Mishnah Commentary: Mishnah 2. mBetsah 1:6

@General observations

According to the Hebrew Bible anyone who makes dough is obligated to separate a portion of it (hallah) for the priest:

The simple word hallah means “a loaf of bread.” However, in halakhic terms, it entails separating a portion of dough from what is being kneaded and presenting it to the priest. This piece of dough is called hallah. Any dough made of wheat, barley, spelt, oat or rye is bound by this mitsvah. The priest and his family would eat the hallah while in a state of ritual purity. If hallah was not separated from the dough, it had to be separated from the baked product. Until hallah is separated, one is forbidden to eat the dough or its baked product. According to biblical law, hallah is separated only within the boundaries of the Land of Israel. However, the rabbis instituted the separation of hallah outside the borders of the land of Israel as well (bQid 36b, see the commentary on Bavli 1/3. bBetsah 9a). In the Mishnah an entire tractate is dedicated to the mitsvah of hallah, this issue will, therefore, be further discussed in the Feminist Commentary on Seder Zera‘im (FCBT I/2).

Other gifts to the priest are biqqurim, terumah, and ma‘aser. Biqqurim, the first fruits, were brought to Jerusalem by the landowner as an offering in the Temple and given to the priests. Terumah and ma‘aser, a free contribution and a tenth portion of the produce, were offered respectively to a priest and a Levite.

@Feminist observations

The rabbis emphasize the importance of fulfilling the commandments of hallah, ma‘asrot and biqqurim. The midrash Bereshit Rabba states categorically:

Although the Hebrew Bible does not mention any connection between the separation of hallah and women, the rabbis explicitly state that hallah is a woman’s mitsvah and clearly associate women with it. Out of all the mitsvot that apply to both men and women, there are three mitsvot that the rabbis singled out for women.

Two of these mitsvot — hallah and niddah — are prescribed by the Hebrew Bible itself, while the third, the lighting of Shabbat candles, is a commandment instituted by the sages. In Hebrew, an acronym of these three mitsvot spells the name of an important biblical woman: חנ"ה (Hannah).

Like the Mishnah, the midrash is consistent in stating that women are responsible for the taking of hallah:

Reward and punishment are key categories in the mitsvot system. Yet here, in opposition to men who are blessed through mitsvot, women are punished by them. The Mishnah and the midrash are clear in stating that the separation of hallah is the business of women. Although we observe that men and not only women separated hallah, in the mind of the rabbis it was still considered a woman’s obligation. Judith Wegner pointed out that the three cultic duties listed here “are primarily incumbent on men.” And yet, even though “neglect of these religious duties makes her husband a transgressor,”[1] they were delegated to the women.

Why is hallah a women’s mitsvah? The midrash describes it as a punishment for the sins of women. But the real reason is, in my opinion, quite obvious: We first of all have to explore the difference between the taking of hallah and several other similar mitsvot – terumah, ma’aser and biqqurim – that also involve separating a portion of food from the whole, and giving it away. These latter obligations are related to the harvest, a part of which is given away before it is permitted for general consumption. Terumah, me‘aser and biqqurim take place outdoors, before the harvested grain is turned into flour and brought into the home. By contrast, the separation of hallah comes after the dough is kneaded, at the end of a process that takes place at home. Therefore, it ended up becoming a woman’s duty, while the mitsvot of the outside world were designated for men. Thus, although the biblical text does not assign to women the responsibility for separating hallah, the Mishnah does. The rabbis turned the mitsvah that was connected to the Land of Israel into a homebound mitsvah for women. Therefore it is quite probable that women became mainly responsible for this mitsvah sometime after the destruction of the Temple, when many mitsvot were altered from public to private ones.

In this mishnah in Massekhet Betsah, women are not explicitly mentioned; the mishnaic text uses the masculine plural verb-form, the Tosefta the masculine singular. Women are thus not mentioned but obviously implied, because, as mShab 2:6 shows, the understanding of hallah as a woman’s mitsvah was already self-evident to the rabbis.