Three Mitzvot II

The Mitzva of Separating Challa

The commandment to separate challa, a portion of dough, and offer it to a kohen appears in Bemidbar:

This mitzva applies on a Torah level specifically in the land of Israel, “when you come to the land,” at a time when the majority of the Jewish people is settled there. At the present, even in Israel, challa is a rabbinic-level mitzva. We separate challa from dough made outside of Israel as well, in order to remember the mitzva.¹

After kneading dough, either before or after its rising, the baker customarily separates an olive-sized clump, and declares “Harei zo challa” (“Behold this is challa“). Since neither the dough nor the kohen of today are in a state of ritual purity that would allow for the challa’s consumption, the dough is burnt, or wrapped and disposed of.²

Because people most frequently prepared bread in the home in honor of Shabbat and Yom Tov, challa became the name for the loaves served at these meals. Rema cites a custom to honor Shabbat and Yom Tov by deliberately baking enough dough for them so that a blessing can be made:³

We should make an effort to put ourselves in a position to separate challa as “a matter of honoring Shabbat.”

The Significance of Separating Challa

Why should we go out of our way to separate challa for Shabbat? Is it just important for Shabbat?

When we give away part of our hard-won produce before partaking of it, we remember that our nourishment really comes from on high and the fruits of the land are rightly God’s. This is a message for Shabbat and for all times.

The prophet Yechezkel adds that separating challa is a source of blessing for the home:

How does challa provide blessing upon the home? Sefer Ha-chinuch explains what this means:

Grains are the cornerstone of our diet. By embedding a mitzva in their preparation, God invites us to make our meals spiritually significant. A person who separates challa enables our food to become “food for the body and food for the soul.” Through this mitzva, women take precedence over men present in infusing eating, one of the most basic physical aspects of life, with spirituality.

Modern Israeli columnist Aya Kremerman writes powerfully about this:⁴

When she separates challa, she “connects from within” to the spiritual kernel of her physically demanding life.

The Laws of Nidda

To understand the conceptual aspects of nidda, let’s look at the mitzva as presented in the Torah. (The practice of nidda today derives from the Biblical law, but is much more complex.)

The number seven in the Torah represents the natural world.⁵ Often, seven days is a period of transition from ritual impurity to ritual purity.⁶ According to Torah law, a menstruating woman observes a seven-day period of ritual impurity from the onset of bleeding, after which she purifies herself in the mikveh. (Today, married menstruating woman also observe the seven clean days, which the Torah originally prescribed in more limited circumstances.)

Although many of the laws of ritual purity do not apply today without the Temple, nidda laws remain in practice.

The Significance of the Laws of Nidda

What are the implications of observing the laws of nidda? Rabbi Meir suggests one possibility:

Although it is less than ideal, Rabbi Meir believes that men can tire of their wives and take them for granted. He maintains that nidda can help men value their wives. Although Rabbi Meir speaks from a male perspective, by the same token, nidda might help a woman appreciate her husband as well.

Much as the seven-day week creates a balance between work and rest, the days of nidda can create a balance between a couple’s physical closeness and their personal space and independence. Since, as we noted above, the halacha is to observe nidda for more than seven days, achieving this balance through nidda is trickier.

Both members of a couple must really work together to meet the challenge of nidda prohibitions. Naturally, a woman takes the lead because her body is involved. But beyond that, Halacha places complete trust in a woman’s knowledge of her body and of the relevant laws. The midrash halacha says as much about a woman’s count of clean days:

A woman’s word on nidda matters has full legal force; she needs no outside confirmations or attestations.⁷

Through faithful observance of nidda, a married woman’s natural cycles combine with Torah law to set the contours of the intimate relationship she shares with her husband. Halacha puts each woman in charge of making this happen, without any second guessing.

Nidda observance creates a sacred context for marital intimacy, with women taking a leading role.

Lighting Shabbat candles fulfills three Halachic principles, each of which bears significance: kevod Shabbat (honoring Shabbat), oneg Shabbat (taking pleasure in Shabbat) and shalom bayit (peace in the home).

