The Great Big Challah Bake Comes to St. Louis

On November 10, St. Louis women will join tens of thousands worldwide as part of the annual global Great Big Challah Bake. That’s a lot of Flour Power! Women and girls, moms and daughters, from all over the St. Louis area will join others worldwide as they share in the age old tradition of making challah.

Shabbat Can Do That!

The Great Big Challah Bake is part of a worldwide initiative called The Shabbat Project started in South Africa in 2013 and today has grown to involve more than 5,000 communities and 60 countries. They gather together, on one specific day, to be united in a tradition that was started by our ancestors thousands of years ago. Think about it. In a modern world that is so divided, even within our own religion, The Shabbat Project unites us as one. So as the sun sets on Thursday, November 10th, women in Australia will measure, mix, braid, dance, sing, set off a chain of spirits soaring that stretches the globe for one special 24-hour period. It will then move westward across the globe, through Asia, Israel, Africa, Europe, and North and South Americas, uniting women in the shared experience of heritage, motherhood and sisterhood, linking us with the rest of the worldwide Challah Bake participants. From the Phillipines to Khazakiztan, from Nigeria to Nicaragua, for one very special night, Jewish women will come together for an incredible experience they will never forget.

“Two years ago, a small group of women got together with limited resources, and held the first Challah Bake St. Louis at the JCC. One hundred people registered; two hundred arrived,” says event organizer and St. Louis champion for the Great Big Challah Bake, Rene Price. “We knew we had a successful and promising foundation to really grow this event.”

This year, between 500 to 700 participants are expected to gather at the Clayton Plaza Hotel, from across the entire spectrum of the St. Louis and surrounding communities. Each participant will be given their own bowl, apron, and ingredients and learn how to make their own challah, which they’ll then take home to bake for their friends and family.

“We will celebrate with song and dance, just as women across the globe will be doing in this one 24-hour period,” says Price. “This event takes place the Thursday night of the Shabbat Project weekend and we are so delighted to provide a place for women to gather with a real sense of community and purpose.”

There’s still time to register by going HERE: Participants also are encouraged to bring a store-purchased loaf of challah as a donation to the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry and other area food pantries.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email TheGreatBigChallahBakeSTL@gmail.com.

Shabbat Can Do That!