1. Quick review of הלכות הפרשת חלה:
- Any time one is baking bread or other similar types of dough in large quantities (using approx. 3-5 lbs of flour), an olive-sized portion of the dough should be held in the dominant hand before separating, the bracha of להפריש חלה should be recited, and then the dough should be burned until inedible, wrapped, and thrown away.
- The exact amounts of dough necessary in order to do this mitzvah with/without bracha is debated among poskim (consult your rav).
- The types of dough which require הפרשת חלה with/without a bracha are also debated (consult your rav).
- Great guide to laws of the mitzvah can be found on Star K's website in the article "When you need to knead: A guide to hafrashas challah"
2. The mitzvah in the Torah:
(יח) דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֲלֵהֶ֑ם בְּבֹֽאֲכֶם֙ אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֛י מֵבִ֥יא אֶתְכֶ֖ם שָֽׁמָּה׃ (יט) וְהָיָ֕ה בַּאֲכָלְכֶ֖ם מִלֶּ֣חֶם הָאָ֑רֶץ תָּרִ֥ימוּ תְרוּמָ֖ה לַה'׃ (כ) רֵאשִׁית֙ עֲרִסֹ֣תֵכֶ֔ם חַלָּ֖ה תָּרִ֣ימוּ תְרוּמָ֑ה כִּתְרוּמַ֣ת גֹּ֔רֶן כֵּ֖ן תָּרִ֥ימוּ אֹתָֽהּ׃ (כא) מֵרֵאשִׁית֙ עֲרִסֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם תִּתְּנ֥וּ לַה' תְּרוּמָ֑ה לְדֹרֹ֖תֵיכֶֽם׃ (ס)
(18) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When you enter the land to which I am taking you (19) and you eat of the bread of the land, you shall set some aside as a gift to the LORD: (20) as the first yield of your baking, you shall set aside a loaf as a gift; you shall set it aside as a gift like the gift from the threshing floor. (21) You shall make a gift to the LORD from the first yield of your baking, throughout the ages.
Questions:
1. How was the mitzvah of הפרשת חלה originally performed? How did the mitzvah evolve to the way we perform it today?
2. What can we learn from the context of this mitzvah in the Torah - sandwiched between the sin of the spies (חטא המרגלים) in Bamidbar 14 and the sacrifices brought in atonement for idol worship in Bamidbar 15:22-24?
3. Why is the portion of dough separated called "חלה" - what is the meaning of this word? Why is the dough referred to as "עריסה," when the standard term for dough is "בצק"?
4. Why is baking "challah" associated with preparing for Shabbat if, in fact, it is an obligation upon us every time we bake bread and can be performed at any time?
5. Why is this mitzvah considered a special "women's mitzvah" if, in fact, it is an obligation upon any person baking bread and applies equally to men?
6. And, ultimately we arrive at: What messages can we take away from the mitzvah of challah that can guide us in our daily lives?
3. Challah: From Biblical Mitzvah to Current Practice
(ח) ונוהגת בזכרים ונקבות, בארץ ישראל בלבד מדאוריתא. שנאמר באכלכם מלחם הארץ. ודוקא בזמן שכל ישראל שם, כלומר רבם, שנאמר בבואכם ובא הפרוש על זה (כתובות כ, א) בביאת כלכם ולא בביאת מקצתכם. ומדברי סופרים (רמב''ם ביכורים ה ז) להפריש חלה בחוצה לארץ, כדי שלא תשתכח תורת חלה מישראל, ומפני שאין החיוב בה אלא שלא תשתכח מישראל, נהגו להקל בה (עי' הל, הרמב''ן פ''ד דבכורות) בענין שאין מפרישין מעסה גדולה אלא כזית, ומשליכין אותה באש, ואינה נאכלת לשום כהן קטן או גדול. ושמעתי שיש מקומות שנהגו להפריש חלה גדולה כשעור שנתנו לנו חכמים בה, ונותנין אותה לכהן קטן שאין טמאה יוצאה עליו מגופו או לכהנת קטנה שעדין לא ראתה [נדה], ואפילו לכהן גדול שטבל לקריו או לזיבתו נותנין אותה...
