Shlach 5785: Challah: Take it and Leave it

GOOD MORNING! Everyone is familiar with the braided breads of Shabbat known as “challah.” In fact, “challah bread” has become well-known in much of the world and is typically available in mainstream bakeries. It is even featured as an ingredient in many common recipes (French toast, bread pudding, stuffing, etc.).

While we find the term challot (plural of challah) referring to both leavened and unleavened bread in numerous places in the Torah, it is not in connection to the loaves that are today part and parcel of every Shabbat meal.

One of the earliest mentions of having “challah” on Shabbat is by the great medieval sage Rabbi Yisroel Isserlein (1390-1460), the author of the important work on Jewish law known as the Terumat Hadeshen. In his book Leket Yosher he says that it is proper to usher in the Shabbat with “challot” set on the table.

Many may be surprised to learn that there is actually a mitzvah in the Torah known as “hafrashat challah – the separation of challah,” which has absolutely nothing to with Shabbat. Briefly, in ancient Israel, any time a large bread dough was prepared using around 60 oz. or more of grain flour (around eight cups), a small piece of the dough was separated and given to the Cohanim – the priestly caste of Jews who served in the Temple.

Today, we still separate a piece of dough from large batches of bread to burn before we eat the bread made from that batch. A special blessing is made at the time we separate this small piece of dough. As we shall soon see, the mitzvah of separating the dough is about prioritizing the spiritual components in our lives, even in the most mundane activities like making bread. Again, this has nothing to do with Shabbat, this mitzvah applies to all doughs prepared.

The mitzvah of separating challah applies to every Jew, man or woman. However, traditionally, this special mitzvah is designated to Jewish women. In her role of setting the tone of the Jewish home, the woman is entrusted with mitzvot (plural) such as this and lighting the Shabbat candles. These activities nourish her family physically and spiritually.

Of course, this reminds me of one of my seven-year-old grandson’s favorites jokes: “What kind of martial arts does a challah practice? Jew-dough.” My apologies, sometimes it is hard to forget certain inanities – and now you are stuck with it as well. You’re welcome.

The mitzvah of separating challah is found this this week’s Torah portion.

“When you enter the land where I bring you, it shall be that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall set aside a portion for God. From the first of your dough, you shall give to God an offering throughout your generations” (Numbers 15:18-22).

In order to fully understand the mitzvah of hafrashat challah it is important to view it in the context of this week’s Torah portion, which recounts the tragic episode of the twelve spies sent by Moses and the Jewish people to reconnoiter the Land of Israel and to produce a report on the land and its inhabitants. The sages point out that ten of the twelve spies conspired as a group to slander the Land of Israel. According to some opinions, they were motivated to do so by the fear that they would lose their positions of leadership when the nation entered the Land of Israel.

Many of the facts were woven together to create a narrative that entering the Land of Israel was a suicide mission. The Jewish people reacted with horror and desperation and started wailing loudly – and quite astonishingly – that they were better off appointing a new leader and returning to Egypt!

Unsurprisingly, God was very displeased and decreed that the entirety of the nation would wander in the desert for forty years (one year for every day that the spies spent in the land) until the entire generation died out. This happened on the 9th of Av, and according to tradition God declared, “You cried on this night for no reason. I will give you a reason to cry forevermore on this day.”

The 9th of Av is now the anniversary of some of the most horrible things that have happened in Jewish history including the destruction of BOTH Temples. Countless other tragic events also occurred on that day, such as on the 9th of Av in 1492 when all the Jews of Spain were designated to leave the country. There are many other aspects to the 9th of Av, and we will discuss them further in a few weeks, as the date draws nearer.

The story of the twelves spies is well-known, but there is an oft overlooked postscript to this calamitous story – the incident of the “Mapilim – Defiant Ones.”

In brief, the morning after the terrible decree that the generation would perish and not enter the land, a large group decided that they would show the Almighty that they did desire to enter the land. Thus, they began ascending the mountain and told Moses, “We are ready, we shall go up to the place of which God has spoken – we have sinned” (Numbers 14:40).

Upon hearing their plans, Moses warned them explicitly, “Do not ascend, it will not succeed. Do not ascend, for God is not in your midst […] You have turned away from God and He will not be with you” (Numbers 14:41-43). So, the people listened to Moses, abandoned their plans and went back to their tents to spend some time reflecting on their misdeeds, right? Of course not. They defiantly attempted to enter the Land of Israel and were utterly wiped out by the Amalekite and Canaanite nations who dwelled in the surrounding mountains.

