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We would never want to embarrass it. So, we cover it, hoping that it won’t notice that we bless it last — after the candles, after the wine. We say Hamotzi, take off its cover, and poof! The challah knows nothing of what has already happened and believes itself to be first. True story.
The customs surrounding the challah we eat on Shabbat abound. Dating all the way back to the Torah, the “challah” was the first portion of bread that should be given to the kohen, the priest, as an offering. We salted the offering, so today many salt the challah.
Because we no longer have priests to give the first piece of our bread, the Talmud tells us that when we bake, we should take out a small portion of bread and burn it. The custom is called “taking challah.” Some continue this custom to this day while baking bread.
Of course, we don’t sit around a Shabbat table eating burned morsels of bread — in fact, the delicious, sweet challah is anything but. It’s so delicious that our tradition has us using two every Shabbat. Actually, it’s not at all because of how quickly two delicious challah loaves disappear from the table. According to tradition, while we were wandering through the desert a miraculous food called manna fell to sustain us each day. No manna would fall on Shabbat, and so on Friday, a “double portion” would fall. So, the two loaves of challah we place on our Friday night Shabbat table represent that double portion of manna. If we’re lucky, there will be enough of the two loaves left over for Saturday morning’s Challah French Toast.
One of my favorite customs surrounding challah comes from the way we break it. Judaism teaches that iron — or knives — are a symbol of war. So, rather than cut the challah with a knife, some have a custom of tearing the challah to symbolize that Shabbat should always be a time of peace.
Then, there is the custom specific only to Temple Beth Emeth. And that is the custom of the challah cart. The challah sits in the hallway on the cart throughout the Shabbat service and is wheeled in when we are about to say the blessing over the challah. It’s a custom that has worked for us for many years — though as with many customs, no one can seem to remember when it started, or why.
Now, our Ritual Committee has decided on a new custom.
Beginning this Shabbat, the challah will be with us on the bimah throughout the service, not on the cart. Some customs will not change — perhaps the most important being the one to have kids bless it any time they are with us. Rather than use the knife, we’ll tear one piece of the challah (yes, kids, you can still have the traditional back-and-forth over who will make the cut — only now it will be a tear). And we will keep the tradition of eating the challah immediately after the blessing; whoever tears it, tastes it!
And perhaps most importantly, we’ll continue to cover the challah until after we’ve blessed it. A bread with such rich tradition should never be embarrassed, but rather continue to shine, center stage, as its sweetness sweetens our Shabbat.
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