(8) The commandment is practiced by males and females in the Land of Israel by Torah writ, as it is stated, "when you eat from the bread of the land," but specifically at the time that all of [the people of] Israel are there, meaning to say their majority.... On a rabbinic level [we are obligated] to separate challah [even] outside of Israel, so that the concept of challah not be forgotten by Israel (Mishneh Torah, Laws of First Fruits and other Gifts to Priests Outside the Sanctuary 5:7). And because the obligation is so that it not be forgotten by Israel, we are accustomed to be lenient with it, such that we only separate a kazayit from a large dough, and throw it into the fire. And it is not given to any priest - child or adult. And I have heard that in some places they are accustomed to separate large challah according to the measurement that the Sages gave us for it, and they give it to a minor priest boy, that impurity does not come to him out of his body or to a minor priest girl who has not yet menstruated. And they even give it to an adult priest who has immersed [to purify himself from genital flows]
4. The Context: Between Spying and Idolatry
A. Challah as Source of Bracha
(א) חלה תרימו תרומה אחר חטא המרגלים הצריך גם החלה למען יהיו ראויים שתחול ברכה בבתיהם כאמרו וראשית עריסותיכם תתנו לכהן להניח ברכה אל ביתך וכן אליהו עשי לי משם עגה קטנה בראשונה והוצאת לי (ולך ולבנך תעשי באחרונה) כי כה אמר ה' כד הקמח לא תכלה:
(1) חלה תרימו תרומה; after the sin of the spies also the tithe (heaving) known as challah became a necessity in order for the individual homes of the Israelites to enjoy G’d’s blessing. The prophet Ezekiel spells this out (Ezekiel 44,30) when speaking about the temple etc. in the future, when he writes: עריסותיכם תתנו לכהן להניח ברכה אל ביתך, “you are to give from your kneading bowl to the priest so that a blessing will rest on your house....”
(ב) משרשי המצוה. לפי שחיותו של אדם במזונות ורב העולם יחיו בלחם, רצה המקום לזכותנו במצוה תמידית בלחמנו, כדי שתנוח ברכה בו על ידי המצוה ונקבל בה זכות בנפשנו, ונמצאת העסה מזון לגוף ומזון לנפש, וגם למען יחיו בו משרתי השם, העוסקים תמיד בעבודתו והם הכהנים מבלי יגיעה כלל, שאלו בתרומת הגרן יש להם עמל להעביר התבואה בכברה ולטחן אותה, אבל כאן יבוא חקם להם מבלי צער של כלום.
(2) It is from the roots of the commandment [that it is that] since the sustenance of a person is through food and most of the world will be sustained with bread, the Omnipresent desired to give us merit with a constant commandment in our bread, so that blessing should rest upon it through the commandment; and through it, we will receive merit for our souls. And [hence] it turns out that the dough is food for our body and food for our soul. Additionally, [it is] in order that the servants of God, those that are constantly involved in His service - and these are the priests - should be sustained without any toil at all. Whereas with the tithe of the threshing floor there is labor for them, to pass the grain through the sieve and to grind it; here, their ration will come to them without any pain whatsoever.
B. Challah as a Celebration of Effort
Rabbi Solomon Drillman, from an essay on YUTorah.org, based on the teaching of Rabbi JB Soloveitchik:
...Yet why, asked HaRav Drillman, does the Torah introduce the Mitzvah of Challah here? In order to understand this mitzvah's placement one must examine the mitzvah of Challah as it relates to other mitzvos that are agricultural in nature....
In comparison, the Mitzvah of Challah teaches us that prosperity is earned based upon the effort that one puts in to the Mitzvas Hashem. Eretz Yisroel can be made a prosperous place for Klal Yisroel if we are willing to implement this idea. HKB"H provides us with the raw materials and the tools and we are asked to be, K'vayachol, His partners in creation by building upon that which he has given us.
Bnei Yisroel were told not fear Eretz Yisroel. If they were willing to make the effort then they will reap the rewards of the land....
