The Rising Life

  life gleanings from rebbetzin rochie’s kitchen

  The

  RISING

  Life

  Challah Baking. Elevated.

  Rochie Pinson

  THE RISING LIFE © 2015 Rochie Pinson. All rights reserved. No part of this book

  may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except

  in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Published by ORLY PRESS

  48 Cranford Place

  Teaneck, NJ 07666

  www.therisinglife.net

  ORLY PRESS books may be purchased for educational, business or sales promotional

  use. For information please visit therisinglife.net.

  Cover and book design: RP Design and Development

  Cover photography: Saul Sudin

  Illustrations: Lucy Engelman

  pb ISBN 978-0-9890072-1-4

  Pinson, Rochie 1975-

  The Rising Life: Challah Baking, Elevated.

  1.Judaism 2. Spirituality 3. Food

  vwwc

  the

  rising

  life

  challah baking. elevated.

  Life Gleanings from

  Rebbetzin Rochie’s Kitchen

  This book is extracted from the cookbook

  RISING! The Book of Challah

  Feldheim Publishers 2015

  My heart is full of gratitude.

  For those who have nurtured me generously, and for those who have

  generously allowed me to nurture them.

  For the incredible women who have inspired me throughout the writing

  of this book.

  And for the women who made this book possible; Hillary Barr, Marilyn

  Brill, and Susan Polis-Schutz. I am eternally grateful for your presence

  and for your support.

  C O N T E N T S

  SECTION I:

  Introduction: Challah as a Recipe for Life

  11

  The Gift of Challah

  23

  Shabbat, Challah & Woman: Three of a Kind

  35

  Living in the Process & Loving Every Moment

  45

  Setting the Stage: An Environment for Rising

  55

  The Ingredients: A Recipe for Rising

  69

  The Rising

  111

  Hafrashat Challah, Separating the Challah:

  A Weekly Invitation to Reconnect

  117

  Challah Customs & Segulot:

  Through the Generations & Around the Globe

  137

  Challah Meditations

  153

  SECTION II:

  Excerpted from the cookbook, RISING! The Book of Challah

  Grounding Intention in Practice:

  This is Where it Gets Delicious

  165

  Anatomy of a Perfect Challah

  169

  Rebbetzin Rochie’s Classic Challah Recipe

  172

  Instructions: Step by Step

  174

  Braiding Your Challah: An Illustrated Guide

  178

  ....׳הל המורת ומירת ץראה םחלמ םכלכאב היהו״

  ומירת הלח םכתסרע תישאר

  .״התא ומירת ןכ ןרג תמורתכ המורת

  “The first of your dough, challah,

  you shall offer as a gift. . . .”

  — Bamidbar 15:19-20

  “Reishit Arisoteichem”

  The First of Your Dough

  —

  The word reishit indicates that which is the first, the finest, and the

  purpose of all that follows it. The removal and sanctification of the

  first and best of our dough illustrates a great truth of existence. That

  is, that all we do in this world, however mundane and ordinary it

  may seem, should begin with an acknowledgment of the Creator and

  a Higher Existence.

  We begin every endeavor with the proclamation that “l’Hashem

  ha’aretz um’loah/ The earth is G-d’s and all that fills it” (Tehillim 24:1).

  The first and best of all that we accomplish is dedicated to a higher

  purpose.

  We awaken in the morning and, with our first breath, sing praise to

  our Creator for the new day. Those less fortunate are fed before we

  take our own portion. We do not wait until we have finished with the

  “necessities” of life to get around to the “holiness.”

  “Reishit arisoteichem” is “challah, l’Hashem.” The first and best of our sustenance is designated as challah for Hashem/ G-d, and, as such, is

  dedicated to a higher purpose.

  This is our truest reason for existence: to elevate and transcend

  through the work of our hands. Through making challah and sep-

  arating the dough, we are perpetually bringing this awareness into

  our homes and into our lives.

  May we merit to live a life in which we vividly observe the Divine

  unifying light in all of creation.

  —

  Taken from the words of the Lubavitcher Rebbe,

  Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, OBM,

  in his address to women, 17 Sivan, 5740/June 1, 1980.

  R I S I N G

  1 0

  I N T R O D U C T I O N

  Introduction

  Challah as a Recipe for Life

  1 1

  R I S I N G

  This book is not a cookbook.

  Don’t get me wrong; by the time you’ve finished reading this

  book, and its sister book, RISING! , you’ll have learned how to

  bake challah, gained tried-and-true tips on things like freezing,

  storing, and serving, as well as added a plethora of challah reci-

  pes to your repertoire.

