LADIES :

Join our team of Challah bakers and perform the mitzvah of taking Challah with a brocha as part of a group of 43* in the merit of couples who want to have children.

Its easy, just contact us at lsilverstein70@gmail.com and we'll be happy to to include your name and send you our weekly emails.

Every time you plan to bake challah, check your weekly email for the name of the couple for that week and reply to be added to our tally. You can also contact Yael Leibovitch at (718) 774-5279 for a recorded message with the name of the couple and leaving a message that you've baked.

Use at least 15 cups of sifted flour [12 cups unsifted ]**say the brocha, separate the challah, declaring "Harei Zeh Challah" and say a prayer for the couple in need of a child.

If you would like to join but have no recipe, we offer a tested recipe below.

We perform the mitzvah between sunset on Thursday and Friday afternoon.
All of our women have the same name in mind for that week. We pray for a different couple each week.

If you have additional names that you would like to daven for, we suggest, as many areaccustomed, to mention these names during the mixing or kneading of the dough.

To submit names of couples who need a bracha for a child, please contact us and we will be happy to post their names.

Achdus works. ! B"H, over 100 babies have already been born and one after 22 years of marriage !!

For more information contact Yael Leibovitch at (718) 774-5279 or Leah Silverstein at: lsilverstein70@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you !!

(*the numerical equivalent of challah)

(**five lbs. of unsifted flour yields between 14 1/2 - 16 cups

five lbs. of sifted flour yields between 18-20 cups)

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UPDATES

B"H

B"H, one of our couples is expecting after
23 years !! Another couple just recently gave birth
to twins after ten years of marriage.


One of our bakers gave birth to a baby girl after many years.
She explains that she bought a bag of flour with
our sticker on it. She decided to join our group baking for
couples who want children. Before long, she herself was expecting !

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EASY ONE-BOWL CHALLAH RECIPE

Can be made by hand or machine

Ingredients:
5 cups warm water
3 Tbsp dry yeast (or one 2 oz. cake fresh yeast and 1 packet dry yeast)
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 lb. bag of flour
5 eggs cracked and checked
1/2 - 3/4 cup oil
2 Tbsp salt
1 egg, beaten
sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:
1) In a large, heavy duty mixing bowl, add complete amount of water. Water should be warm to touch....not hot. Add yeast and sugar. Allow to sit for 5-6 minutes.

2) Sift flour and pour 6-7 cups into yeast mixture. Mix until it takes on a pasty look. Add 5 eggs. Then add oil and mix until smooth.

3) Take off 2 cups of the flour and put aside. Add whatever flour is left, and put in the 2 tbsp. of salt.

4) Time to knead the dough! For best results, knead with disposable gloves. Add small amounts from the 2 cups of flour you saved to add as you go. As soon as the dough can be shaped into a ball, do not add any more flour. Remove the ball of dough from the bowl and transfer to a clean bowl to rise. Knead dough an additional 2 minutes in a clean bowl, adding a small amount of flour if dough is still sticky.

5) Rub 2-3 Tbsp oil on top of dough and work it into the dough, then cover with plastic wrap or a clean, damp dishtowel. Allow to rise for 2 hrs, then punch down. Allow to rise another 1/2 hr.

6) Shape challah, place on greased loaf pans or cookie sheets, and allow to rise.

7) Preheat oven to 350. Baste challah with one beaten egg, using an egg brush, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Place in oven. Check on small rolls after 20 minutes and on medium challahs after 25 minutes. Can be baked until barely golden, or nicely browned, according to individual taste.

Yields 5 medium Challahs and 12 small Challah rolls.

The Mitzvah of separating challah:
When preparing challah dough, it is a mitzvah to separate a small peice (approx 1 oz.) for a recipe using this much flour, a brocha is then said: "Boruch Atoh A-do-nai E-lo-hei-nu Melech Haolam, asher kidshanu bemitvosav, vetzivanu l'hafrish challah", followed by the words "harei zeh challah", and a private prayer if you wish.

In the days of the Beis Hamikdash, the holy temple, the separated portion would have been given to the Kohanim, the priestly tribe. Nowadays, it is still not permitted for our personal use, and is therefore kept apart from other foods and burned.

Credits: Original recipe by Esther Blau, editor of Spice and Spirit Cookbook.

Special thanks to Devorah Heller, the Challah Lady, for her simple one-bowl method.


"Reprinted with permission from Spice & Spirit, the Complete Kosher Jewish Cookbook, Copyright 1990, Lubavitch Women's Cookbook Publications,
Brooklyn, N.Y."

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FACTS ON CHALLAH:

In addition to the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel in helping other
couples, note that :

....... challah is the only one of the twenty-four gifts

brought to the Cohen that also brings brochah to the donor's house !!
(Maamar of the Rebbe, Reishis Areesotachem)

........ it is said of Sarah Immeinu that as long as she was alive,
a cloud hovered above her tent alluding to the Shechinah,
her Shabbos licht burnt from Shabbos to Shabbos and
BROCHO was always found in her dough.

........ the Jewish home is called a miniature Sanctuary. Just
as the Shechina dwelt in the Mishkan and the Beis HaMikdash
which both contained the Shulchan (Table for the 12 Showbreads),
Menorah and the Altar for Incense, so too does the Jewish home contain these items in the form of the three Mitzvos given to women:

1. Challah (the Shulchan)
2. Shabbos Licht (the Menorah)
3. Taharas HaMishpacha (the Altar for Incense)

[For just as mitzvah of the burning of incense creates a special bond
between HaKadosh Baruchu and Yidden, similarly, Taharas
Hamishpacha creates a special bond between husband and wife]

When these Mitzvos are properly performed the Shechinah dwells
within the Jewish home transforming the home into a miniature
Sanctury.

........the mitzvah of separating Challah protects a woman during
childbirth.

........if women knew just how great the mitzval of challah is, the bakeries would not sell a single loaf!!!

.......we don't pay anyone to do the other two mitzvahs given to women -- so why should we pay the bakeries to do this mitzvah??