![\"kneading\"](\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/kneading-300x168.png\")
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I certainly didn\u2019t start my weekly tradition of baking challah due to a lack of kosher bakeries in my\u00a0neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Living in the Five Towns (Long Island, NY), one could safely say that there are more kosher food\u00a0establishments than we know what to do with. Despite that, I have not felt the need to purchase and\u00a0challah in years, because baking challah has simply become part of my Friday. The aroma fills every inch\u00a0of my home, whetting appetites and symbolically letting us know that soon enough, it will be time to\u00a0say, \u201cGood Shabbos.\u201d<\/p>\n
While I am not the most spiritual person in the world, I certainly appreciate that baking challah is an\u00a0\u201celevated\u201d process. You are keenly aware that what is being baked isn\u2019t just any other recipe. The multi-\u00a0step process requires patience, coordination, time and an actual prayer \u2013 and there is nothing else I\u00a0make in my kitchen that includes all of these elements each time it is made. That alone makes me stop\u00a0and take pause, reminding me that what lies ahead is unlike anything else.<\/p>\n
Dahlia Abraham-Klein\u2019s new release \u201cSpiritual Kneading Through the Jewish Months\u201d introduces bakers\u00a0to a completely new level of spirituality connected to the baking of challah. Written almost like a\u00a0textbook complete with syllabus, monthly challah baking groups use the connection of women to each\u00a0rosh chodesh<\/em> (new month) to engage in discussion, reflection and meditation through the challah baking\u00a0process. Each chapter has a different challah recipe thematically associated to a particular month.\u00a0Various breathing techniques are also detailed in each chapter and are meant to accompany the natural\u00a0rhythm created by dough kneading. Ideas or motivations upon which to concentrate during the\u00a0hafrashat challah stage are provided for each chapter as well. In addition, specific discussion points\u00a0corresponding to that month and thoughts to ponder which guide the process are provided, all in an\u00a0effort to ensure the baker remain in the right frame of mind for such a mitzvah.<\/p>\n While one might initially pick up this book thinking it was a cookbook filled with hundreds of challah\u00a0recipes, that person would be disappointed. Recipes are provided and designed to coordinate with each\u00a0month, but that is not the goal of the book. It is almost as if the recipes are secondary. More important\u00a0to the author is the material provided which allows bakers to approach every step as an opportunity to\u00a0spiritually connect. An impatient reader might skip over the introduction to a cookbook, eager to get to\u00a0the recipes. In this case, that would also be a mistake as the introduction isn\u2019t optional: it is completely\u00a0necessary to understand how to use the book effectively.<\/p>\n Abraham-Klein wants her readers to appreciate that this spiritual mindset begins as early as shopping\u00a0for the necessary ingredients. When she explains that her recipes call for, \u201corganic and fair trade\u00a0ingredients that have been grown with a holistic, ecological and balanced approach to farming,\u201d it is in\u00a0an effort to \u201cuse the finest ingredients to make (our) challah because every component contributes to\u00a0the physical and spiritual quality of the final product.\u201d<\/p>\n The significance of each actual ingredient is also explained. The oil can be thought of as \u201csoftening us,\u00a0making us sensitive to other\u2019s needs,\u201d says the author, as the eggs can also \u201callude to a woman\u2019s special\u00a0role in creation, \u201c reaffirming that every cog in this process contributes to the level of spirituality one\u00a0can reach through this holistic approach to baking challah.<\/p>\n A good speaker knows his\/her audience before taking the podium. If you don\u2019t know who you\u2019re talking\u00a0to, how can you ensure you can communicate effectively? Ms. Abraham-Klein certainly speaks to a\u00a0particular readership and following, but as previously mentioned, I am not of the overly spiritual sort.\u00a0Many of her suggestions and correlations were lost on me – the cynical New Yorker who has no faith in\u00a0organic produce to provide anything more than providing more bugs. I do respect her ability to connect\u00a0spiritually through this process and applaud her for sharing these techniques with a greater audience, as\u00a0her writing appropriately reflects her passion for the topic.<\/p>\n As for this challah baker, I do not believe that my connection to challah baking is any \u201cless\u201d of an\u00a0experience even if Ms. Abraham-Klein\u2019s approach does not speak to me. One\u2019s spirituality and closeness\u00a0to G-d is personal and often private and she should continue to do what works for her. What works for\u00a0me, however, is the overwhelming satisfaction I feel as my family enjoys the fresh challah I\u2019ve baked\u00a0that day, providing a sh\u2019laymut and connection to G-d better than anything else ever could.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I certainly didn\u2019t start my weekly tradition of baking challah due to a lack of kosher bakeries in my\u00a0neighborhood. Living in the Five Towns (Long Island, NY), one could safely say that there are more kosher food\u00a0establishments than we know what to do with. Despite that, I have not felt the need to purchase and\u00a0challah<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":39220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food"],"yoast_head":"\n