Challah – Its Name, Its Braids, its Shape, and More

December, 2021

I. Etymology of Challa and ‘Sour’   

Because of the ubiquitous nature of halacha, a rav will often be among the first to notice any-given societal change. Whether it is questions relating to new styles of footwear (“May I wear Crocs on Tisha B’av?”), higher Chinese import rates (“My new Chinses-made  pan is seasoned. How do they season in the Far-East and is it a kashrus iissue?”), or new technological tools (‘Can I souse-vide over yom tov?”).

    So, it was no surprise that ever since Covid I noticed changes that would only later be written-up and repotted upon even in the secular press. Among these societal shifts was the popularity of home-baking, specifically with baking sourdough.

     In hindsight, it makes sense that during the lockdown last year this in-house hobby would become more embraced.

     Already in May 2020, one magazine reported on a flour shortage due to this unexpected popularity.

     “Over the past few months, the best place to trace America’s deepening pandemic anxieties has been the shelves of grocery and big-box stores. The first common household goods to disappear were disinfectants: hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, Lysol. Bottled water and toilet paper were snatched up once companies started advising workers to stay home…Amid these disappearances, one of the most persistent has been that of an extremely common, shelf-stable product that has no obvious link to cleanliness or quarantine at all: flour…Several weeks ago, while America watched as unsold vegetables were plowed back into the soil and fretted over the earliest outbreaks among midwestern meatpackers, one flour company quietly saw its sales skyrocket 2,000 percent.”! (The Atlantic, May 12^th, 2020)

   How did I, and other rabbanim, stumble upon this new popularity before many in the news became aware? it was the exponential increase in hilchos challah shailos! Shailos in this area were always on the rare side, when suddenly, two years ago, they became a weekly phenomenon. My wife has been baking challis on Friday for years, and began making and selling sourdough several years ago, so I had the good fortune of becoming familiar with the many issues that could arise.

    While some claim that the term ‘sour’ comes from the fermented aftertaste of such bread, a much more likely candidate for this word’s origin is from the Torah and lashon hakodesh. We are told about soeor-leaven/starter, as being the purest/simplest form of chometz (see e.g. Shmos 12:19). Such bread, made from starter/soeor/leaven is soeor bread!

       In any event, for many, this was their first foray into the many halachos home baking brings. The halachos of hafrashas challah-separating challah are intense, complicated and can change case-by-case.

    In addition, many women have begun taking part in large groups -often consisting of forty women -where they eacg bake enough dough to sperate challah for forty straight days, or weeks.

    While in the next two weeks iy’H we will discuss these segulos as well as many of the common and uncommon halachic cases that arise (get it?!), this week we will discuss the basic importance of this mitzvah and some of the common hashkafos associated with it.

      The mitzvah of challah was given over to the nation in parshas shlach, immediately following the chet meraglim (bamidbar 15 18-21).

     The Tzror HaMor posits that it was given at that moment since the yetzer hara is often compared to the soeor she’be’isah, and removal of some of this dough is metaphorically reminding us to rid ourselves of his powers.

    This explains why they would need this mitzvah right after the sin of the spies.

   The significance of this mitzvah cannot be overstated.

      The midrash teaches us that it was the zechus of hafrashas challah that allowed us to soon enter eretz yisroel (Bamidbar Rabbah 17).

    Chazal share that this mitzvah has unique power to bring blessing to one’s home (Shabbos 32, with sefer Yechezkal 44:30).

   In fact, the midrash teaches that because of three mitzvos was the world created: maaseros, bikkurim and challah. Many explain that these three items have one thing in common – after toiling for many months in buying and then creating a feasible field, after planting and tilling, separating and winnowing, grinding and mixing, etc., and now finally able to enjoy the sweat of one’s brow, the mere fact that we first think of Hashem and His Torah before ourselves and our own enjoyment is a tremendous zechus. The world was created for such sacrifice and selflessness.

     In fact, the Hagoas Maimoness in hilchos challah teaches that ‘taryag mitzvos’ is the gematria ‘zu hi mitzvos challah’ because it is equal to all other mitzvos in the Torah!

