Choosing a challah is not an easy choice these days: Belgian chocolate chunk, cinnamon sugar, kalamata olive, and pretzel are only a sampling of the challot you can have on your Shabbat table.
When I grew up in, it was simply challah….or challah. Last night, Sinai Akiba Academy participated in the worldwide challah bake. Over 100 families participated, with the same ingredients in their homes as we learned the history and halachot around challah. We know that the Shabbat table mirrors the mizbeach, the Temple’s altar in Jerusalem. Our Torah teaches that when Abraham invites the angels into his tent, he took the ingredients he had and baked for his guests. Sforno explains that in rushing out to greet the angels he demonstrated the importance of the mitzvah he was participating in.
The Shabbat table is the place that should bring people together. This week, we will eat the challot that our children baked—all different shapes, and all different tastes. This Shabbat, allow the unique tastes of the challot to be open to the different opinions we each hold, to the ways we see the world. Say the Hamotzi tonight with pride, and enjoy that first bite!
