This is the first Shabbat after Passover. My son got the dough going for our first challah. I took over after the first rise and braided the challot. In some Jewish communities, there is a tradition to bake key shaped challot for this first post-Passover Shabbat. A key in Yiddish is a Shlissel and in some communities, this is known as Shlissel Shabbat. The explanation for baking your challah in the shape of a key is that it is the "key of the heavens" and we ask God to open the keys of heaven of redemption for us this week after we retell of the exodus from Egypt. All week I have been seeing beautiful photos of shtissel challot. When I went to braid my own challot this week I thought for a moment about shaping my challot into keys. And then I just couldn't. My first reason for not doing it was theological. As Jews, and certainly, as a Jew from the theological tradition I come from you just don't believe in "the vending machine God" who gives you some...
A blog, mostly about my work making Jewish ritual objects, but with detours into garment making, living in New York City, cooking, and other aspects of domestic life. A note about comments: I love comments from readers, from spammers, not so much. I approve comments before posting them so comments are not cluttered with junk. It may take a few hours before your posts appear. Be patient. If you are a real person with a real comment it will be posted.