At the “Meholelot Meapiсha” day camp—currently taking place at the world’s largest Jewish center, “Menorah,” and organized by the Jewish Community of Dnipro for girls in grades 1 through 9—special Shabbat preparation classes were recently held.
The focus of the activities was on a central symbol of the Queen of Shabbat: the famous Jewish challah bread, an essential part of every Shabbat table. The girls studied the mitzvah of “hafrashat challah” (separating a portion of dough), one of the key commandments entrusted by the Almighty to Jewish women, and explored why both the dough portion and the braided bread share the same name—challah.
One of the most exciting parts for the participants were the hands-on challah-braiding workshops held before Shabbat. Younger campers created colorful challot, while the older girls learned to braid traditional wheat-based yeast challah.
“Baking challah is an incredibly important aspect of Jewish education with deep spiritual meaning,” says camp co-director Edna Yudovich. “Together with Malka Feldman, as leaders of ‘Meholelot Meapikha,’ we place great value on this process. Our amazing madrichot led a meaningful and joyful workshop that brought a lot of happiness to the girls—and resulted in beautiful, homemade challot on their Shabbat tables.”
