challah

English

Challah

Alternative forms

• challa, chalah, hallah, chaleh

Etymology

From Hebrew חַלָּה (ḥallá, “loaf”), influenced by Yiddish חלה (khale).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxɑ(ː).lə/, /ˈhɑ(ː).lə/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

challah (countable and uncountable, plural challahs or challos or challot or challoth)

1. (countable) A traditional bread eaten by Ashkenazi Jews, usually braided for the Sabbath and round for a yom tov.
   • 2006, The Mishnah, seder Zeraim, tractate Challah, Personal-Size edition, Mesorah Publications, page 54, commentary on 1:7:

     […] it is a time-honored custom that when women bake challah-loaves for Sabbath and Yom Tov use, they specifically prepare a dough large enough to be obligated in challah, so they can fulfill the mitzvah of separating challah […] .

2. (uncountable) The commandment to separate a portion of bread or bread dough for the cohanim (Numbers 15:17–21); in contemporary practice, the portion is burned until inedible.
3. (countable) The portion separated in fulfillment of the above.

Translations

traditional braided bread

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 辮包／辫包 (bin¹ baau¹)

  Mandarin: 辮子麵包／辫子面包 (biànzi miànbāo), 辮子包／辫子包 (biànzi bāo)

• Dutch: challe (nl) m or f, challa m or f
• Finnish: challah
• French: hallah f, challah f
• German: Challa f
• Hebrew: חַלָּה (he) f
• Hungarian: barhesz (hu)
• Ladino: halá f
• Polish: chałka (pl) f
• Russian: ха́ла (ru) f (xála)
• Spanish: jalá (es) f
• Swedish: barkis (sv) c, bergis (sv) c
• Yiddish: חלה f (khale)

Further reading

• separating challah on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Cookbook:challah on Wikibooks.Wikibooks