a full-time professional priesthood[16].

[edit] 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, nigella, 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. Sometimes chocolate chips may be added for sweetness.

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.

[[2]]- How to braid a Challah.

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).

Famous cooks

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