Making challah has been a tradition in Jewish families for centuries. This weekend thousands of Jewish women around the world held challah bakes as part of the Shabbat Project, which started in South Africa in 2013. At that time, no one dreamed it would reach the most far-flung communities on the globe, including New Zealand.
While many communities were forced to hold the event virtually due to Covid restrictions, Auckland, New Zealand was very fortunate to be able to have a live event, where over a hundred women took part in an evening of inspiration, unity, and of course, baking challah.
Drawing together the many threads of New Zealand Jewry, like the strands of the Challah, a wonderful evening was shared with inspirational speakers, live musical performances, and women sharing personal stories of how Shabbat has enriched their lives, and what it means to them to be a Jewish woman in 2020.
One attendee said, “I haven’t felt this in years. You can feel the love and respect between women from all different walks of life. Tonight was truly inspiring.”
The Great Big Challah bake in Auckland NZ was held for the second year running, drawing different organizations together, giving their time and effort to make it the huge success it proved to be.
At the Great Big Challah Bake, every woman received a kit of all the ingredients needed to each make their own dough and braid their own loaves to take home to their families.
It was an evening filled with spiritual meaning, prayer, passing on traditions, and uniting as one – truly a special sight to behold.
The night ended with a live performance from a professional singer in the community, music, and dancing.
The event was live-streamed at the globalchallahbake.com together with virtual challah bakes happening all over the world.
Shluchim Rabbi Mendel and Esther Hecht moved to New Zealand in 2018, and found a country with many Jews and very little Jewish infrastructure. Basic necessities like kosher food and arba minim are extremely difficult to get hold of, and the Jewish population has limited access to many Jewish services.
In the short time they have been there they have established a Chabad House which welcomes over 40 people each Shabbos, and holds multiple minyanim and classes each week. They also run a fast-growing Hebrew School, CTEEN chapter, and Camp Gan Israel. Chabad of Auckland is known as a warm community center, and has become a hub for the many Jews who had no place to express their Jewish identity.
The Great Big Challah Bake was a true display of unity, with a group of different Jewish organizations who came together to make the evening the huge success it was. “Tonight was history in the making,” says Esther Hecht. “It marks the beginning of a new, more unified chapter for Jews in Auckland, and I’m proud to have been a part of it.”
Kol hakavod great job