A few years back, I learned about the symbolism of the challah ingredients. Most of the time I rush through making challah and add the ingredients without much thought. Today, I intentionally added ingredients and wanted to share with you.
Water: The water represents kindness, and as I poured the water into the bowl today, I prayed for an abundance of kindness and respect to flow into our lives.
Yeast: Yeast represents growth and expansion, and as I added the yeast, I prayed for the growth and expansion of our minds to learn more tolerance and be willing to listen to the pain of others. Just like the yeast, we need to rise to our full potential as an ally and stand up for injustice.
Sugar: The sugar represents the sweetness in our lives. While it might be hard to find the good, we must be open and have faith that these challenges we face will bring about goodness and sweetness.
Salt: Salt represents discipline or criticism, which we don’t want to add in large measure, but it is important to remember and make a note of. We must hold each other accountable for our words, actions and also our silence. Salt also represents purification, and I pray that the toxicity in our lives, minds and bodies can be removed.
Eggs: Eggs represent renewal and the potential for new beginnings. Because they symbolize fertility, we pray for life and for children when we add them.
Oil: The oil represents anointing, and as each drop of oil was poured in, I prayed for humankind to rise up and reach a higher level of tolerance and acceptance. I also took the time to think about the lives that were lost in this fight for justice and prayed that their deaths won’t be in vain.
Flour: Flour represents nourishment in both our lives and relationship with others. I pray that we can open ourselves up to creating relationships based on love and respect that will nourish our lives and minds.
SIDENOTE: I enlisted the help of my sweet little one to help add an extra does of kindness and sweetness to the challah. I think we could all learn from the sweet innocence of the youth in our community.
And I added special prayers to the challah as I took time to knead it.
I prayed for our world to come together to fight injustice and heal the brokenness.
I prayed for our voices to be strong and louder than the opposition.
I prayed for the courage and safety of those fighting on the front lines.
As the dough begins to rise, my prayers rise, too, and I have faith that change is on the horizon.
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