The lesson of the mitzvah of Challah is for us to remember that not everything will be handed to us on a silver platter and that very often we must put in various amounts of effort in order to reap the benefits that this world has to offer.
C. Challah as a Celebration of the "Real World"
Rabbi Eli Baruch Shulman, dvar Torah on YUTorah.org:
...What was motive of מרגלים? One answer, suggested by R' Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the בעל התניא [is that they] wanted to stay in [the desert], under ענני הכבוד in spiritual Utopia, eating מן ...no need to occupy themselves with physical needs....
But - [the] purpose of Torah [is] not for Utopia, but to be learned and observed in this world, and to infuse it with רוחניות, make it a place fit for the resting of the Shechina.
חלה - unlike other מצוות התלויות בארץ which did not go into effect until 14 years after the Jews entered ארץ ישראל... - went into effect as soon as they entered ארץ ישראל. Also [the amount] of dough required for חלה is identical to the amount of מן that fell to each Jew in the desert - one עומר. Apparently, חלה expressed our gratitude that we no longer need מן, because we can take the לחם מן הארץ... and transform it into לחם מן השמים, back into מן.
So חלה teaches the lesson that the מרגלים failed to learn; and it represents the reassurance that the people, or at least their children, would learn that lesson.
No one of us lives in utopia. Everyone has hardships and difficulties. It is always tempting to say: If I had more - time, money, peace of mind - I would learn more, involve myself more in Yiddishkeit. But Torah is meant to be learned and lived in just those difficult situations, and to transform our lives thereby into something meaningful, and if we do that then our lives will be infused with joy and song.
D. Challah as a Statement of Monotheism
ויקרא רבה פרשה טו מדרש ו
...אמר רבי יוחנן: למה נסמכה פרשת חלה לפרשת עבודה זרה? לומר לך שכל המקיים מצות חלה כאילו ביטל עבודה זרה, וכל המבטל מצות חלה כאילו קיים עבודה זרה.
Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 15:6
Rabbi Yochanan said: Why is the parsha of Challah juxtaposed to the parsha of idolatry? To tell you that anyone who upholds the mitzvah of challah is considered as if he nullified idol worship, and anyone who nullifies the mitzvah of challah is as if he upheld idol worship.
עץ יוסף על ויקרא רבה
...שטעם מצות חלה להפריש לה', שהוא סיבה ראשונה, ראשית העיסה - להורות ההשתעבדות אל הסיבה הראשונה...
Commentary of Etz Yosef on Vayikra Rabbah
...For the purpose of the mitzvah of challah is to separate for G-d, who is the primary Source, the first of our dough - to show submission to the primary Source...
"Challah, the Divine Dough" by Rebbetzin Tzipporah Heller
The nature of idol worship is to see the Creator as being removed from His creations. Idolaters will isolate whatever they perceive as being the most powerful or beautiful force in the created world, and use it as a medium in their search for a God who they perceive as ultimately inaccessible. It is inconceivable to them that God can be found in the midst of the world that seems to cry out, "We're here because we're here because we're here." By taking challah, we are saying that God is here! He is the source of our souls, bodies, and the forces that sustain them. He is One, and nothing is separate from His transcendental unity.
5. The Phraseology: חלה and עריסה
"Challah, the Divine Dough" by Rebbetzin Tzipporah Heller
...Actually, the word "challah" doesn't mean bread, dough, or any of the other words that seem to describe the aromatic loaves. The root of the word is chol which means ordinary or secular....
For most of us, these words describe the way we see the world. We are desensitized to its wonder and beauty, to the extent that "ordinary" describes the way we see life: banal, unremarkable, and most of all "because it's there."
The Torah presents us with a radically different approach. Everything is in its essence holy, kodesh, and always will be. God gives us permission to use His world for a "mundane, chol" purpose, under one condition: that we preserve its holy essence.
And what word describes everything in the world after we make this commitment? Chol, which means ordinary. "Ordinary" life has a holy source, and it is our responsibility to use it well.
