Challah Cover Making
Challah Cover Making
A program developed by Adira Rosen
June 2025
OVERVIEW:
Celebrate Shavuot and help your community personalize their Shabbat experience by making their own challah covers! According to our biblical calendar, Shavuot marks the time of the wheat harvest. On Shavuot, the wheat would be harvested to make two loaves of bread to bring as an offering to the Temple. To this day it is customary to have two loaves of challah on the Shabbat table to mimic this offering from biblical times. In this program, participants will celebrate Shavuot and prepare for Shabbat through the process of making and (eventually) using their own challah covers. This is a great way to learn a little about Shavuot and send guests home with a piece of unique Judaica that they can use to celebrate Shabbat and holidays in their own homes!
MATERIALS:
● Choose what kind of challah covers you want to make
○ Batik/Dye Resist Challah Cover
○ Embroidered Challah Cover (kit does not include embroidery hoop)
● Print out Shabbat and Shavuot Source Sheet
● Print out blessing cards with the blessing over the bread
● Optional: Snacks and Drinks (consider a charcuterie board featuring different kinds of challah or different kinds of bread!)
PROGRAM OUTLINE:
~60 min
● Welcome and Framing (15min)
● Learning about Shabbat and Shavuot (15 min)
● Challah Cover Making (30 min)
PROGRAM DETAILS:
Beginning – Welcome and Framing (15min)
● Welcome everyone and thank them for coming.
● Consider having some snacks or drinks for people to enjoy as they learn and make their challah covers.
● Explain the order of the program:
○ Example of what you could say: In the Jewish agricultural calendar, Shavuot is the festival that celebrate the wheat harvest. On Shavuot, the wheat would be harvested to make two loaves of bread to bring as an offering to the Temple. To this day it is customary to have two loaves of challah on the Shabbat table to mimic this offering from biblical times. Today we are going to learn about the connection between Shavuot and Shabbat as we make our own challah covers. We’ll spend the next 15-20 minutes doing some group learning and then we’ll have about 30 min to make our personalized challah covers!
Middle – Learning about Shabbat and Shavuot (15 min)
● Learn through the Shabbat and Shavuot Source Sheet in chavruta pairs or as a group (if the group is small).
○ Have people take turns reading and invite everyone to respond to the questions. End – Challah Cover Making (30 min)
● Pick which option (from the materials list) you’d like to use to make your challah cover (or come up with your own idea)! ● Consider making an example challah cover ahead of the program so people have inspo!
● Set up the necessary supplies before your guests arrive.
● Get creative with your community as you all make your own challah covers!
● Consider playing some Shabbat music to get people in the mood for Shabbat. “Shabbat Music” could be any number of things. Pick what feels restful and meaningful to your community.
○ Here are a few playlists from Spotify:
● Don’t forget to print out and send everyone home with a blessing card with the HaMotzi: the Blessing Over the Bread.