When something matters to us, we prepare for it. We thus fulfill the rabbinic mitzva of kevod Shabbat by preparing for Shabbat, and Rambam mentions the Shabbat candle in this context:

Once the candles are lit, they facilitate the rabbinic mitzva of oneg Shabbat.⁸ Before the electric light, candles were the main source of home lighting. Eating by candlelight is much more pleasant than sitting in the dark:

Shabbat candles also create shalom bayit, peace in the home. In fact, the term shalom bayit appears in the Talmud only within the discussion of the household’s candle:

Shabbat candles take precedence over wine for kiddush because light infuses the home with peace.⁹ Practically, it prevents us from discomfort or from tripping over each other at night—and fighting about it.¹⁰ On a deeper level, it transforms the home environment, perhaps because light symbolizes Torah and mitzvot¹¹ as well as a person’s soul.¹²

A traditional prayer for women lighting candles, recited in Turkey, expresses this idea:¹³

Candle-lighting is a priority because it reflects and shapes our relationship to Shabbat and to each other.¹⁴ If a woman is present, she lights the Shabbat candles even if a man wants to light them. A woman has priority creating the Shabbat experience and setting a peaceful tone in the home.

Rabbinic traditions develop the idea that the three mitzvot correspond to the physical and spiritual foundations of the Jewish home. For example, the Talmud lists a lit candle, set table, and made bed as the classic elements of a home prepared for Shabbat.¹⁵ In another passage, it considers the room containing a lamp, table, chair, and bed – such as that the Shunamit woman sets up for Elisha – to be an excellent home.¹⁶

In describing how Yitzchak finds comfort in Rivka following the loss of his mother Sara, Rashi (paraphrasing a midrash)¹⁷ uses three examples, including a candle and dough, to argue that Rivka grew to resemble Sara when she established herself in her tent:

In his commentary on Rashi, Maharal takes this one step further, explaining that each of these elements corresponds to one of the three mitzvot: the “lit candle” corresponds to the mitzva of candle-lighting, the “blessing found in the dough” represents the mitzva of separating challa, and the “cloud bound atop the tent” symbolizes the Divine presence that resides with a couple when they keep the laws of nidda.¹⁸

The three mitzvot define the home physically and spiritually. The candle, food, and bedroom correspond to the light and peace of Torah, blessed sustenance, and an elevated intimate relationship. For our sages, a woman’s identity is intertwined with the home,¹⁹ and she defines it through the three mitzvot. The Lubavitcher Rebbe expands on this point:²⁰

Responsibility for these mitzvot is both “unusual responsibility and unusual merit,” with national implications.

How is this relevant to single people? Discussions of these mitzvot often center around the married couple. But there are and always have been a wide variety of Jewish homes.

The obligation to light Shabbat candles applies to every type of Jewish household, including those run by unmarried men and women. Every Jew must separate challa when preparing a dough that meets the halachic criteria. While the laws of nidda bring sanctity to the marriage relationship, they also mandate abstinence for those who are not married and help bring sanctity to their daily lives.

Whatever a woman’s family or home structure might be, women’s precedence in these mitzvot gives her a primary role in defining it.

Women customarily recite individual prayers when separating challa, immersing in the mikveh, and lighting candles. In his commentary to the Torah, Rabbeinu Bachya explains the rationale for this practice:

Rabbeinu Bachya teaches us to pray for things that matter to us specifically “at the time of performing a mitzva.” The merit we receive from performing the mitzva may help God hear our prayer.

In Part I, we referred to a Talmudic tradition that scholarly children come as reward for care with lighting Shabbat candles. For this reason, Rabbeinu Bachya encourages women to pray for “descendants who shine with the light of Torah” at candle-lighting. Many mothers do in fact pray then for their children, but there is no obligation to do so.

Each individual is free to decide what to pray for when she (or he) lights candles or separates challa. Rav Yeshaya Horowitz (Shelah, late sixteenth to early seventeenth century Europe and Eretz Yisrael) suggests reciting the story and prayer of Chana, from the beginning of Sefer Shemuel I until 2:10.²¹ Chana’s narrative begins with the story of Shmuel’s conception and birth, but her prayer conveys a larger message about God’s redemptive power in our lives.

A woman separating challa, immersing in the mikveh, or lighting candles can pray for whatever redemption she seeks. The combination of prayer and the three mitzvot connects the lives of Jewish women across the world and through time.