Challah
The Complete Guide to Preparing for Hafrashat Challah: Meaning, Customs, and Spiritual Power
Why washing hands, lighting candles, and giving charity elevate the mitzvah and open the gates of blessing
Before we begin the mitzvah of separating challah, there are several recommended preparations:
Washing hands
Giving charity
Lighting a candle
These preparations are not obligatory (other than washing hands if your hands are not clean and you will be making a blessing). They are meaningful customs that enhance the mitzvah and express our joy in performing it.
Washing Hands Before Separating Challah
Before separating challah with a blessing, it is proper to wash each hand once.
The halachic authorities write that “hands are busy” and not always clean, so it is respectful to wash hands before performing any mitzvah that includes a blessing (Magen Avraham 128:6).
If a woman knows her hands are not clean — washing is obligatory.
If she is unsure — washing is recommended but not required.
The washing is done without a blessing.
Lighting Candles Before Separating Challah
Many women have the custom to light candles in honor of righteous tzaddikim, so that their merit should stand for us.
Examples:
Lighting a candle for Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes, while saying the traditional prayer “Eloka d’Meir aneini” twice.
Lighting a candle for Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, may his merit protect us.
Lighting for any tzaddik you feel connected to.
If it is the hilula (anniversary of passing) of a tzaddik, many women light a candle in his honor on that day.
Why light a candle?
Rabbeinu Bechaye writes that the soul benefits from the lighting of a candle, because the soul is spiritual — and light, too, is spiritual. Since the soul is drawn to things similar to itself, it benefits from a candle lit in its honor. As Shlomo HaMelech wrote: “The soul of man is the candle of Hashem.” (Mishlei 20:27)
When we light a candle for a tzaddik, we bring the tzaddik spiritual pleasure — and in that merit, he advocates on our behalf (Divrei Soferim 62).
Important guidelines when lighting candles:
1. Mention the tzaddik’s name
When lighting, say clearly that you are lighting the candle in honor of the tzaddik, and say his name.
The Ben Ish Chai teaches that mentioning the name brings joy to the soul of the tzaddik, even from afar (Responsa Torah L’Shmah 420).
2. Do not pray to the tzaddik
We do not ask the tzaddik to answer our prayers. Instead, as the Mishnah Berurah writes, we ask: “May Hashem have mercy on me in the merit of the righteous.”
3. A separate candle for each tzaddik
If lighting for several tzaddikim, light one candle per tzaddik.
Giving Charity Before Separating Challah
If possible, it is good to give charity before performing the mitzvah, and then pray with intention.
The Ben Ish Chai writes: “Some women give coins to charity before separating challah, before lighting Shabbat candles, and before immersion. The acronym is Ch-N-H (Challah, Niddah, Hadlaka).”
(Ben Ish Chai, Lech Lecha, Year 2, 6)
Why give charity first?
So that the power of charity joins with the mitzvah of challah, and together they help our prayers be accepted. The Rambam writes that through the merit of charity, prayers are answered (Laws of Gifts to the Poor 10:15).
The Mitzvah
We washed our hands, we may have lit candles for the souls of tzaddikim, and we gave charity.
A moment of deep spiritual favor has arrived — and now we can begin the mitzvah of hafrashat challah, separating challah with holiness and joy.
