It's the Challah - Chronicle Online/The WORD 05/15/2025

Weekly On-line Rabbi's D'var-Torah

May 15, 2025

17 Iyar 5785

Parashat Emor

Every Friday morning throughout the school year, the Cantor and I celebrate Shabbat with our Early Learning Center.  Almost every week, each class designates a special Shabbat person.  During our Shabbat celebration, we sing a song called “What Do You Like About Shabbat?”  and the special Shabbat people get to answer that question in front of the rest of the school.  While I cannot say that I have carefully tabulated the answers, without question, the most popular answer over the years has been “challah” – the delicious, braided egg-bread that we eat as part of Shabbat dinner.

And I think that our ELC students are right!  There’s something about a good challah that transforms a mundane Friday evening into Shabbat.

The origin of this delicious tradition can be found in this week’s Torah portion. In Leviticus 24, we read how the Israelites prepared twelve challot (yes, that’s the plural) – one for each tribe.  Those loaves were placed on the sacred table in the Tabernacle for Shabbat.  Then, after Shabbat, Aaron and the other priests got to eat the challot.  That’s right – only the priests got to eat the challah!  

It wasn’t until the Middle Ages – long after the destruction of the Temple – that Jewish people welcomed in Shabbat with challot similar to the ones that we eat today. Here in the US, in the early 20th century, the availability of pure yeast, eggs, poppy seeds and raisins transformed challah into the beloved food we know today.

In the days of the Tabernacle and Temple, only the priests could break bread with God.  However, today, we all get to invite God to our table when we place a challah upon it.  This change reflects a change in Judaism across the board.  Responsibility for preserving our tradition and passing it down to the next generation does lie with only a small group of people. We ALL have a role to play in the perpetuation of Jewish customs and culture.

The best worship services are those in which many different people participate.  The best educational programs are those in which different age groups join together.  The best community service project are “all hands on deck” events.

So, the next time you are munching on some challah, thinking about what new (to you!) aspect of our tradition you can take on that might not have been open to you in the past.

Shalom,

RAF.