500 Jewish mothers bake challah for IDF soldiers
Women from around the world make 10-day trip to Israel as part of initiative co-sponsored by the government
Some 500 Jewish mothers from around the world bonded in Jerusalem on Thursday as they baked hundreds of challah — a knotted bread traditionally eaten on Shabbat and Jewish festivals — for Israeli soldiers.
“The Great Big Challah Bake” event was run by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP) as part of the global Shabbat Project, a multi-denominational organization celebrating “the transformative power” of the Jewish Sabbath.
The women, 400 of whom are visiting Israel on a 10-day JWRP “Momentum” trip gathered with past participants from Israel, to bake over 1,000 loaves and package them for distribution to the troops.
The visitors, from Canada, the US, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, are also touring Israel as part of the Momentum trip — stopping in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the Galilee — on a schedule covering a range of topics from Jewish values to contemporary Israeli society.
Organizers say the Momentum trips are designed to inspire Jewish mothers to connect deeply with their Jewish heritage. More than 10,000 women from dozens of countries have participated in the trips.
