Take part in the Great Challah Bake

More than 1,000 Nassau County women from kids to seniors are expected to participate in the third annual Great Challah Bake on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 6:45 p.m. at the Sands Atlantic Beach at 1395 Beech St. in Atlantic Beach.

The event attracts a diverse group of local Jewish women: businesswomen, mothers of school children, daughters of Holocaust survivors, women with little or no knowledge of Jewish tradition, ladies who bake their own challah regularly, and everyone in between. Many bring their daughters, sister, mothers, aunts, nieces and cousins with them. The theme of this year’s bake is “keeping it together,” tying together this ancient practice that all Jews enjoy taking part in.

Participants will learn how to prepare and braid two challahs, as well as the historical significance of this delicious bread, for an all-inclusive ticket price of $36, baking supplies, instructions, musical entertainment, an apron, raffle prizes, and a recipe book are included.

Thursday night’s Challah Bake is a precursor to a larger, international event on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 11 & 12. Called the Shabbat Project, it is a coordinated event taking place at the same time in 500 cities around the world that all Jews can be part of. Guidelines on how to observe the Sabbath will be given out at the Challah Bake, showing how easy it is to do.

Participants of the Challah Bake may sign up for the opportunity to spend the Jewish Sabbath (Friday at sundown through Saturday at sundown) with a local family, to experience the a authentic, traditional Sabbath. “Shabbat enables us to [unplug for a day and] set aside the distractions, demands and pressures of daily life, offering us the time and space to renew our inner selves and to reinvigorate our most important relationships,” said Rabbi Warren Goldstein, chief Rabbi of South Africa and founder of the Shabbat Project.

A participant from last year’s challah bake, Teri Gatti Schure said, “I was moved to tears at the sight of 1,000 women dancing, singing, and baking challah together. I couldn’t help but wish that my mother-in-law, who was a Holocaust survivor, could have been there with me.”

To register for this event, go to thegreatchallahbakelistyle.eventbrite.com.

If you would like to volunteer at the event, or host people to experience Shabbat at your home, email thegreatchallahbakelistyle@gmail.com. To keep abreast of the event: #keepingittogether