Twebrew School

Two complete loaves of bread, called challah, are used for Ha’motzee, the blessing over the bread. The challah should be covered from before Kiddush until everyone is ready for the blessing over the challah after the ritual hand washing. One reason that the challah is covered is because one would normally recite the blessing over bread before any other blessing, but on Shabbat, the blessing on wine is recited first. The bread is covered so that it should not “feel shamed” at having lost its natural place of honor. The purpose, of course, is not to protect the “feelings” of an inanimate object--since it would not have feelings--but to teach us a lesson about respecting our fellow human beings and going out of our way not to shame them. The person making the blessing over the challah gently marks the challah to be cut with a knife and then raises the challahs and recites the blessing. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Ba’ruch A

Challah, known to some as "Jewish bread," is one of the essential elements of the Shabbat table. Each of the three Shabbat meals begins with the blessing over two loaves of Challah, which are then cut and shared with all present. Bread has special significance in Judaism. It represents the great potential that God put in the world. Bread begins as a seed, grows into wheat (which is still inedible), is winnowed and ground before it is transformed into flour and dough, which is then baked into bread. All this from a small kernel of wheat! Because of its stature as the “staple” food, the blessing over bread is recited at the beginning of the meal and "covers" all further foods eaten during the meal*. There is, however, special significance to the blessing of ha’mo’tzee (the bread blessing) when recited over two loaves at the Shabbat table. The two loaves serve as a reminder that in the wilderness God provided manna (the heavenly bread) every day except on Shabbat. Thr