It’s been over 200 days – 200 days since part of my
family was ripped away, 200 days of madness, 200 days of people who have no
business siding with Hamas siding with Hamas. It is a mind-boggling,
infuriating, scream-inducing madness.
Anyway, it’s a
rabbit hole for me. I can’t think too much on it, because it brings me so low
that I can’t handle it. When that happens in my life (and let’s face it,
we all get low at times), my only weapon is to do something for the good. I
desperately want the hostages rescued and returned, whole and happy, and
the only way I think I can possibly impact their rescue is in the
spiritual world.
Since the war
started, we have given away challah in honor of the hostages. Eitan Avraham Ben
Efrat is one of them. He was a security guard at the Nova festival, protecting
people’s lives before he was taken. In his – and all of the hostages’ – merit,
we make these challahs every week.
Right now, we are at 134 challahs given away
each week. Are there any requirements to get the challah? Nope – one per
household. Have a neighbor or a friend who could use a challah hug? You can
pick up and deliver to others.
We have an amazing
team of volunteers who help: dough put-togetherers, braiders, people who pick
the challah up, delivery people, sponsors, cheerleaders, and more. Some people
(Ner Tamid, I’m looking at you) take the challah dough raw and bake it
themselves – they like the smell of challah in their house.
The goal? We are
trying to build achdus (unity). We
are trying to fight the madness with love. By increasing the love in the world,
we hope to change the gezeira against
us to be one of sweet good.
How to Bake Challah
If you want to
make your own challah, here is our recipe. I have been tweaking this recipe for a while, and I’m still making
changes.
Start by getting a
big bowl that can hold all the ingredients. I list the ingredients and my kavanas for each of them. There
could be seven ingredients in honor of Shabbos, for example, but I’ve
added a sweetener and vanilla, so now have more ingredients than I used
to. This recipe makes a “full” batch – and I make 10 loaves out of it, although
you could make as many loaves or rolls as you want.
Ingredients
3 T. yeast. We
have recently been using fresh yeast, which I am impressed with (in honor of
spiritual growth).
4 c. warm water (this helps proof the yeast), in honor of
Torah.
2 c. sweetener. I
currently use 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white
sugar (in honor of sweetening our lives).
1 T. vanilla
(optional)
4 eggs, in honor of the imahos, the Matriarchs. (I always thought that eggs represent the
next generation, and when I add the eggs, I wish for all our bodies to be
strong for the next generation. It’s a good time, if there’s anyone you know
who wants children, to daven for them at this point, too.
1 T. coarse salt, in
honor of the Beis Hamikdash. (I return a little to the container so that our
lives should not be as “salty” as they could be)
1 overflowing cup
of oil, representing
our hope for overflowing parnassa.
1 five-pound bag
bread flour, representing
our work here on earth. I definitely sometimes use different flour, but I like to use bread flour.
Process
In the big bowl,
put the warm water, yeast, and
sweetener and make sure your yeast is alive. (I keep my yeast in the fridge
once I open it. I also buy a pound of dry yeast at a time, because it’s vastly
cheaper that way.) Once the yeast has proofed (i.e., proven itself to be alive)
you can continue. If the yeast does not bubble after five minutes, throw it
away and start over. Your yeast has to be alive to get fluffy challah at the end.
Next, add
vanilla, eggs, salt, and
oil. Mix the eggs before adding the flour; otherwise, you will sometimes get yellow
spots in the dough. Mix well.
Now add the flour. Mix. I have a tendency to add more than 4
cups of water – it has
to do with my measuring cup – so my dough is moist and sticky. This was an
accident but a fortuitous one. When you mix the flour into the liquid, you are actually
creating gluten. There are two proteins in flour – gliadin and glutenin. When combined
they make gluten, which creates the structure for your bread. The longer you
knead, the better it is. I like to take about 20 minutes. (The dough will be
sticky.)
This is a perfect time to daven! As I knead the dough, I daven for
the health of my children, that they should fine easy shidduchim, that my father’s neshama
should be raised up, as well as for parnassa
and health and whatever else I want to talk to Hashem about.
Let the dough rise
in the bowl. After about an hour, it should have doubled. I then add about one
cup of flour and
knead it again – until all the extra flour is incorporated and it’s not sticky. If
you have time, let the dough rise again. If not, take challah with a bracha. This
is another great time to daven. (If you need additional
information about this special mitzvah, let me know.) I burn the piece of taken
challah dough, although I know some people who freeze it and save all the
pieces for burning before Pesach.
I then take
the dough out of the bowl and split it in half. I cut each half into five
pieces for a total of 10 pieces. Then I cut each piece into six pieces and roll
them into snakes and braid them. If you want bigger challahs, you can just cut
the dough into six pieces for six loaves.
Let the loaves
rise for about an hour. Preheat the oven and brush with an egg wash. I like to make
the egg wash out of two eggs, 1
tablespoon of oil, 1 tablespoon
of water and a
pinch of sugar. Sprinkle
with a mix of black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, onion pieces, garlic
powder, salt, and/or poppy seeds.
I bake the challah
at 350° F. for 25 minutes.
If
you want a free challah, send me an email to Bshor@sweetandgoodcatering.com.
If you make the challah yourself, let me know, I would love to hear about it. May
we share good news soon.
