Shlissel Challah 2013

UPDATE:  I promised a few free item coupons to the person who submitted the prettiest shlissel challah picture this year (chosen totally subjectively by me) and yay, we've got a winner.  Congrats, Leah D. from Denver, CO.  In full disclosure, Leah is also a friend of mine, but that had nothing to do with my picking her challah as the winner.  I'm sure you'll agree that it's the prettiest one:

So here are the free item coupons that Leah won:
• Free Brown Cow Cream Top Greek Yogurt
• Free box of Honey Bunches of Oats
• Free Dry Idea
• Free box of 20 Mule Team Borax

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Back here is my 2012 Shlissel Challah blog post (and also, er,  2011 post).  I've got some great pictures in there, so be sure to take a look.  There is so much controversy swirling around Shlissel Challah this year, I decided to write up a new post for 2013.

First thing's first.  What is "Shlissel Challah?"  Literally, it means "key" challah in Yiddish/German.  It is a  custom among Ashkenazic Jews to either place the key to their house inside the first post-Passover challah, or to make the challah in the actual shape of a key, and it is considered a "segulah for parnassah" or a foretoken for prosperity for the coming year.   If you are interested in the Jewish sources for this wonderful custom, please click on this wonderful explanatory post here.  If you are able to read Hebrew, here is a special prayer for recitation when you are making your shlissel challah.  Read the laws of Hafrashat Challah (separating the challah) here.

Now on to the controversy.  This fascinating article on Mesora.org, entitled The Loaf of Idolatry, is stirring up quite a lot of questions concerning the practice of baking Shlissel Challah, suggesting that the origins of this custom are not Jewish at all, but possibly arise from Christian or idolatrous sources.

In response to this article, a piece appeared on VosIzNeias.com, entitled Shlissel Challah, an Analysis, refuting the claims made in the Mesora.org article and stating that this custom is indeed of Jewish and Chassidish origin.

What do I think?  I have no idea.  My level of scholarship in original Jewish sources certainly isn't high enough to agree with or refute either of these articles. But I approach the whole idea of segulahs quite differently anyway, and so the question of this charming custom's origins are almost a moot point to me.

Many well-meaning friends have foisted all kinds of segulahs on me over the years.  There are segulahs for every kind of good fortune you can imagine:  getting married, having children, wealth, good health, long life, happy marriage, etc.  There are segulahs for finding lost objects and segulahs for keeping away the evil eye.  We are a culture that is absolutely swimming in segulahs.

So here's where it gets personal.  I am certainly no rabbi and definitely not a posek.  Not even close.  So please take whatever I say here with a grain of salt.  I don't believe in the power of segulahs as celestial game-changers.  I don't believe that someone will get married any more quickly because they drink from a bride's wineglass, or that someone will have a baby because they wear a ruby pendant, or that tying a red string around an infant's hand will keep it from harm.  I don't believe in magic, and I don't think there is any concept of magic in Judaism.  In our tradition and teachings, we learn that there are three "tools" that can change our fate in heaven for the better:  prayer, repentance and charity.  Those are, indeed, celestial game-changers.  So what are segulahs?  They are props, reminders, and cues of important messages, that help us change our lives for the better and develop ourselves, in order to effect positive change. What do I mean by this?

I don't believe that baking a challah in the shape of a key is going to ensure my husband and me a year of prosperity.  The shlissel challah is not magical. But if it serves as a reminder to me that God is the source for all of our sustenance and the Keeper of the key to our parnassah, and it brings out appreciation and acknowledgment for all that He has given us, that is one excellent segulah. And if a segulah is not a potent, magical object, but a prop or reminder, then suddenly its origins don't really seem all that important, as long as it creates change and dveykus in those who use it.  See what I mean?

Now again, I don't want to turn this into a religious discussion or a debate.  If you are dead set against Shlissel Challah, I respect your view.  And if you still want to embrace this custom, I respect your point of view as well.  Where am I standing?  My shlissel challah is currently rising on the counter, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

The few days after Passover are among the busiest of the year for me....not quite as crazybusy as the few days before Passover, but busy nevertheless. After a week away from work I am scrambling to catch up, besides the fact that my kitchen is still recovering from being "turned over" from Passover mode and my cupboards and fridge still need to be refilled with regular food. I confess that I don't have the time to make challah from scratch. But I do love this custom and won't be letting the first Shabbat after Passover go without my shlissel challah. So I make my shlissel challah with my favorite, delicious, frugal shortcut: Rhodes dough. You can get the recipe for Rhodes dough Shlissel Challah over here.

A picture of my 2013 shlissel challah is at the top of the post.  Well, at least, that's the raw-dough-before rising version.  I'll post a better picture after it comes out of the oven.  I've put out a few requests on Facebook for you, dear readers, to send me your Shlissel Challah pictures, as I'm posting them all in a massive Shlissel Challah Pinterest board.  Please keep them coming!  And just to make things interesting, I'm going to (very informally and totally subjectively) pick the best Shlissel Challah picture from this year's submissions and send that person a few free product coupons that I've been saving up.  (I'll let you know  what those free items are soon.)  Don't be afraid to comment on this post and tell me which shlissel challah you like the best (but be nice to all the others!).

Here are some of the 2013 Shlissel Challah pictures that I've gotten so far.

Caroline B., in Chicago, IL

Elyse B., in Charlotte, NC

Ellen F., in Atlanta, GA

Inna S. in Milwaukee, WI.

Karen S. in Denver, CO.

My 2013 Shlissel Challah, before and after

Jessica Z. in Denver, CO.

Leah D. in Denver, CO.

Keep the pictures coming!  You can post them on the Daily Cheapskate Facebook wall, or email them to me at frugalskate@gmail.com.

Some Shlissel Challah baking tips:

• If you're baking the challah in the shape of a key, keep the shape thin all around.  Challah rises!  And swells, and gets bumpy and misshapen, etc.  The thinner you keep it, the less room it will have to rise into an unrecognizable shape.
• Don't let the dough over-rise.  I usually let the dough rise twice, punching it down in between.  But for shlissel challah, I let it rise once. 
• If you're baking a regular challah and putting a key in it:  1) first wash the key very well in hot soapy water (keys are dirty and germy) 2) wrap the key in parchment paper or foil before you bury it in the challah; as my friend Smadar reminds me, keys contain lead. 3) put the key in a very obvious, easy place to find in your challah.  You don't want to be paying someone's dental bills because they bit down on your key!

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