Meaning and Origins of the Challah
We went the Zomick’s Kosher Bakery, where one of the best Challah in New York is made, to spoke with bakery’s principal baker about the he meaning and origins of this delicious bread.
Here we share all we have learned during our visit to the Zomick’s Kosher Bakery.
Meaning and origins
The word Challah first appears in the Torah in Numbers 15: 18-21, which says: “When you enter the country to which I am bringing you, you will reserve a portion for God when you eat the bread of the country. From the first of your dough, you will reserve a loaf as an offering, like the threshing-floor offering, you will set it aside. From the first portion of your dough (challah) you will offer God an offering for all your generations”.
“From this verse comes the practice of separating part of the Challah,” says the principal baker of the Zomick’s Kosher Bakery. “In reality, any bread made with any of the five grains (wheat, barley, spelled, oats, rye) falls under the bun category and requires the bread blessings, whether it is sandwich bread or a bagel. But on Shabbat, holidays and special occasions, the bread takes special shapes and styles”.
Shallah Shapes and Symbols
The Challah bread is is traditionally braided using between three and six rows of dough. According to the principal baker of the Zomick’s Kosher Bakery, until the 15th century, most Ashkenazim (Jews of Eastern European descent) used rectangular or round breads on weekdays for Shabbat. Eventually, German Jews began making a new form of Sabbath bread. This was an oval braided bread, modeled on popular Teutonic bread. Over time, this shape became the most used shape in Ashkenazi culture, although many communities in the Middle East and Sephardic still use challot flatbread today.
Less common brioche shapes include spirals, keys, books and flowers.
“At Zomick’s Kosher Bakery we have to offer a wide variety of different forms of the Zomick’s Challah,” says the principal baker of the Zomick’s Kosher Bakery.
“On Rosh HaShanah, for example, brioche is baked in spiral rings (symbolizing the continuity of creation), braided rounds (symbolizing ascension to heaven) or crowns (symbolizing God as king of the universe),” explains further the principal baker of the Zomick’s Kosher Bakery.
When consumed before Yom Kippur, a bird shape can also represent the idea that prayers will go to heaven.
Moreover, we have learned at the Zomick’s Kosher Bakery that during Passover, Jews do not eat leavened bread or other foods, instead, they eat matzah (unleavened bread). For the first Shabbat after Passover, many Jews traditionally make shlissel challah, which comes in the form of a key or with a key baked inside (Yiddish shlissel for the key).
Seeds (poppy, sesame, coriander) are sometimes sprinkled on challot just before cooking. The principal baker of the Zomick’s Kosher Bakery says that the seeds symbolize the manna that fell from heaven as the Israelites wandered in the wilderness following their exodus from Egypt. Sweeteners such as honey can also be added to breads, also representing the sweetness of manna.