One of the odd side effects of the pandemic has been a burst of enthusiasm for at-home breadmaking, as Americans sought to fill their newfound spare time, and perhaps avoid trips to the grocery store. For many Orthodox Jews, Sara Wolkenfeld reports, the trend took on an additional significance as the ritual removal of a piece dough—a commemoration of the tithe mentioned in Numbers 15:20, known as “taking challah”—became an opportunity to offer a prayer for a relative or friend suffering from the coronavirus. As Passover approaches, and with it the commandment to refrain from the consumption of leaven, Wolkenfeld reflects on the sacred significance of bread:
Jewish law dictates that we recite a blessing before taking a bite of the freshly baked loaf: “Blessed are You, Lord our God, Sovereign of the Universe, Who has brought forth bread from the earth.” As we do in all of the blessings recited upon consumption of food, we recognize God as having brought bread from the earth. Yet this blessing might be read as containing a kind of false modesty. We recognize the Divine for having brought forth bread, but a voice inside our head says: “It was us! Human labor cultivated the land, ground the wheat, and took flour, water, and a bit of yeast and transformed it into the loaves you see before you.”
The Talmud recognizes that bread can lead us to believe a little too strongly in our own human powers. . . . Leavening, in [one talmudic passage], is analogous to the yetser ha-ra, or evil inclination; it is that voice that inflates our egos, that makes us believe we are better, stronger, and more deserving than others. It puffs up our souls with overconfidence, like the air bubbles that make the dough rise. No, says the blessing, you never could have produced that bread all by yourself!
Passover, which we will celebrate this month, forces us to confront our limits. But it also reminds us that it is not about the bread. Passover is full of ritual foods, sustaining in both the physical and emotional sense. Taking—or baking—challah represents something tangible, a change in the world that we can see, and so it is a moment for meditation. For those who refrain from eating bread on Passover, as well as those who couldn’t find the time to invest in a baking project during the mania of the pandemic, the holiday presents itself laden with meaning and depth. It is a celebration of salvation, of survival, and of the resourcefulness of a basic dough repurposed at the last minute.
Read more on First Things: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/03/loaves-of-blessing