Why do we braid the Challah?

What is the symbolism of braiding the challah

A.
One of the answers that has always resonated with me is based on a Kabbalistic explanation for the opening prayers of the Kabbalat Shabbat,Friday evening service. The lead up to the beloved Lecha Dodi prayer consists of six prayers taken from Tehillim,the book of Psalms.
The Kabbalah teaches that each one of those six prayers is an opportunity to mend whatever it is that needs fixing on each of the corresponding days of the week, a chance to bring some measure of mental closure to the unfinished business of a typical week. This practice is not a substitute for taking care of our responsibilities, we can and must resume them with renewed vigor in the coming week,rather Shabbat is a brief period of pausing /cooling off from all the complexities of our lives.This is a Jewish way of saying "the stuff of my life is too integral a part of me to just simply leave behind,but I still need to figure out a way to embrace my life in all its complexity, without allowing it to imprison me emotionally or stunt my spiritual progress.This is the magical spell that Is cast onto the collective Jewish soul, as Shabbat gently flows over us and we are reminded to reclaim the enchantment of our lives.
From this perspective the braiding of the challah symbolizes the weaving of our weekday mentality into a Shabbat state of mind,a sudden BRAIDING of CHOL weekday mindset into a more sublime Shabbat driven consciousness

WE ARE G-D YOUR G-D

Last week Parshat Yitro,we soared upwards,souls floating in the clouds above Sinai,as Torah was transferred into human awareness, getting our collective Jewish consciousness reinstalled,once again,allowing us to re boot our entire spiritual operating system. We heard the Ten Commandments beginning with ANOCHI HASHEM ELOKECHA I am G-d YOUR G-d . Despite the power of last weeks spiritual moment,it was merely the embarking,certainly not the finale of our own personal spiritual odyssey. This week we have descended down to become re grounded in the base-camp of the actual lives we lead. We are reminded that our experience must take place primarily at the foot of the mountain not at its summit. This week we read , "AND these are the laws the Mishpatim " as if to say AND now folks lets roll up our sleeves,and commence the hard spiritual work of Fastening the "high" of Sinai,onto the level stable landscape of our prosaic existence. For us that means clearing a "walkable path through the Sinai Blizzard of G-dly love. Last week G-d drew us up into his world,this week we reciprocate by hosting G-d and welcoming him into our world.The Jewish secret lies in how we walk a human walk,yet still hum a divine melody,calibrating the two truths. How so ? The Mitzvot that we start reading about this week,are ways of being,that encompass the full spectrum of human endeavor,that lead us,by performing them,to our inner truth,and point us toward the G-d that moves within. We echo the divine Anochi with our own human Anochi , It would sound like this. I,Anochi,am (insert your own name),a physical being,finite,sometimes petty,sometimes sad,sometimes hurtful to myself and others,sometimes not able to connect with anything spiritual at all. That however is only one side of me, my lower consciousness if you will. There is another identity in me. I Anochi, (again insert your name,preferably Hebrew this time) am a spiritual being,a container bearing a chunk of G-d within me ,albeit in a human form. At that level we can respond back to G-d,and say,"I too am Hashem Elokecha". When our whole being is laden with Mitzvot,then we are the continuity of the truth sounded at Sinai. Our whole being screams out this week, "it's our turn ",we call out with love and proclaim to the heavenly realms ,and all its hosts ,"We are g-d your G-d". Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yossi

