Tales of a Jewish Bride-to-Be: Challah Back Girl

Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2007 8:49 PM

Yesterday Adam and I re-opened one of our engagement presents. I use the term re-opened because it had been given to us in Chicago by my bubbe and zayde over Thanksgiving (when we first got engaged).

It was a huge box that had two boxes inside it -- one contained our challah (bread) board with knife (and crumb-catcher); the other a beautiful black challah cover that had Shabbat Shalom and Yom Tov written on it. Adam looked at it and said: when you move in, I want us to have Shabbat on Fridays. The thought of lighting candles and cutting a fresh-baked challah with the man I love is an incredible thought.... it was harder trying to figure out a place to put it.  We don't exactly have a lot of places for such items in our dining room. We have an old record player that is doubling as a mail holder ... and a cabinet that currently is home to his grandmother's antique (and not so antique) tchotchkes.

But once I moved the menorah ... and folded up the challah cover (still in the plastic) we found a home for the challah board (two shelves below the kiddush cup they gave him). Having Shabbat at home is something neither of us has done on a regular basis... but now that we will be in OUR home we can do whatever we want. We've got all the ingredients for a perfect Shabbat -- all I need to do is get to Stoneground for that challah. What? I love Shabbat traditions but this Jewish bride draws the line at baking her own bread.