Hear Oh Israel

     Every Jewish service begins with the Shema, "Hear Oh Israel, the Lord your God is One..."  Those are the words first spoken in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy and serve as a reminder to Jews around the world of their monotheistic faith.  Another Old Testament admonition related to worship is found in the book of Numbers.  The faithful are commanded to set aside a portion of their bread dough as a sacrifice to God. 

     That portion came to be known as the Challah.  Eventually it became the name for the whole loaf that was baked using eggs, fine white flour, water, yeast and sugar.  The dough was rolled into rope shaped pieces and were then braided and brushed with an egg wash before going into the oven.  The resulting loaf was then eaten as a part of the Sabbath observance and on special religious holidays.  On such festive occasions a double loaf was always prepared to symbolize the 2 portions of manna that was distributed on Fridays to the Children of Israel during their Exodus in Egypt.

 

     As with many Jewish observances, the challah contains a lot of symbolism.  The woven strands represent intertwined arms symbolizing love.  The 3 braids are symbolic of the virtues of truth, peace and justice.  The 12 humps in the loaves recall the miracle of the 12 loaves for the 12 tribes of Israel.  And when baked into different shapes, each shape has a special meaning to Jewish families.

     Similar in significance to brioche in that it is served on special occasions, challah differs in being prepared without any dairy products and is thus considered parve, not containing any dairy or meat.  But it can contain some variants like whole wheat or spelt flour, or oats.  Honey or molasses can also be substituted as a sweetener.  And raisins can also be added.

     Want to bake your own Challah loaf?  Then click on this website for the recipe:

     And for all the French scholars among us, yesterday's quote was from the French Revolution and inaccurately attributed to Marie Antoinette, who lost her head over it.  She said, "If they don't have enough bread to eat, let them eat cake (brioche)!"