IT'S YOM KIPPUR TOMORROW

Tomorrow is Yom Kippur and Shavuot, Chanukah and Purim, Tomorrow is the Mishna, Talmud, Midrash, Zohar and Chumash. Tomorrow is the Siddur, the Haggadah, and the Psalms from King David. Tomorrow is the first second, and third temple wrapped in one, Tomorrow is Isaiah and Jeremiah, Moses and Miriam, Maimonides and Nachmanides, Rabbi Akivah, and Rav Kook Tomorrow is King Solomon, King David the Baal Shemtov, and the Messiah. Tomorrow is my Rebbe. Tomorow is your Rebbe. Tomorrow is Shalom Aleichem, Mah Nishmah, Gutt Yom tov, Chag Sameach, Shabbat Shalom, and Shana Tovah. Tomorrow is Borscht, latkes, chicken soup ,(MANNA??) Bagels and cream Cheese, (low-fat of course), Tzimmes, lokshen Kugel, Knaidlach, and Challah Tomorrow we celebrate Yiddihskeit, menshlichkeit, nareshkeit, and any other Keits I may have overlooked. Tomorrow we are Schlemiels and Shlumps, Schlimazels and Shmendricks. Tomorrow “I don’t like the way you look, ARE YOU EATING “? Tomorrow we go to the Mikvah. Tomorrow we sing Hava Nagila, Oseh Shalom, The Niggun Of Reb Michel of Zlotchov, and KOL HAOLOM KULO GESHER TZAR MEOD, (the whole world is a very narrow bridge) but its not a big deal since Reb Nachman reminds us that the “IKKAR” (most important thing) is “LO LEPHACHED KLAll”!!! , That we have nothing to fear at all”. Tomorrow Reb Zushe reminds us that the most important thing to remember when we come to heaven is that they WONT ask us why we were not like Abraham or Moses, but they will call us out if were weren’t R Zushe, if we weren’t ourselves. Tomorrow we sit in the sukkah and get soaked, eat herring, have a drop of Schnapps, and say Lchaim. Tomorrow is the most important day on the Jewish calendar Tomorrow is the reason we even have a Jewish calendar. Tomorrow we will read the portion of Yitro. In it we read about G-d giving the Torah to the Jewish people. Everything that transpired from creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel,Noah and Family Ark and all, from Abraham Isaac and Jacob Sarah Rivkah Rachel and Leah, to Joseph and pharaoh, slavery and redemption, sea splitting etc. Was all synchronized to be a lead up to this epic historic moment. As a result, every subsequent meaningful Jewish moment, every statement, all the wisdom, all the ups downs, holidays, sayings, foods, jokes, groups, as well as every great leader, can all be traced to that singular definitive moment, when Heaven met earth and G-d formally drafted us to be ambassadors of Holiness, and enlisted us to be co light Shiners in the greatest spiritual adventure ever known to mankind. What we observe and don't observe, what we believe in or don’t, whether we consider ourselves orthodox reform conservative, or whether we are orthoformative, atheistic, Chassidic, agnostic, Sephardic or Askenazic, affiliated, or not, reconstructionist, deconstructionist, non denomenational, pre or post denominational, neochasidic or otherwise, all of who we are, and how we identify, can be tracked back directly or indirectly to what was conveyed at the Foot of Sinai. When we read about the giving of the Torah tomorrow and we Stand and listen to the Ten Commandments being read, we have all the right ingredients for a powerful Jewish experience, one In which we can close our eyes, open our hearts and souls, to meditate and reflect, and drift to our inner space of gratitude. Why not make a holiday out of this Shabbat? I m not quite sure, perhaps it would compete with Shavuot, the holiday in which Mattan Torah (giving of the Torah) actually happened. Or its because sometimes by making a bigger deal about something, we run the risk of overlooking its key message, and its best to acknowledge it in a more private, inward, low key, heartfelt Kavanah filled fashion. Either way there is an immense energy hovering there and we can leverage it into a deep and moving moment of sacredness and transformation. Tomorrow we will celebrate our Chuppah! Mazal Tov, and Shabbat Shalom

Keeping warm(th)

I was part of the wave of young Rabbi s sent to the USSR in 1989 -90 .It was exciting to be part the post glasnost Jewish renaissance.We were thrust into this situation,with very little training or formal orientation. We were armed with a blessing from the Rebbe,our youthful naïveté and enthusiasm ,and a suitcase filled with the currency of the day, American Dollars, Levi's jeans, and assorted Revlon products,which when produced, magically turned sold out flights,trains,and hotel rooms into available ones! We arrived in Minsk on a wintry Erev Purim and were whisked right from the train to the house of an elderly Russian Jew who had passed away. We were the first rabbi s that many of these people had interacted with,especially the young ones,and the pressure was intense and the expectations seemed unrealistic. After about a week ( yes I know it sound s impossible )I was speaking fairly passable Russian and when I returned back to states I was speaking fluently. In the beginning however it was rough going. So I m sitting in this home with all the bereaved relatives,and these starving hungry souls are looking to me for something.How do you feed a hungry soul ,that s been starving for over seventy years,ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T SPEAK THE LANGUAGE ! On a whim I just started singing . A song popped out of my soul and went straight to my voice ,totally bypassing my brain " ..Oiphen priperchik Brent a fayerul ,uhn in shtub is hais ....." It's a sweet slightly sad Yiddish lullaby that describes a cold winter night in a village in Russia ,but inside the house it s warm ,there is a small stove providing the HEAT ,but there is a "Rebbele " a wizened elderly teacher of our faith instructing a small little child in the aleph bet , that is providing the WARMTH . Then the most amazing thing happened ,I realized I was not singing alone , an entire room of elderly soviet Jews was singing with me , Tears were flowing down all of our faces .We had established a common language,a common soul,a shared yearning and sense of nostalgia for the spiritual warmth of our faith. At that moment I realized that although that warmth, that YIDDISHE NESHAMA (Jewish Soul )often lies dormant within us,either due to being preoccupied with The fast pace of our lives,a Jewish upbringing utterly devoid of the more spiritual experiential part of Judaism ,or due tragically to the brutal oppression of a Stalinist regime , that warmth is nevertheless always there , lurking just beneath the surface of our consciousness , and there is no better way to raise a submerged sense of soulfulness than with one of the heartfelt melodies of our people. The way to unlock the door to corrupt Russian bureaucracy was a few cartons of revlon and some American dollars The way to unlock the spiritually starved soul of the Russian Jew was with that Yiddish song oiphen priperchik In the past week I ve spent every spare Moments next to my beloved fireplace basking in its warmth,and realized that the discussions of how cold it is outside and wether our heat is working properly,leads us naturally to reflect on coldness and warmth of a more personal spiritual nature . National grid provides the heat, our faith and yiddishkeit supplies us with the warmth Today I can truly say I m grateful for both ! Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yossi

Holy Chevron

On an Egged bus to CHEVRON (Hebron) with my twins .

