A Challah by Any Other Name ...

The first documented use of the word "challah" to describe a Shabbes bread dates back to the mid-1400s, suggesting that it was already in wide use among the general population. It was only in the melting pot of America, however, that the term challah came into nearly exclusive use, completely eclipsing a multitude of local and regional names that had persisted for centuries. In fact, the YIVO Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry devotes no fewer than nine pages to the various names for challah in Central and Eastern Europe.

Among the most common names were barches in Germany and Austria, and barbesz in Hungary, as well as datcher. These are thought to come from the verse in Proverbs 10:22,

"Birkas adonoy bi ta'ashi? ("The Lord's blessing enriches us"), which commonly appears on embroidered challah covers or on special challah knives. In Lithuania and modern South Africa, whose Jewish population is made up largely of Lithuanian immigrants, Shabbes bread is called kitke, and in the Jewish communities of Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus the most common names included koyletch, shtritsl, buchte and shabbes-vek.

To make things even more confusing, the kind of bread described by each name could vary from region to region—or even from shtetl to shtetl. In Opatów, Poland, a shtritsl was a blueberry bun, and in Brzezin, it was a type of strudel." In Lithuania, a kitke could be an ordinary or decorated challah, an especially large challah, or just the braid on top of a challah.* In Russia and Poland, a koyletch could designate either a round or braided Shabbes bread, or one made for special occasions like weddings. In the Ukraine, koyletch could refer to large loaves or small, sweet rolls. There were round challahs called rudish, circular breads called bey challah, and cylindrical shtraymi koyletch, sometimes adorned with iy side rolls, which got their name from the tall, sable-brimmed Shabbes hats still worn by well-to-do Chasidim.

HAFRASHAT CHALLAH

The mitzvah of taking challah recalls the portion of dough that Jews were commanded to give to the priests at the Temple. If you make a batch of challah dough out of less than 5 pounds (2.2 kg) of flour, tear off a piece of your dough and burn it without saying the blessing. If your batch uses 5 pounds (2.2 kg) of flour or more, separate the piece, say the blessing, and burn it in the oven. The blessing is: Baruch atah

Adonai Elohaynu melech ha-olam, asher kidushanu b'mitzvotav vitzivanu lehafrish challah min ha-issa. Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, king of the universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to separate the challah from the dough.