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PARSHAT SHELACH THE MITZVA OF TAKING CHALLAH In this week's parsha, the Jewish people are commanded to make an offering to G-d from their bread dough. This offering is called challah. "When you come into the land where I bring you: Then it shall be, that when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall heave an offering unto the Eternal. You shall heave chalah of the first of your dough for a heave offering… Of the first of your dough you shall give unto the Eternal a heave offering in your generations" (Bamidbar 15:18-21). Perhaps the term chalah has become synonymous with the special bread which we eat on Shabbat, because in the spirit of our tradition, the wife of the home bakes her own Shabbat bread and separates off the chalah offering. According to Beit Hillel, even young unmarried daughters regarded this mitzva as so important, that they would use their own money to bake enough bread to take chalah every Shabbath eve (Yoreh Deah 328). Although this mitzva is one of the three mitzvot designated particularly for women, unfortunately, many ladies today choose to forfeit the special privilege to fulfill the mitzva of taking chalah. It seems to me, that when time is sparse, it makes sense to buy all the other food ready-made in order to free our-selves to perform the important mitzva of baking homemade chalah. For the complete dvar Torah, please send email to berot@netvision.net.il. *******~~~~~*******~~~~~*******~~~~~*******~~~~~*******~~~~~*******
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