Welcome the Shabbos Queen

There's a well-known Midrash on Genesis 24:67, that discusses the legacy of Sarah which was carried on by Rivka, namely a sheltering cloud over her tent (i.e. hospitality or transparency), a flame burned from one Shabbat to the next and there was blessing in her dough. What was the blessing in her dough? Rav Pinchas of Koretz offers a novel interpretation. Sarah's husband, Avraham, was a man of means, he explains. Eking out more dough was not a real concern in their household. They could afford all the flour they needed. Therefore the blessing was not about quantity. Rav Pinchas argues that the blessing must...

A fascinating website called the Jewish-American History Foundation has a remarkable letter a father wrote to President Abraham Lincoln, enjoining him to allow his son, then a Jewish soldier in the US Army, to observe Shabbat. To His Excellency Abraham Lincoln, the President of the United States. By your order of the 16th day of November, 1862, you recommend that the officers and men of the army shall observe the Sabbath and do no work on Sunday, because we are a Christian people. But according to the Declaration of Independence and according to the constitution of the United States, the...

Can you smear butter on your challah? Can you make a dairy challah with cheese inside? Both are doable, but with certain caveats. There are various halachos regarding the baking of bread and challah, and one of those is that bread should always be pareve. However, there are a few exceptions to the rule. Cheese may be put on top of the challah, if clearly visible. When making dairy challah one should only bake enough for one meal. If you want to add dairy ingredients (milk, butter, cheese) in the actual dough it must be shaped differently from typical bread or challah. So recipes like this Spinach...

At least three people in our household (namely me, my wife and our eldest daughter) wouldn't mind shedding a few pounds (actually kg on our scale, since we're in Israel). Obviously the first step is basic info: getting a benchmark figure for the calorie content of a typical portion of challah. When I looked up user-submitted calorie info posted on websites that seem to have automatically generated figures, I get ridiculous data ranging from 80 calories per serving to 320 calories per serving; not very helpful, especially since there's no indication what the "serving size" is.Websites maintained by bread bakeries...

I guess you could describe this challah cover in one word: "Wow." I keep coming back to the photo, and just gaze at it, wondering how the embroiderer at Kaftor Vaferach manages to get so much detail in. To get a good look, you have to view it on the manufacturer's website, here. Kaftor Vaferach is a veteran high-caliber textile and embroidery maker located in Jerusalem. They use very good quality velvet and offer a number of very successful designs. Most challah cover makers seem to be on one end of the spectrum or the other: (1) very colorful designs on satin or silk and...