Yeshivat Merkaz Hatorah Hosts Their Fourth Annual Mommy & Me Challah Bake

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In honor of Parasha Chayei Sara, Yeshivat Merkaz Hatorah hosted their Fourth Annual Mommy & Me Challah Bake on Sunday, November 17th. The school mothers and students gathered together to celebrate and learn all about the special mitzvah of baking challah. Every year, the Mothers of the school make an effort to rearrange their schedules in order to attend.

As parents entered the hall, they snapped pictures with their children at the photo booth and enjoyed a refreshing breakfast, sponsored by Bagel's & Appetizing. The hall was elaborately decorated in bright and colorful decorations with matching bowls and centerpieces, creating an exciting and beautiful atmosphere for this special event. With ingredients portioned out for each family and personalized aprons prepared, the parents and students were guided through the process of making the dough while learning about the symbolism of each step.

Rabbi Yigal Haimoff gave over a beautiful class about child raising and Chinuch. One of the main messages that he gave across was to try to find ways to positively reinforce your child when they do mitzvot and emphasize a love of doing mitzvot. We learn that one of Sarah Imeinu's special qualities was that she had Challah which lasted from week to week in her home. By baking Challah with our children, we are essentially passing on this special mitzvah to our children and having it "last" from year to year in our home by forming a special bond with our children. Sharing these customs with our children and passing it along to them forms a link between us and our future generations and enables us to hold on to this special tradition. Rabbi Haimoff also strengthened the importance of a Jewish Mother's role in her home and gave the mothers words of Chizuk as they entered a new week.

The children enjoyed the hands-on experience of kneading the dough and mixing the ingredients with their mothers, forming a special bond between parents and their children. We would like to thank Rabbi Yigal Haimoff for taking the time out of his busy schedule to inspire and educate us, and also to Bagels and Appetizing for sponsoring such delicious food for our event.