The New Jew Food: Cuz I Ain't no Challah-Back Girl

This past semester at University of Maryland, College Park, I got the chance to become involved with an amazing new student group on campus called Challah for Hunger. It combines two of my great loves: tzedakah (charity) and baking challah bread (only one of my favorite foods in the world!) We’ve successfully baked and sold challahs about ten times throughout this semester. Our group was taught by the Challah for Hunger organization founder, Eli Winkleman, how to make the perfect dough, braid it, and bake it early on this semester. This picture I have of her is actually from about a week ago when she came by on a Thursday to help us in the braiding and baking process at the College Park Hillel. She’s really quite amazing. She created the group while she was at Scripp’s College and it really took off, now there are 21 Challah for Hunger chapters at various campuses over the United States and that number is sure to grow. Eli created it to raise awareness and money for the genocide victims of Darfur. Half of the profits from challah sales go to American Jewish World Service’s Sudan Relief and Advocacy Fund. The different chapters decide where the other 50% of profits go. Our Maryland chapter decided to give 10% of sales money to Hillel since they are generous enough to support us with a kitchen and ingredients (that is until we become self-sufficient) and the other 40% goes to a non-profit chosen by our advocacy group for the semester. So far this semester we have given to nonprofits such as House of Ruth, Maryland Special Olympics, Vassar Uganda Project, Horton’s Kids, and Yad Eliezar in Israel. I have learned a lot from working with this group this past semester and I greatly encourage everyone interested to learn more. I think it’s so outstanding when food can be made and sold for a higher purpose such as with Challah for Hunger.