Challah

Six Braided Challah on a tray, sprinkled with sesame seeds Challah ( also hallah plural: challot ) ( Hebrew : חלה ) also known as khale (eastern Yiddish ),( German and western Yiddish), berches ( Swabian ), barkis ( Gothenburg ), bergis ( Stockholm ), chałka ( Polish ) and kitke ( South Africa ), is a special braided bread eaten by Ashkenazi Jews and most Sephardic Jews , on the Sabbath and holidays. According to Jewish tradition, the three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday lunch, and Saturday late afternoon ) and two holiday meals (one at night and lunch the following day) each begin with two complete loaves of bread. This "double loaf" (in Hebrew: lechem mishneh ) commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt . The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day before the holiday or sabbath. It is these hunks of bread, recognizable by their traditional braided style (although some more modern recipes are not braided) that are commonly referred to as challah . Volume III of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research’s Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry devotes nine pages, complete with linguistic maps and charts, to the various names for Sabbath and festival breads in Central and Eastern Europe. Although “challah” is predominant in the United States, berkhes, dacher, koylatsh, shtritsl and kitke are common in other parts of the Jewish world. The etymology is given as "Kitt" + "-ke": "Kitt" in German means “putty" [1] ; "-ke" is the Slavic diminutive suffix found in many Yiddish words and names. Kitke referred not to the whole challah but simply to the braids or decorations that were attached to the challah like putty before baking, and the word must have originally referred to these.

Challah ( / x ɒ l ɑː / ; ), plural: challot / x ɒ l oʊ t / or challos / x ɒ l ə s / , is a special Jewish braided bread eaten on Sabbath and Jewish holidays .

Challah ( / ˈ x ɑː l ə / , Halla ; plural: challot or challos ) is a special bread in Jewish cuisine , usually braided and typically eaten on ceremonial occasions such as Shabbat and major Jewish holidays (other than Passover ). Ritually-acceptable challah is made of dough from which a small portion has been set aside as an offering. The word is Biblical in origin. Similar braided breads – such as kalach, kalács, kolach, or colac – are found in Eastern Europe, though it is not clear whether these influenced or were influenced by the traditional Ashkenazic challah.

Special bread in Jewish cuisine and religion This article is about the type of bread. Challah ( / ˈ x ɑː l ə / , ḥallā or ; plural: challot, Challoth or challos ) is a special bread of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, usually braided and typically eaten on ceremonial occasions such as Shabbat and major Jewish holidays (other than Passover ). Ritually acceptable challah is made of dough from which a small portion has been set aside as an offering. Challah may also refer to the dough offering . The word is biblical in origin, though originally referred only to the dough offering. Similar braided breads such as kalach and vánočka are found across Central and Eastern Europe.

Special bread in Jewish cuisine and religion This article is about the type of bread. Challah or hallah ( / ˈ x ɑː l ə , ˈ h ɑː l ə / (K)HAH -lə ; Hebrew : חַלָּה , romanized : ḥallā , pronounced [χaˈla, ħalˈlaː] ; pl. [ c ] hallot , [ c ] halloth or [ c ] hallos , Hebrew: חַלּוֹת ), also known as berches in Central Europe, is a special bread in Jewish cuisine , usually braided and typically eaten on ceremonial occasions such as Shabbat and major Jewish holidays (other than Passover ). Ritually acceptable challah is made of dough from which a small portion has been set aside as an offering. Challah may also refer to the dough offering . The word is biblical in origin, meaning "loaf". Similar (usually braided) breads with mainly the same ingredients including brioche , kalach , kozunak , panettone , pulla , tsoureki , vánočka are found across European cuisines .