    It is then of no surprise that the Eshel Avraham (Rav Avraham Dovid Warman, d. 1840) posits that we term the lechem mishneh used on Shabbos after this mitzvah, calling it ‘challah’.

    The source of this odd neologism is a Rema in hilchos Shabbos where he urges women to bake lechem l’kavod Shabbos each Friday; enough so as to perform the mitzvah of hafrashas challah (Rema, siman 242).     

    Other sefarim share another fascinating source for a word: Bourekas. In Europe they would often call the bread baked for Shabbos not challah specifically, but rather ‘Berechas’. This was taken from the word ‘brochos’,  due to the many blessings hafrashas challah brings to the home (see Piskei Teshuvos, Shabbos vol. 1, p. 9 footnote 88).

      Many dictionaries struggle with the etymology of this popular Israeli pastry. It may turn out that Jews in sefardi lands termed it such because it allowed them to perform the mitzvah of challah which brings beracha!

     The minhag of baking bread for Shabbos on Friday is precisely what hooked many women during the start of Covid. Rav Yaakov Emden (Siddur Beis Yaakov) and others suggest a secondary reason for this minhag -so as to have fresh warm challah for Shabbos. This is not simply for oneg, but also to imitate the lechem hapnaim in he beis hamikdosh which were baked on Fridays. Due to this, the Choftez Chaim writes of his surprise that some perform this minhag on Thursday nights and not Friday itself (although many poskim are lenient in our days).

     Several months ago a woman who stated to make sourdough asked me if t ok that now her challis for Shabbos were round. Indeed, the reason why traditional challos are long, like a vav, is that two vavs next to each other equals the twelve breads of the lechem hapanim (six plus six). In fact, some have the minhag of actually using twelve loaves!

     However, the word challah comes from the same root of machalos, round circles of people dancing. So round challos may actually speak to the direct meaning of the word. This reminded me of the machine matzah debate that we wrote about several years ago. Many suggested a concern regarding the new square shape.  The Shoel U’Meishiv and others dismiss this out of hand. The Ksav Sofer also dismissed the square matzo concern by stating, “In the merit of the four-cornered matzos, may Hashem redeem us from the four corners of the earth”!

     We are only scratching the surface. Next week we will discuss the issue of basic challah and sourdough and their shapes and ‘braiding’ for Shabbos, as well as the forty day segulah. After that we will give the reader a basic primer on these important halachos.

    The pasuk states, “…my heart rejoiced with all my toil” (koheles 2:10). On this the midrash states ‘zu hafrashas challa –this refers to separating challah’ (Koheles Rabbah 2:13).

    May we all merit from this and other mitzvos we strive to perform and better understand.

II. Braids, Numbers and Symbolism

     Last week we spoke about the proliferation of home bakers ever since the start of Covid, leading to many more shailos relating to hafrashas challah. We mentioned the Rema who urges women to bake lechem for Shabbos at home, with enough dough to perform a hafrasha. Indeed, this is where the term ‘challah’ for Shabbos lechem comes from. We concluded with a woman who asked if sourdough -that is round -may be used for lechem mishneh (yes, but see below).

     This week, I wish to pick up from here and discuss some of the imponderables of minhagei yisroel that relates to challah.

III. Number

     When I learnt in eretz yisroel, I would often eat by the Chofetz Chaim’s grandson. That was the first time I ever saw someone make hamotzi on Shabbos over twelve challos (see Shaarie Teshuvah siman 274 in the name of the Ari’z’l).

    Another way of reaching the number twelve is to use four challos for each of the three meals (Zohar, Raya D’mihemna, pinchos). The Shlah writes to start with twenty-four challos (!), use twelve for the night, eight for the day, four for shalosh seudos and two for melavah Malka (Shabbos, os mem).

