Challah bread bake coming to freehold — Challah for Shabbat jewish bread bakery tradition

FREEHOLD- For some it will be a new experience while for others it will be a familiar weekly ritual. But when hundreds of Jewish women gather at the Radisson Hotel, 50 Gibson Place, Freehold, on Thursday evening, October 18, everyone will share a powerful spiritual experience. The event, which will begin with registration at 6 p.m., is jointly hosted by the Chabads of Western Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

The “Mega Challah Bake with a Dip” will feature several women from different Jewish backgrounds who will demonstrate the preparation of dips from their communities while the dough is rising. The event is for women only because challah is specifically a “mitzvah” (a commandment or good deed performed out of religious duty) for women, explained Chana’le Wolosow of Chabad of Western Monmouth County.

“When a woman prepares challah,” she added, “all channels are open for her to ask for the blessings she needs in her life and in others’ lives.

Sara Schapiro of Chabad of Western Monmouth County said she has held challah-making demonstrations in the past, but doing this as a large, area-wide event is extra special.

“There is so much power when so many women are doing this together,” she noted.

The ballroom will be elegantly set with premeasured ingredients at each place. Each woman will mix her own dough, wait for it to rise, and then learn how to separate and shape the dough into two braided challahs. The loaves will be taken home for baking and enjoyment the following evening, which will be the Sabbath.

Tickets for the event will be $30 before October 4 and $36 following that date. Sponsorships are available in the following categories: $100, which includes one seat; $180, which includes two seats; and $250 and $360, both of which include six seats. Reservations are required and names of people to be included in prayers can be added to your reservation. For more information and to make reservations go to www.chabadwmc.org/challahbakersvp.

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