Hafrashat Challah: Meaning, Origins, and the Spiritual Power Behind This Trending Mitzvah

It’s trendy, it’s popular, it’s meaningful — and some say it brings spiritual blessings and yeshuot (salvations). But what’s the real story behind hafrashat challah — separating challah?

Originally, it is a halachic obligation requiring anyone who prepares dough weighing more than 1.6 kilograms (though there are differing opinions regarding the precise amount) to recite the blessing:

“Baruch Atah Hashem, our God, King of the universe, who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to separate challah.” (Sephardic tradition adds: “…and commanded us to separate challah as a terumah.”)

One then takes a small portion of about 30 grams, holds it, and declares: “This is challah.” The separated piece must be wrapped in two coverings and discarded in the garbage. Some women recite a special prayer afterward.

The mitzvah can be performed by both men and women, but it is traditionally associated primarily with women.

The Role of the Kohanim

“Hafrashat challah is a mitzvah from the Torah,” explains Rabbi Pinchas Badush. “It is forbidden to eat from dough that has not had challah separated from it — this is a Torah prohibition. This is not a custom and not a stringency. Of course, within the mitzvah there are also spiritual benefits, which is why women sometimes gather in large groups to perform it together.

“In some homes the mitzvah is rarely performed, because today we buy bread from the bakery and cakes from the patisserie. Certain organizations or individuals have therefore decided to make this important mitzvah more available to the general public. There is indeed great spiritual power and significance in praying during hafrashat challah. This applies at all times and in every place.”

Originally, the purpose of the mitzvah was to separate a portion of dough and give it to the Kohanim (priests). Today, without a Temple, we burn and discard it. So what is the point?

Rabbi Badush explains: “The obligation applies to the dough itself. Yes, there are Kohanim today — but they cannot eat the challah portion because they are considered ritually impure due to contact with the dead. However, the lack of ritually pure Kohanim is a technical issue, not an essential one. Since today’s Kohanim are not in a state of purity, we throw it away. But the prohibition of eating dough without separating challah remains.”

A Deeper Spiritual Meaning

Rabbi Yiftach Sofer offers another explanation for the mitzvah:
“Because Eve fed Adam from the Tree of Knowledge, and even before that — the Holy One took dust and formed the human, there is a parallel here. A woman takes flour and water and creates dough, which echoes the creation of humanity. In essence, this mitzvah is a form of tikkun (spiritual repair) for the sin of the Tree of Knowledge.

“The importance of separating challah is very great, as the Mishnah in Shabbat teaches: women are judged during childbirth for three things — Niddah, Challah, and lighting the Shabbat candle.”

The Experience of a Challah Gathering

To better understand what actually happens at a challah event — and what draws women to them, we turned to Ronit Sheinfeld, a regular participant and organizer of these gatherings.

“The first time I heard the phrase ‘hafrashat challah,’ I didn’t really know what to expect,” Ronit shares. “I didn’t understand how flour, yeast, and water could create miracles. I didn’t imagine that a dough from which a piece is separated could actually change a person’s life.

“I debated for a long time about this mitzvah, wondering if kneading and baking really meant anything. It seemed to me like an ancient practice that someone forgot to label with an expiration date. As someone who likes to understand the deeper meaning of things, I wanted to uncover the true essence of what hafrashat challah represents. It couldn’t be that the whole point was simply to save us from buying challahs for Shabbat. There had to be something more.

“The more I explored the sources, the more I discovered that the secret lies in the spiritual intervention — the divine energy that we infuse into the most basic element on earth: bread.

“The Zohar states that a woman who consistently fulfills hafrashat challah can change her fate — and even influence it. I decided not to miss such an opportunity. It felt right for me to redirect my life toward something better, toward a place of peace.

“The higher intervention in my dough did its work. My life began moving on a stable path without sharp storms or emotional turbulence. The blessed energy I brought into my challah scattered the clouds that had hovered over me for many years — just as the Zohar promised.”