Approximately 400 young girls and women joined together for a massive baking project in Northern New Jersey that organizers asserted could be the largest such event in the world.
The Thursday night “Mega Challah Bake” at the Alex Aidekman Jewish Community Campus in Whippany, N.J., officially celebrated the Bat Mitzvah of Chaya Grossbaum, daughter of Chabad-Lubavitch of Livingston directors Rabbi Zalman and Toba Grossbaum. Although no records are kept on similar feats, attendees noted that the output of 800 loaves of the traditional Jewish bread was quite an accomplishment, especially considering that half of the bread was given away to others.
Grossbaum, who turned 12 in August, said that she wanted a meaningful Bat Mitzvah celebration that would give her peers and area women a chance to share in a meaningful project.
“There is no better way to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah than by doing actual mitzvahs,” she exclaimed.
Open to the entire Jewish community, the Oct. 14 event drew women and girls aged 10 and up from all segments of the community. People with special needs took part in the bakeoff, and a sign language interpreter was on hand for deaf participants. Each person created her own two “Loaves of Love,” one to keep and the other to give to someone in need.
“I love the awareness Chabad has about taking care of people in need,” commented June Schechner, a family friend who knows the Grossbaums through the local chapter of the Friendship Circle, a Chabad-Lubavitch program that pairs teenage volunteers with children with special needs.
“All of us were instructed to give one loaf to someone who’s lonely, sick, needy or in the hospital,” she added. “I couldn’t think if a more beautiful way to celebrate a Bat Mitzvah.”
Schechner attended the party with her own mother and her 12-year-old daughter Ruby; they were one of many intergenerational groups to enjoy the event.
Something for Everyone
For many women, it was their first experience making challah from scratch.
“When my kids were in Jewish preschool, I helped out [in similar things], but we had premade dough. This was the first time I ever dealt with bread and worked with yeast,” said Naneen Levine.
Levine, who was impressed by the details that went into the affair, such as two large screens displaying Grossbaum and her mother working the dough, took home a silicone basting brush brandished with the words “Loaves of Love” as a party favor.
“Chaya pulled it off so well,” said Levine. “She seemed so confident and happy.”
Women worked in one large room at the community center that was filled with rows of tables decked with enough premeasured ingredients and equipment to accommodate each guest.
“People love baking challah and connecting it with something Jewish,” said Toba Grossbaum, bakes challah at her home each week before Shabbat.
“I can’t imagine anyone being able to pull this up except for the Grossbaum family,” remarked Schechner. “Their attitude towards anything and everything is ‘make it happen.’ They don’t stop because it’s too hard or too much work.”
Participants also enjoyed an elegant dessert table, a “Mitzvah Raffle” featuring gift baskets with a particular good deed theme. Afterwards, they were urged to log on to the event website, MegaChallahBake.com, where they could share their thoughts and experiences and download challah recipes.
“It was better than I expected,” said Ruby Schechner, 12. “I didn’t realize each person would get to make two challahs from scratch. And then there was a whole dessert table, and a raffle, and dancing.”
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