     Others are careful to cut both challos by each meal (meaning, they use six challos total over Shabbos). This is for two reasons. Firstly, by cutting in half a total of six loaves over Shabbos, one will reach the total of twelve (brought in the name of the Gra). But, secondly, according to many rishonim the actual obligation of lechem mishneh is to cut-into and eat from both challos at each meal, and not just to make a beracha on two and then eat just one (Rashba, Biur HaGra, etc.). The logic behind this view is because-aside for the representation of the mann -doubling our food on Shabbos is a sign of kavod (see Daas Zekeinim to Bamidbar 27:9 and Darkei Chaim V’Shalom, os 399).

     Although most do not follow these practices literally, we all do so in the figurative sense – through the challos’ shape, as we will now explain.

IV. Shape

        In truth, the shape of challos should always be round. Indeed, this is the default shape when it is a yom tov, but this is especially true during the yomim noraim. This is because something that is round is a siman tov, as it has no endpoint (See Asifas Gershon, volume Shabbos, Rav Gershon Eisenberger, p. 94). Others suggest that this same concept represents the oneness of Hashem and that he has no beginning or end (Taamei Haminhagim, likutim 183)). Others suggest that a round shape represents keser, a crown (Divrei Yoel). All this is not even to mention that the word ‘challah’ comes from a word for circle -as we discussed last week.

     It is Shabbos, however, when we create an odd shape for these breads. Many sefarim teach that the long rectangle shape of the standard Shabbos challos is to represent the letter vav. This way, by having two vavim –each with the gematria of six -aligned next to each other, we can represent the twelve breads of the lechem hapanim (Elyah Rabbah, siman 177; Likutei Mahrich in the name of many rebbes). Some therefore suggest we align our challos lengthwise by homotzi and not by their width.

    Interestingly, some are careful to use this shape on yom tov as well. This is because of another number this shape brings us to. Our ten fingers holding the challah, plus the numerical value of the vav-shape, and then add the yud of the first small cut of end of the challah -we get twenty-six, the shem hamifurash! (See Elyah Rabbah in name of the Shlah; see also Minhag Yisroel Torah, orach chaim, p. 311, second column).

V. Braids

    First, the fact that challos on Shabbos look at all unique from weekday bread may come from a midrash (Mechilta, bshalach). Chazal state that the term ‘mishneh lechem’ is an allusion to the word meshuneh-different/unique. “From here is our source that the challos on Shabbos are unique from weekday ones…this is the meaning of the zemer ‘lechem chamudos’ (sefer Otzar Hayedios by Rav Yechiel Michal Stern, volume 2 p. 132).

    But why braids? And why six, or is it three?

There are many possible explanations to this. The most basic, is based on a Rema (97:1). On Shavous some would often make dairy bread, and during the year they would sometimes use shmaltz in their other breads. The Rema teaches that if such is the case the bread must look distinct in some way to serve as a reminder of its status, and to prevent mixing with the wrong food.

    On Shabbos, even if we do not mix in basar, our bread is served at fleishig meals and left-over slices should not then be used for dairy French Toast or the like (Shulchan Aruch 89:4). We therefore give it a unique shape and look so that it is not mixed with other breads.

    Others suggest that the six braids represent the days of the work week -now becoming sanctified.

    But how does this explain the minhag of some to make only three braids? Perhaps we can suggest the following explanation: The Zohar writes that the three meals of Shabbos correspond to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. Perhaps then, the three braids represent the three meals and the namesakes.

   I would offer one last suggestion to the minhag of braids. I haven’t seen it anywhere, but it seems obvious. There is only one place in chazal that I am aware of where preparing on erev Shabbos with braiding is mentioned. Chazal first bring the pasuk (Bereishis 2:22) “And Hashem built (vayiven) the side that he took from Adam into a woman, and He brought her to Adam” Why, they ask, did the Torah use the word ‘build’ and not vayitzar-and He created? The gemara answers that the translation of vayivein can also be to braid. Hashem braided the hair of Chavah and then brought her to Chava (Brachos 61a).

    Perhaps we remind ourselves of this act of chesed as we prepare for Shabbos each week.

Next week we will discuss the many other halachos that are involved in bread-baking, iy’H.