Dough offering

The tradition & historical record

In Judaism, the dough offering (or separation of challah, Hebrew: הפרשת חלה) is a positive commandment requiring the owner of bread dough to give a part of the kneaded dough to a kohen (Jewish priest). The obligation to separate the dough offering (henceforth: challah) from the dough begins the moment the dough is kneaded, but may also be separated after the loaves are baked. This commandment is one of the twenty-four priestly gifts. By biblical law the commandment is only obligatory in the Land of Israel, but rabbinic law applies it also to bread made outside the Land of Israel. The common modern practice in Orthodox Judaism is to burn (although simply throwing away the dough in a double-wrapped container is allowed) the portion to be given the Kohen, although giving the challah to a Kohen for consumption is permitted—even encouraged—outside Israel (permitted with restrictions, see article below for detail). ¹

The offering is commanded in Numbers 15:17–21: ¹

Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you enter the land where I bring you, then it shall be, that when you eat of the food of the land, you shall lift up an offering to the Lord. Of the first of your dough you shall lift up a cake as an offering; as the offering of the threshing floor, so you shall lift it up. From the first of your dough you shall give to the Lord an offering throughout your generations. In the above passage "cake" is hallah (Hebrew: חלה) while "of dough" is ʿarisah (עריסה). The return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile marked a renewal in adherence to numerous commandments, and the dough offering, "the first fruits of our dough," is listed as one of them (Nehemiah 10:38). ¹

The Mishnah and Jerusalem Talmud contain a tractate named Challah dealing with the dough offering. The halakhic codification of the mitzvah appears in Shulhan Arukh, Yoreh Deah 322 and Mishneh Torah Bikkurim 5:1. ¹

The mitzvah of challah is one mitzvah with two parts: (1) separating the required dough (Hafrashat challah), (2) giving the dough to a Kohen (Netinat Challah). Nachmanides and the Tosafist Isaiah di Trani explain that it is the actual giving of the Challah portion to the Kohen that is the primary component of the Mitzvah. ¹

Only the five species of grain require the separation of the dough offering: wheat, barley, spelt, wild barley (or oats), and rye. Challah and tithes may not be taken from dough made from "new" grain (chadash) on behalf of dough made from "old" grain (yashan). Certain preparations of dough were exempt from the duty of separating the dough-offering, such as Sūfgenīn dough that was made with a thin-batter, variously mixed with spices or milk-products, and deep-fried in oil to be made into fritters. Included in this exemption is dough that has been kneaded with milk and honey to be deep-fried over a stove into honey-cakes (Hebrew: dūḇshanīn). Although exempt from the dough-offering, they still require the separation of regular tithes. The Jerusalem Talmud makes the exemption of separating the dough-offering contingent upon breadstuffs that have been cooked in a frying pan or pot over a stove, rather than baked in an oven. If these were baked as bread in an oven, they would still require the separation of the dough-offering. A quantity of dough equalling 1.6 kilogram or more which was prepared to make hardened biscuits (Hebrew: qanūḇqa’ot) requires the separation of the dough offering. ¹

The minimal quantity of dough whose preparation mandates the performance of the Mitzvah is quantified by Chazal as a portion of flour equivalent to 43 and 1/5 eggs, also known as one omer. In modern terms; ¹

The quantity that requires reciting a blessing is about 1.64 kg. (Some only recite a blessing if the quantity is above 2.25 kg.) A quantity of flour weighing between approximately 2 lb 11oz (1.23 kg) and 3 lb 11oz (1.666 kg) qualifies for giving Challah but no blessing is recited. The Torah does not specify what quantity of dough must be given to the kohen. This is discussed in the Talmud; the rabbinical stipulation is that 1/24 is to be given in the case of private individuals, and 1/48 in the case of a commercial bakery. If no separation is done while cooking, it can be done after baking without a blessing. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Dough offering”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Dough offering is biblical injunction to separate a tithe from bread, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 6 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²