A Loaf for the Creator - Shelach 5786

What comes to mind when we use the word Challah?  Usually it refers to the special bread that we eat on Shabbat and holidays after kiddush, often braided and with seeds on top.  The meaning of the word Challah in its original Biblical form is a loaf.  A loaf of bread or even a “loaf” of Matzah.  And there is a Mitzvah of “Challah” in this week’s Parsha (Bamidbar 15:18-21): Upon your arrival in the land to which I am bringing you, when you eat from the bread of the land, you must donate a raised-offering to G-d: Donate the first of your dough, a loaf (Challah in the original Hebrew) as a raised-offering... From the first portion of your dough you must give a gift to G-d, in all your generations.  

Which means that whenever a person would make a dough, they are to give the Kohen (priest) the first loaf, and it needs to be large enough to make a meal.  This was the case at the time when people were generally ritually pure, meaning that they had the ashes of the Red Heifer to sprinkle on someone who had come in contact with a corpse, and in general they kept themselves in a state of purity.

However nowadays, while we still observe the Mitzvah, we take only a small piece of dough, about an ounce.  Also instead of giving it to the Kohen, we burn it (or wrap it carefully and discard in a respectable way).  See here for the details of how to observe this Mitzvah. Why the difference?  Challah has a special status as holy food, like the tithe of Terumah, the first part of the produce of the field that is also given to the Kohen.  As such it must be kept ritually pure and can only be eaten in purity.  In the times of the Temple, if Terumah would become Tamei (ritually defiled), it would be burned, and we do that today.

Why only a small piece and not a whole loaf?  The Biblical commandment does not specify an amount.  The Sages established that it should be a serious amount that can be used at a meal.  Since today the Challah cannot be eaten and is burned anyway, it makes sense not to waste food and to follow the Biblical minimum, which is a small piece.

Immediately after the Mitzvah of Challah, the Torah tells us how one should atone for having inadvertently worshipped idols.  The Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 15:6) comments on the juxtaposition of these two seemingly unrelated Mitzvot:  “Rabbi Yochanan said: Why is the passage of Challah juxtaposed to the passage of idol worship? It is to say to you that anyone who fulfills the mitzva of Challah, it is as though he abolished idol worship, and anyone who negates the Mitzvah of Challah, it is as though he upheld idol worship.”  What is the connection?

To understand this connection, we look at the Rambam’s description of how idol worship started.  The descendants of Adam and Chava recognized Hashem as the Creator, but they made a major mistake.  They believed that the tools that Hashem uses to nourish the world, the sun, and moon etc., need to be respected.  This was a mistake because Hashem actively sustains every detail of the world, and the sun with its light and warmth, photosynthesis and energy, the rain and the wind and everything else that keeps the world going, are all merely tools, like a tool in the hand of a craftsman.  

No matter how high the quality of a paintbrush, the brush does not deserve any credit for a beautiful painting. It is purely the work of the painter. Similarly, all the forces that operate in the universe are merely tools in Hashem’s hands. This mistake led to the idea that these entities should be worshipped, and from there it led to actual bowing down to idols.  

When a person creates something, they want to be the first to benefit.  And when a company creates something, the owner or the CEO is the first to sample it.  When a person mixes dough and bakes bread, the natural tendency is to want to eat the first fresh bite.  By giving the first loaf away to the Kohen, as a gift to Hashem, we are stating that we recognize that Hashem is the true creator of everything, and even the bread that we bake is really His doing.  Giving Challah is therefore a negation of the entire basis of idol-worship. 

This begs the question:  There are many similar tithes that we give:  A farmer would bring the first fruits to the Holy Temple.  Terumah - the first tithe of produce, is given to the Kohen, as is the first shearing of wool from the sheep.  All of these represent the same concept - to recognize Hashem’s sovereignty and give Him the first of everything.  What is so special about the Challah that the Torah places specifically this tithe next to the idol worship  subject?

Rabbi Shneor Ashkenazi quoted Rabbi Tzadok Hakohen with a beautiful and relevant explanation.  It is not hard for farmers to recognize how dependent they are on Hashem.  Yes, they plough the field and sow the grain, but they need just the right weather conditions for it all to grow properly, and there are so many variables that affect the produce and the animals.  Clearly when everything grows, they recognize the hand of Hashem.

But a person in the kitchen, mixing flour, water and yeast etc,, sees a natural event take place.  The dough rises as it always does, the bread bakes in the oven and a delicious loaf of bread is produced, as expected.  The observance of the Mitzvah of Challah shows that the person recognizes that the flour is provided by Hashem, as is the bowl, the strength to mix the dough, the energy to bake it and everything else. This is a great statement that everything is in fact made possible by Hashem, He runs every aspect of the world, and we are giving the Owner His due.