Challah changed Dr. Beth Ricanati’s life.
More than 15 years ago, she started baking challah on Fridays as a self-care ritual, an experience illustrated in her memoir, Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs.
“I’m a physician, I’m a mom of three kids and I was pretty stressed out,” Ricanati told the Journal. “A girlfriend suggested I make challah for the Jewish New Year, probably 17 or 18 years ago.”
As she stood at her kitchen counter–Ricanati lived in Ohio at the time; she is in Los Angeles now–she just stopped,
“When you’re mixing flour and sugar and watching the yeast bubble, you can’t be doing anything else,” she said. “I wasn’t worrying about my patients, I wasn’t worrying about my kids; I was trying to figure out how much oil [I needed] and how [to work] with yeast.”
Ricanati said the experience was utterly transformative. Before she knew it, she rearranged her schedule, so she could continue her Friday challah practice.
“In the process, I learned so many wonderful lessons that became the genesis for the book,” she said.
A board-certified internist, Ricanati now sees patients at the Venice Family Clinic in Los Angeles. She primarily gives challah workshops–both in person and digitally–around the country, where she speaks about the teachings in her book.
“Particularly since October 7, it has been so meaningful, so resonant, to be able to build community [around] this beautiful ancient ritual,” she said.
Every week, when Ricanati makes challah, she sets an intention. It runs the gamut from sending good thoughts to her kids to healing thoughts for a sick friend.
“Since October 7, I always include the hostages and I think about the IDF soldiers and I’m so grateful for them,” she said.
According to Ricanati, there’s medical research that says when you pray for strangers. there’s a benefit. It’s called intercessory prayer.
“I really believe when you put things out in the universe, it’s incredible what happens,” she said. “You have to say it and you have to say it out loud.”
Ricanati literally bakes bread, and breaks bread, with not just Jews, but with people of all faiths and backgrounds. When she does workshops for non-Jewish organizations, often more than half of the attendees are not Jewish.
“I’m actually inspired when I work with non-Jews in particular, and some of whom don’t even know what [challah] is when we start a workshop,” she said. “When you’re standing next to someone and your hands are literally in a bowl of dough, you can really come together and talk.”
Ricanati said it’s fun to share the tradition of challah in that way.
“Challah is like a gateway; everybody loves challah, right?” she said. “I mean challah French toast is the best!”
Side note: Ricanati’s new favorite is making challah croutons. Take two-day old challah and toast it with a little olive oil and garlic. Toss it in a salad and you are good to go.
“One of the things I really like to do when I’m making challah with whomever is to talk about their own traditions and their own heritage,” she said. “It’s a really fun way to als –no pun intended, but maybe pun intended–braid together different backgrounds.”
Learn more at BethRicanatiMD.com and follow @BethRicanatiMD on Instagram.
For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:
Watch my Jewish Bucket List on Baking Challah with Beth Ricanati.
The Challah Recipe from Braided: A Journey of A Thousand Challahs
Ingredients
2 ¼ tsp yeast + 1 tsp sugar + 1 cup very warm water (almost too warm, but not hot!)
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
⅓ cup oil
4+ cups flour
one egg yolk for baking
Directions
Start by saying: “I am making this dough in the merit of (maybe a friend who is sick that week, or someone you are happy for, sad for, mad at, etc.)
Mix yeast, sugar and warm water together in a small bowl; let stand approximately 10 minutes. This mixture will start to bubble.
Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, mix 2 eggs, salt, sugar, oil and 2 cups of flour together. Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture.
Add ~ 1½ cups flour to the mixture. Start to form a ball of dough, separating from the bowl.
Place dough on a floured surface and knead, lifting up with one hand and then the other. Knead at least 5 minutes, as the dough becomes increasingly elastic. If still sticky, add a bit more flour to the dough. Knead dough into a ball.
Place dough back into oiled bowl, cover and place bowl somewhere warm for 1 – 1 ½ hours to rise, approximately doubling in volume.
Preheat the oven to 375º. Remove cover from bowl, place dough on floured surface. Take a small piece of dough (~size of an egg), double wrap in plastic wrap & say the prayer over separating the challah (technically only say if more than 5 lbs of flour used, but more on that in the book)*. Discard this piece of wrapped dough and continue.
Punch out dough one more time. Cut dough in half, one for each challah. Then divide each half into 3 equal pieces. Roll out each piece, crimp together at the top and braid into a loaf. Place on a greased cookie sheet (or parchment paper or a Silpat liner). Repeat with a second ball of dough. May let rise again at this step.
Paint each challah with a mixture made of egg yolk plus a little water.
Bake approximately 25 – 30 mins, or until bread rises and is golden brown.
Remove, cool. Place challah on a platter, cover and wait for Shabbas dinner. Eat and enjoy!
*Baruch Ata A-Do-Nay Elo-haynu Melech Ha-Olam Asher Kidishanu B’Mitzvotav V’Tziyvanu L”Hafrish Challah. (Blessed are You, Lord, our G-d, Ruler of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with Your commandments and commanded us to separate the Challah.)
Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.
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