Six Word Saturday: 27 Nisan, 5770
This Challah has a secret: keys!
I don’t usually explain myself when I do these six-word things, because brevity – as they say – is the soul of 6WS.
But this one’s kind of neat: the Shabbos after Pesach (sorry: the Sabbath following the holiday of Passover), it is customary to hide a key in the challah.
The Yiddish word for key is schlissel, and the challahs this week are known as schlissel challahs. Some people also (or instead) have the custom of making the challah in the SHAPE of a key – kind of a neat thing, but I decided against that.
Actually, when I was making the challahs, I wrapped the keys up in parchment paper but forgot to put them in. Doh!
So I had to gently roll two of the challahs over, slice open the bottoms, stick the keys in and pinch the bottoms shut. (sounds rude when I put it like that, doesn’t it?!)
So what’s the symbolism of the key? I believe it’s considered a segulah (sign, omen?) for prosperity: a way of “unlocking” one’s mazel (luck, fortune) for the rest-of-year to come.
The traditional Yiddish greeting after Pesach is “a gezunten zumer”, which means “a healthy summer”, but I think I’ll say here “a gezunten broit” – a healthy bread! It’s nice to be back in the squish of the dough.
Doh!
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I'm so glad you went ahead and explained because it's a very interesting custom. And yay for the return of bread!
ReplyDeleteThanks for playing 6WS!