This is especially true in regard to bread. Nothing is more "ordinary" than eating. Yet on an intuitive level we can connect to the mystic energy of the earth itself while making bread, in its feel and texture. It is meant to touch us deeply, and halacha (literally, "the way to walk") tells us how use its power well.
...Maharal explains this idea further by pointing out that the world is like an enormous human and that each human is like a mini-universe. Just as the globe is land and water, so too the human is composed of earth -- compared to flour, and spirit and intellect -- compared to water. Humans, as a combination of body and soul, flour and water, are like a dough. By separating challah we consecrate our multifaceted identity, the "dough." As a result, God permits us to use this dough in the process of rectifying ourselves and world....
Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky, Chabad.org:
In Hebrew a bed (cradle) is called an “arisah.” Thus, the word “arisoteichem”can also mean “your beds.” The Torah is teaching that “meireishit arisoteichem” — as soon as a person rises from his bed — he should give an offering to Hashem.
The offering we give Hashem is our reciting of “Modeh ani,” (in which we thank Him for restoring to us our soul, the essence of our life source) and making davening and Torah study the first activity of our day.
(ספר המאמרים - קונטרסים, דף קס"ה ע"א)
Additionally, while a child is very young and still in the “arisah” — “cradle” — his parents should endeavor to inculcate him with a love for Torah and G‑dliness by exposing the child to Torah-oriented songs, toys, games and room decorations.
(כ"ק אדמו"ר)
6. Challah and Shabbos
מתקנת עזרא שיהיו מכבסים בגדים בחמישי בשבת מפני כבוד השבת: הגה נוהגין ללוש כדי שיעור חלה בבית לעשות מהם לחמים לבצוע עליהם בשבת ויום טוב והוא מכבוד שבת ויום טוב ואין לשנות.
According to the decrees of Ezra, wash clothes on Thursday for the honor of Shabbat. RAMA: We are accustomed to knead in the house the amount of Challah and to make with that breads to break on Shabbat and holidays. This is how to honor Shabbat and holidays; don’t alter it.
(ה) והוא מכבוד שבת וכו' - ויש לזה רמז בכתוב והיה ביום הששי והכינו את אשר יביאו את אשר תאפו אפו וגו' משמע דיש לאפות בע"ש להכין לשבת גם בזמן הגמרא היה מנהג קבוע לזה כמו שהביא המגן אברהם ובעו"ה היום התחילו איזה נשים להשבית המנהג ההוא ולוקחין מן האופה ולאו שפיר עבדי דמקטינים בזה כבוד שבת:
There is a hint to this in the text: "And it was on the sixth day, and they prepared what they would bring - whatever they would bake, they baked..." - which implies that we should bake on Friday in order to prepare for Shabbat. Also in the time of the Gemara, there was an established custom for this, just like the Magen Avraham brought. Today, certain women have started neglecting this mitzvah and taking bread from bakers, and this diminishes the mitzvah of honoring (preparing) for Shabbat.
7. Women and Challah
(א) האהלה שרה אמו וַיְבִיאָהָ הָאֹהֱלָה וְנַעֲשֵית דּוּגְמַת שָׂרָה אִמוֹ, כְּלוֹמַר, וַהֲרֵי הִיא שָׂרָה אִמוֹ, שֶׁכָּל זְמַן שֶׁשָּׂרָה קַיֶמֶת, הָיָה נֵר דָּלוּק מֵעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת לְעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת, וּבִרָכָה מְצוּיָּה בְּעִיסָּה, וְעָנָן קָשׁוּר עַל הָאֹהֶל וּמִשָׁמֵּתָה פָסְקוּ, וּכְשֶׁבָּאת רִבְקָה חָזָרוּ (בראשית רבה):
(1) האהלה שרה אמו INTO HIS MOTHER SARAH’S TENT — He brought her into the tent and she became exactly like his mother Sarah — that is to say, the words signify as much as, [And he brought her into the tent] and, behold, she was Sarah, his mother). For whilst Sarah was living, a light had been burning in the tent from one Sabbath eve to the next, there was always a blessing in the dough (a miraculous increase) and a cloud was always hanging over the tent (as a divine protection), but since her death all these had stopped. However, when Rebecca came, they reappeared” (Genesis Rabbah 60:16).
