my friend dana bakes challah bread for friends trying to conceive. now that she and her husband are trying for their second child, she is turning to her friends/community for help. there is a tradition and belief that with the unified prayer of at least 40 people and performance of this mitzvah, conception may be possible.

dana rounded up more than 50 people – from the us to mexico to australia, to make a challah between sundown thursday, december 17 and sundown friday, december 18. i will be participating tonight, making my first challah! i’ll follow up with a report, and perhaps pictures.

easy challah recipe:

-dissolve 1 tsp. sugar in 1/2 cup warm water. sprinkle 1 pkg. yeast on top and let stand for 10 minutes in large mixing bowl. stir to dissolve.

-combine with 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup warm water, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp. salt and 2 eggs. beat well. then stir in 3 1/2 – 4 cups flour. dough should be sticky. cover dough and let rest for 10 minutes. knead for 10 minutes.

-cover bowl and let rise in a warm place about 2 hours. punch down, cover and let rise about 45 minutes.

-divide dough in to 3 equal parts, shape in to strands and braid loosely on greased baking sheet. fasten ends securely. bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

photo from is that my bureka