It is customary to eat three meals on Shabbat, and these meals begin with a blessing over two loaves of bread. Challah, an enriched bread, often braided, is traditional. The blessing, "Hamotzi," is the same as for all 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".
Ingredients and preparation
Traditional recipes call for a 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 are said to symbolize 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 raisins are added.
On Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, the challah is rolled into a circular shape, symbolizing 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.
Cultural and religious aspects
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 [2]. If the baker forgets to set aside challah, it is permissible to set aside the same portion of bread.[2].
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[2]; 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[2]. Further exclusions also existed, according to the classical rabbis; no portion had to be separated, or given to the priests, if it were less than one omer in size[2]; if the dough was prepared as food for animals, it was excluded from the requirement, unless men also ate it[2]; if the dough was made from flour derived from anything other than wheat, barley, oats, spelt, or rye, it was excluded[2]. 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[2], classical rabbinical sources argue that it should nevertheless be observed outside the region, so that it was not forgotten during the Jewish diaspora[2].
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 when the dough is thrown into the fire or discarded[2].
Challah was a means of sustenance for the cohanim, 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 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[3][4][5]. 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[5].
Six-braid whole-wheat challah in the process of braiding and shaping before baking
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).
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.[citation needed].