If Jew s have a pilgrimage to our origins,a journey to trace our roots ,this has to be it .
We begin to teach our children at a tender young age about the stories of our patriarchs and matriarchs ,and they recite it thrice daily in the Amidah Prayer ,"אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו ,Our G-d and the G-d of our fathers".

My hope and prayer for my children and I as we journey to the burial grounds of our holy ancestors ,is that it sparks an inner parallel journey toward the spiritual energy of those same ancestors ,that are buried as well in our own psyches,implanted deep within the collective consciousness and sacred imagination of every Jew.

This will help them make the connection,that the sacred spirit that coursed through the lofty souls of Abraham and Sarah ,flows through our souls as well.

אלקי אבותינו , the g-d of Abraham is indeed אלקינו, our g-d and the g-d of our children.

Tears stream down my eyes as the bus winds it s way up the narrow roadways and I imagine my ancestors,trekking through these same winding paths.

These majestic ,somewhat perilous, mountainous pathways are symbolic of the spiritual journeys we must also undertake as we venture into the unknown often craggy terrain of our own lives, guided by the same faith as Avraham when he embarked on his "Lech Lecha "journey,that continues through us as well today.

I m listening to a cantorial piece by Yitzchok Meir Helfgott accompanied by Itzhak Perlman ,from the new album aptly titled" Eternal Echoes ".

It popped up magically as if the Judean hills were mystically coordinating somehow with the shuffle feature on my iPad.

The lyrics are from the prayer that we recite at the end of the Amidah prayer.

"Yehi ratzon meelephanecha hashem elokainu velokai avotaynu sheyeebaneh
Bait hamikdosh beeymhayrah beeyamaynu vetayn chelkaynu betoratecha."

"May it be your will our G-d and G-d of our fathers that the Holy Temple be rebuilt speedily in our days ."

As I watched my daughters pour their hearts out to G-d in the presence of the spirit of Avraham and Sara,Yitzchak and Rivkah ,and Yaakov and Leah,I
felt a piece of the temple restored in that holy moment .

I will fasten myself to this moment and bring it back home, and though I won't have to declare it at customs,its certainly more valuable to me than anything else I will have brought!

Winding down a most HEAVENLY day in a slightly more EARTHLY way,with dinner at
Burgers Bar,on Emek Refaim street in the German colony.

Layla Tov !

It s good to be home !!

On the flight from Heathrow to to tel aviv,it hit me how ironic it is that the one time of the year that you can find Jews and Muslims and Christians together is on Christmas Day,either on the picturesque ski slopes of New England ,or on planes headed to Israel. The Christians who are working the holiday shifts,either because they volunteered for double or triple pay,or had the bad luck to be chosen,are all disgruntled and moody. Though the temporary theological solidarity that the Jews and Muslims share is based more on the Christian faith that we don't embrace and less on our abrahamic roots ,it s still something I guess . Then I wake up in Israel and read in the morning paper about an Arab bakery in Jaffa that starts making Sufganiyot a month before Chanukah and is still making them now ,selling about two hundred and fifty of them a day ! Given all that how hard would it be to just acknowledge our eternal connection to our homeland ארץ ישראל ,then we could celebrate annually by establishing dec 25th as a day when Jews and Muslims all over the world eat Sufganiyot together . Until that day comes however, we must do everything in our power to be unconditionally supportive of the only place in the world that every Jew can really call home!

Happy Third Day of Chanukah!

The BeadleIn Jewish life in Eastern Europe, one of the most important positions in the Synagogue “Shul life” was also the least celebrated. He was affectionately known as the “Shamesh” (beadle), caretaker of the shul.Truth is he was far more than a simple caretaker of the Shul. The entire being of the Shamesh was in perfect sync with all the rhythms of Jewish life and the flow of the community. He was the one, always in the background, who truly nurtured the soul of the Jewish community, the quintessential giver, forever in the mode of serving as the name connotes. Le’shamesh, his entire identity was always ready to serve G-d and his people.Tonight as we bask in the glow of the third candle, let us remember that our own lights shine brightest when we act like a Shamesh and help kindle the light of an other.Chanuka SameachRabbi Yossi