  So, why isn’t this a cookbook? Well, for one, I’m not a profes-

  sionally trained chef or baker (I do put out a three-course meal

  twice weekly—but that’s just because I’m a rebbetzin and when

  each Friday rolls around, it’s time to cook lots of food for lots

  of guests—whether or not I’ve ever actually learned to cook . . .

  more on that later).

  And secondly, these books set out to be substantially more

  than just a collection of recipes, directions, and really pretty pic-

  tures (although I’ve put in lots of those, too. I like a pretty pic-

  ture as much as the next girl).

  1 2

  I N T R O D U C T I O N

  So, what is this book?

  This is a book for those of us who find ourselves wishing for a

  return to a simpler time, a slower pace, a scent of bread baking

  in the home, and a sense of peace in the moment. This little

  book wants to be that big alarm on the iPhone of our subcon-

  scious that reminds us that the mess in our kitchen, the noise

  in our brain, the stickiness of the dough underneath our finger-

  nails, and the aroma of warm challah on a cold Friday afternoon

  means that we are not merely alive, we are living, and that that

  is a wonderful thing.

  A challah dough is a living organism. It requires air, water, at-

  tention, and intention. Its recipe so closely mirrors the recipe

  for a well-balanced life, in fact, that as I baked my challah each

  week, I kept learning new things about the care and attention

  required by the living bei
ngs under my watch (children, hus-

  band, community, and the like), and thus, RISING, the blog, and

  eventually, the book and the cookbook, were born.

  The Rising Life, as the first part in the RISING series, is a book that sets out to explore what happens when we decide to put

  ourselves wholly into the nurturing process, recognizing that

  the physical care and feeding of ourselves and those we love is

  only one side of a sticky dough. Fold it over and you will find that

  there is a whole other side that hasn’t been worked on yet. (See,

  I’m starting with the challah metaphors already!)

  The Perfect Challah

  So, disclaimer disclaimed, I am not a professional chef, nor am I a

  baker. I’m not even a licensed expert in child raising, whatever

  1 3

  R I S I N G

  that may be. But here’s what I’ve learned over my years of chal-

  lah baking and child raising: we don’t need to earn a PhD in child

  psychology before becoming parents (even if we did, it wouldn’t

  necessarily be helpful!), we don’t need to be a licensed therapist

  to offer a comforting hug and listening ear to a friend, and, like-

  wise, we don’t need to go through culinary school to bake the

  perfect challah.

  The perfect challah is one that is baked with intention and

  love and served in much the same way. The perfect challah is like

  the perfect nurturer. Psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, observ-

  er of thousands of mothers in their nurturing roles, coined the

  term “the good enough mother” and recognized that the “perfect

  nurturer” is not perfect at all; she is human and very real indeed.

  The “good enough mother” gets back up when she falls down,

  provides for her loved ones both physically and emotionally

  (and, I add, spiritually), and is genuinely preoccupied with her

  nurturing role. The “good enough mother” is more of a gardener

  than a goddess.

  The “good enough mother” recognizes that just like challah

  dough, we grow in cycles. Each cycle offers a new opportuni-

  ty to learn the same things. The very same lessons will come

  up toward us time and again. The seasons change, the children

  grow, and we ourselves mature. When we understand our role

  in parenting and nurturing in this way, we can forgive ourselves

  and take the pressure off of ourselves to get it right the very first

  time.

  The perfect mother recognizes that to give of the very best of

  herself is as close as to perfection as she can get.

  And therein lies the secret to the perfect challah:

  It’s not a perfect challah at all.

  1 4

  I N T R O D U C T I O N

  It’s a “good enough challah.” It’s your challah. It is not so much

  about the end result, it is about what happens during the pro-

  cess. When the process of making challah is one of intention and

  presence, the challah that is formed will rise and be delicious. It

  may not look like it came out of a bakery, but that’s not the point.

  We are looking to create something that comes from us and is

  unique to who we are.

  The Perfect Nurturer

  When we nurture, we need to do so from the deepest part of

  ourselves; trying to fit into a “cookie-cutter” mold of nurturing

  will only frustrate and be harmful to both ourselves and our

  loved ones, cheating them of our full nurturing potential. To

  nurture is to be aware of our most true self and to give from that

  place.

  All of our actions and behaviors are derivatives of the emo-

  tional energy and intention that drive those actions. And they

  are usually received the same way they have been directed. Ever

  heard the expressions, “feeling the love on the plate” or, con-

  versely, “eating humble pie”? We can sense in a deep way when

  the food that has been prepared for us has been done so lovingly

  and with intention, just as well as we can tell when there is an-

  ger or resentment in the food that is placed before us. When we

  feed our loved ones, the food they receive is absorbed and trans-

  ferred into actual energy. The love and intention we put into our

  food preparation informs the energy that will be created from

  that food! We make challah from a place of commitment to nour-

  ish ourselves and our families in a way that goes beyond mere

  physical feeding and watering.

