Whenever I get a request for an interview, especially when it’s for TV, I find myself saying: “We can speak about anything. But I won’t bake Challah.”
It’s not that I don’t bake Challah. I like to think of making very tasty Challah. But the connection between Jewish women and Challah annoys me a great deal. If one continues this thought, the stereotype becomes complete. The Jewish woman in the kitchen. I don’t have to fit into every cliché.
My Challah baking is for myself, my family, my friends, my guests. Not to confirm other people’s bias. Others like to do that. I like to think of it as division labour.
This year, on the Wednesday after Pessach, Passover, I realise that Challot will be needed for Shabbat. Of course I have none in the freezer, because it was just Pessach. I get mentally ready for the task and write “yeast” on my shopping list. As I sit in the kitchen and think about what I will make for the Shabbat meals, I scroll through different posting on social media. One post catches my eye. It’s about a Bat Mitzvah Club. That is a club where girls learn what it means to become Jewish women, before they turn 12. It’s the counterpart to the boys’ Bar Mitzvah classes a year later.
I see a group of girls, all smiling into the camera. Beneath the picture I read the following caption: “The Bat Mitzvah Club girls bake their first Challah after Pessach.”
I notice how I start to become upset. Is there nothing else the girls can learn? Really? Baking Challah? How about some Halacha? Or Mitzvot? The Judaism is so full on knowledge. One can discover so many things. Instead they bake?
I have to admit that I have no idea what else they learnt in this specific Bat Mitzvah Club. Maybe usually they sit around Tora passages and interpret them. Why can’t they also bake Challah, for a change? Nothing bad about it. Challot are an important part of the Shabbat meal. And also, every girl should try things out to see where her talents are. It could also be, they were learning about Shabbat and the Challa is the practical part of the learning.
A part of me is laughing at myself. I know we are years away from this and change is slow and difficult. I push my thoughts aside. Yet, one more question remains:
Do boy also bake Challa during the Bar Mitzvah preparation in their Bar Mitzvah Club?