Challah Boards

Challah (plural: challot; Hebrew: חלה) also known as khale in eastern Yiddish, barches in German and western Yiddish, is a particular braided bread eaten by Ashkenazi and by most Sephardic Jews on the Sabbath and holidays.

On Shabbat, it is customary to have two loaves of challah at each meal. The Challahs are kept on a decorative cutting board and should be covered while reciting the Kiddush.

Conforming to Jewish tradition, Sabbath and holiday meals commence with a blessing over four loaves of bread, two Friday night and two Saturday afternoon. This "double loaf" memorializes the manna that fell from the skies when the Israelites walked in the desert for 40 years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; rather, a double portion fell before the Sabbath and holidays. It is these hunks of bread, recognizable by their customary braided style, that are generally referred to as challah.