"Challah, the Divine Dough" by Rebbetzin Tzipporah Heller
Women and Challah
There is a reason why Sarah was the one to experience this miracle, and not Abraham. Each gender has a distinct direction in their spiritual path. While men bring down light from above to below, through learning Torah as an end in itself, women elevate this world and raise it to reconnect with the Source from which it came. When Sarah died, the miracle no longer took place -- even though the widowed Abraham continued to take challah from the dough.
Today too, women are given precedence in performing this mitzvah. As life-givers they can either rectify the world by relating it to its source, or destroy its integrity by not actualizing their faith in God's presence. They are the ones who knead the dough, and feel how its components of flour and water -- physical and spiritual -- join.
May it be our merit to see the unity and wholeness -- that challah so deeply represents -- redefining the fragmented and wounded world in which we live.
הגהות מיימוניות - סוף סדר זרעים:
נקראת צדקת הגדולה חנה - ראשי תיבות חלה, נדה, הדלקה - שקיימה ג' מצוות אלו כראוי. ובכן נתן לה הקדוש ברוך הוא תאות ליבה וארשת שפתיה...
ובכן תתפלל אשה תמיד בשעה שהמצוה בידה ומקיימת אותה בהלכותיה שיתן לה הרחמן בנים צדיקים ויראי ה' ויודעים שמו יתברך.
Haghot Maimoniot - end of Seder Zeraim:
The righteous woman is called "Chanah," which stands for Challah, Niddah, and Hadlakah - because she fulfilled these three commandments as they are meant to be performed. And therefore, the Holy One gave her the desire of her heart and the expression of her lips (a child)...
And therefore, a woman should always pray at the time when the mitzvah is at home and she is fulfilling it according to all its laws, that the Merciful One should give her righteous children who fear G-d and recognize His blessed name.
ובחלה אדם הראשון חלה טהורה לעולם היה. דכתיב (שם) וייצר ה' אלקים את האדם עפר מן האדמה. ותייא כה' דמר רבי יוסי בר קצרתה כיון שהאשה מקשקשת עיסתה במים היא מגבהת חלתה. וגרמה לו חוה מיתה. לפיכך מסרו מצות חלה לאשה.
Adam was the "challah" of the world as the verse says, "God created Adam from the dust of the earth." When a woman mixes the flour with water, she must take challah to atone for the transgression of Chavah who caused the fall of Adam.
8. Addendum: 40 Women Baking Challah on Friday
Rav Shlomo Aviner, Shut SMS:
Q: Is there a Segulah for finding a match, healing, fertility, etc. if 40 women to separate Challah together on a Friday? Is it permissible for some of the women to separate Challah on Thursday if there is a pressing need?
A: This is a new creation, which has no source. There is certainly a level of holiness in separating Challah - just as there is holiness in the fulfillment of every Mitzvah - but there is no source for 40 women separating it together. It can therefore be performed in this manner.
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Tzefat - from kipa.co.il:
Q: Is there a source for 40 women baking Challah on the same day in the merit of someone struggling?
A: I know of no explicit source... I can't explain in detail but it is clear that the error of Adam HaRishon can be corrected through the mitzvah of challah. The mistake of Adam and the curses that came as a consequence are the source of all suffering in the world. If so, the correction is by fulfilling the mitzvah of challah which is the "tikun" of the sin of Adam HaRishon....
From [the root of the word חלה being related to the word "beginning" as well as the word "prayer"] we learn that the challah is completed through prayer and the time of separating challah is an auspicious time like the prayer of Moshe and it also contains the power of new beginnings....
From here we understand why 40... since challah deals with new beginnings and new beginnings all start with 40 days. The formation of a fetus as well as the time of Moshe on Har Sinai to form himself and us....
The fulfillment of every mitzvah creates an auspicious moment but the mitzvah of taking challah is a uniquely auspicious moment.
If I answered you from my heart I would tell you to pray for everything that you need but it is an explicit gemara...
Conclusion: Pray for a broad issue, not a specific one.