Almost immediately after these two stories, the Torah introduces the mitzvah of separating the dough. This is strange as this mitzvah only came into effect once the Jews entered the Land of Israel and God had just decreed that they would wander in the desert for the next forty years. So why would they even need to know about this mitzvah yet?

Additionally, according to the Talmud (Kiddushin 40b), “Torah is greater than challah, for the Torah was given forty years before challah.” (This refers to the fact that the mitzvah of challah came into effect only after they entered the Land of Israel, whereas the Torah was given to them right after they left Egypt.)

But the statement itself is incredibly difficult to understand: What is the basis for making any comparison between the Torah and the mitzvah of challah? Why should it be necessary for the sages to identify Torah as being the greater of the two? It hardly seems logical to place them on the same spectrum!

There is another teaching from the sages that says that one of the purposes of creation was so that the Jews could fulfill the mitzvah of challah (Bereishis Rabbah 1:4). This is quite perplexing. Why is this mitzvah, more than any other precepts in the Torah, considered important enough to justify the very creation of the world?

The answer begins with understanding why this mitzvah takes place at the time of kneading the dough; why aren’t we simply required to give a small loaf of bread to the Cohanim?

Bread is a staple of life – historically, the very definition and essence of human sustenance and survival. When a person cannot provide for himself there is a deep sense of shame. According to Jewish philosophy, the reason we have free will is so that we can earn reward and justify our existence by choosing to do good over evil. Of course, the Almighty could have simply given us the reward, but that would be charity, which is known as “nehama dikesufa – bread of shame.” Thus, the very purpose of creation is to empower man to provide for himself and build his dignity by not feeling like a charity case.

The fourth chapter of the famous compendium of Jewish wisdom known as “Pirkei Avot – Ethics of Our Fathers” opens with “Who is wealthy? He who is happy with his lot.” This is generally misunderstood as merely being happy with what you have. Which happens to be true. But to really understand the depth of this concept one needs to examine the verse that the sages learn this axiom from: “the labor of your hands is what you consume” (Psalms 128:2).

The sages are teaching us that ultimate satisfaction with what you have is only achieved when you have the ability to provide for yourself. If the mitzvah were to take challah after the bread was made, it could be understood as merely a means of giving thanks to the Almighty for providing us with bread. Instead, since the mitzvah is to take challah from dough, it is actually a way to thank God for giving us the ability to make bread. We are prioritizing the holy aspects of our lives by giving the first piece of dough to the Cohanim who are serving in the Holy Temple.

The real failure of the Jewish people in the story of the twelve spies was their desire to take the land by themselves. Of course, they had seen all of God’s miracles in Egypt – they were very well aware that God could easily defeat all the inhabitants of the Land of Israel. But they sent the spies, not because they didn’t trust God, but because they wanted to conquer it themselves and make it their own land.

They did not fully appreciate that Israel was holy, belonging to God, and that the Almighty was inviting them to live in His land. They didn’t appreciate the holiness of the land. As the sages teach us, once in the land they didn’t observe the laws of shemittah – leaving the land fallow every seven years – which ultimately led to them being cast out of Israel at the time of the destruction of the first Holy Temple.

They are given the mitzvah of challah after the incident of the spies to emphasize that even when we provide for ourselves it has to be within the context of ever striving to be connected to holiness. Even today, when we are blessed to have the country of Israel, we should never forget that our real right to the land comes not merely because we reconquered our ancestral home but due to our connection to God through His land.

Shlach, Numbers 13:1 – 15:41

The Jewish people received the Torah on Mt. Sinai and were ready to enter the Land of Israel. There was a consensus of opinion amongst the people that we should send spies to see if it was feasible to conquer the land. Moses knew that the Almighty’s promise to give the land included a guarantee to conquer it. However, one of the principles of life, which we learn from this portion, is: the Almighty allows each of us the free will to go in the direction we choose. Even though one man and the Almighty is a majority, Moses – by Divine decree – sent out the princes of the tribes (men of the highest caliber) to spy out the land.

Twelve spies were sent. Ten came back with a report of strong fortifications and giants; they rallied the people against going up to the land. Joshua ben Nun and Calev ben Yefunah (Moses’ brother-in-law) tried to stem the rebellion, but did not succeed. The Almighty decreed 40 years of wandering in the desert, one year for each day they spied in the land of Israel. This happened on the 9th of Av, a date noted throughout Jewish history for tragedy.

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