At this time of year in our bakeries, we find the unique shape of the challah only to be used at the dawn of the new year – The Circle. In Jewish bakeries and in Jewish kitchens around the world at this moment, you can only find round challot. And oh, how sweet and heavenly it is, dipped in honey. Yum!
Most rabbis explain that this round shape is a symbol of the year. The year is circular, without end, just as the round challah is circular, without end. This year, I would like to add an additional explanation. These challot are round, yes, but they are also undulating. They are rarely perfectly smooth, and many even have sweet raisins, which make the texture of the challah, that much more uneven. The circular nature of the challah represents the circular nature of the year. Additionally, the uneven, undulating nature of the challah represents how our years are never perfectly smooth, without bumps. Rather, they are filled with peaks and valleys, highs and lows. The beauty, for me, is recognizing that all of it is scrumptious: the circle, the peaks and the valleys. And it is most sweet, when it is shared.
May 5782 be a year for all of us, where we celebrate and embrace all the aspects of the year. For no year is without blemish, but rather it is filled with highs and lows. May we remember that the year, like the round challah, has peaks and valleys, yet all of it is blessedly good.
May you have a happy and healthy New Year. Shanah Tovah U’metukah, Rabbi Robbie Weiner
