Hafrashat Challah — The Challah Separation Ceremony and Prayer

The Order of Challah Separation

How and when must challah be separated?

Separation with a blessing: 1,666 grams of flour or more (some say 2,250 grams).

Separation without a blessing: from 1,200 grams of flour up to 1,666 grams (some say up to 2,250 grams).

Exempt: less than 1,200 grams of flour.

1. The dough should be kneaded and set aside in a place where it can rise.

After the dough has risen, place the mass of dough before you

before shaping it into any form.

If the dough is very soft — such as a cake batter — and it is impossible to take a piece from it,

or if you forgot to separate challah from the dough before baking,

separate challah after baking.

When separating after baking, cover all the baked items requiring separation with a cloth,

recite the blessing, and separate the challah.

(Of course, do not taste the baked goods before you have separated challah from them.)

2. Some women follow the custom of giving tzedakah and washing their hands (from a vessel) without a blessing before fulfilling this commandment,

and one says:

"For the sake of the unification of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shekhinah,

in awe and in love, and in love and in awe,

to unify the name Yud-Heh with Vav-Heh in perfect unity,

in the name of all Israel.

Behold, I come to separate challah as a sacred portion,

as our Sages of blessed memory have ordained for us.

May the sweetness of the Lord our God be upon us,

and may He establish the work of our hands for us —

the work of our hands, may He establish it."

3. Recite the blessing for challah separation

(it is customary to stand when fulfilling this commandment):

Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the universe,

who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to separate challah as a sacred portion.

(Ashkenazim say: challah from the dough.)

4. Take a small piece from the dough, lift it up, and say:

"This is challah."

The piece may be of any size.

The custom is to separate challah in the measure of an olive's bulk (approximately 28 grams),

a piece roughly the size of a ping-pong ball.

This moment is an auspicious time for personal requests and prayers.

5. Burn the piece,

or wrap it in two coverings and discard it in the garbage.

Prayer after the Separation of Challah:

May it be Your will, Adonai our God and God of our forefathers,

that the Temple be rebuilt swiftly in our days,

and grant us our portion in Your Torah,

and there we will serve You in reverence as in days of old and years gone by.

And may the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasing to Adonai

as in days of old and years gone by.

May it be Your will, Adonai our God and God of our forefathers,

that the commandment of challah separation be counted as though I fulfilled it in all its details and nuances,

and may the lifting of the challah that I raise

be like the sacrifice that was offered upon the altar and was received with favor.

Just as in former times the challah was given to the priest and brought atonement for sins,

so may it bring atonement for my sins,

and then may I be as though I were born anew, clean of sin and wrongdoing,

and may I be able to fulfill the commandments of the holy Shabbat and the festivals

with my husband and our children,

to be nourished from the holiness of these days.

And through the influence of the mitzvah of challah, may our children

always be nourished from the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He,

in the fullness of His mercy and His kindness and His great love.

And may the mitzvah of challah be accepted as though I had given it to the priest.

And just as I fulfill the mitzvah of challah with a whole heart,

so may the compassion of the Holy One, blessed be He, be stirred

to guard me from sorrow and pain all my days.

Amein.