  1 5

  R I S I N G

  There will be days when we feel fully risen and expansive and

  up to facing life’s most difficult challenges, and we will gaze at

  our lovely fat challahs with pride. There will also be days when

  we may feel deeply deflated and incapable, and the slightly lop-

  sided challah cooling on the counter may be reflective of that

  state of mind. Through all the risings and the fallings, though,

  the knowledge that we are good enough to nurture, exactly as

  we are, will help us appreciate the yield of our efforts, and rec-

  ognize the loveliness in all its yummy imperfection.

  My Journey With Challah

  So, how does this self-described “imperfect-but-trying-real-

  ly-hard” mom end up writing a book on challah?

  I kind of figured out this challah thing on my own. My moth-

  er had an unfortunate experience with a challah dough in the

  early days of her marriage and didn’t try again. It was strictly

  bakery-made challah for us from then on.1 Not having grown up

  in a challah-baking household, I always marveled at the homes I

  entered on Friday that smelled like baking challah. In my mind,

  this was the perfect smell for a home that was about to welcome

  Shabbat.

  1 As of this writing, I am thrilled to say that my mother has been inspired and encouraged by my challah baking and has since started making her very own chal-

  lah after 40 years of marriage. Of course, it goes without saying that she uses the classic recipe from this book (see page 173) and her challah rivals mine most

  weeks. I am truly delighted and share this fact with all my challah workshop

  students as it demonstrates that it is never too late to learn to make challah or, for that matter, to master anything that frightens us.

  1 6

  I N T R O D U C T I O N

  When I married and started my own Shabbat traditions, I

  knew that a home that smelled of baking challah needed to be

  part of my new life. The question was . . . how?

  Well, the answer came in the form of an emergency . . . as many

  answers tend to come to me. Note: I work best under intense

  pressure!

  Young and newly married to a rabbi, I had excitedly accepted

  the offer to travel with my husband to Kobe, Japan for the High

  Holidays to bring some inspiration and Torah to the small com-

  munity still remaining there.

  The detail they neglected to mention, (maybe because it was

  obvious to all but myself,) was that as the “rebbetzin in resi-

  dence,” I was assumed to be a chef, or at least fairly proficient in

  the kitchen. Maybe this was to be expected, but I was young and

  naïve (come to think of it, I’m thankfully still pretty naïve – just

  a little less young
) and had let others do the cooking for me for

  most of my life.

  Arriving in Kobe, I was informed that the community was

  eagerly awaiting my delicious Rosh Hashanah meals . . . insert

  slight panic mode here. Following multiple frantic (and expen-

  sive!) transatlantic calls to my dear mother back in Canada,

  I managed to figure out how to make the basic foods for the

  holiday. And then, in all my sweet innocence, I asked our host

  whether he wanted me to go and buy the challah for the holiday

  or had been planning to go himself. Needless to say, he found

  my question very amusing and informed me in a good-natured

  way (that still sounded very intimidating to this young newly-

  wed) that, of course, the rebbetzin would bake the challah for

  the community. There is no kosher bakery in Kobe, apparently.

  1 7

  R I S I N G

  The slight panic turned into very real panic now, as Rosh Ha-

  shanah was to begin the following evening and if there was one

  thing I did not feel qualified to do, it was to bake challah, let

  alone for some 200 people. Cue the frantic, expensive, transat-

  lantic calls once more and, this time, my mother was panicking

  right along with me—she had never (successfully) baked chal-

  lah, either! So, my mother read the recipe to me and I faithfully

  copied it down (this was pre-send-a-photo-of-the-recipe-by-

  text days) and got to work.

  Many hours later, I was dusted in a coating of flour. A veritable

  human schnitzel, sticky pieces of dough had lodged themselves

  into my hair and up my arms. My back was aching from all the

  rolling and kneading, I was exhausted and exhilarated . . . and

  there were 40 somewhat misshapen but fantastic-smelling chal-

  lahs lined up on the counter of an unfamiliar kitchen. What can

  I say? It may not sound like much fun to you, but I was hooked.

  When I served that challah on Rosh Hashanah, it truly felt like

  a new beginning. I had done something I hadn’t thought I could

  ever do and opened the door to the possibility that I could pretty

  much do anything I set my mind toward.

  I came back home to the shores of “Jew York,” where kosher

  bakeries are plentiful and the need to bake my own challah was

  not nearly as urgent, but was determined to find a way to make

  challah baking a part of my new home and life.

  Full disclosure: the first week’s challahs weren’t that great.