Hundreds of women and girls gathered at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Thursday, Sept. 26, for the sixth annual Mega Challah Bake, co-sponsored by Chabad Tucson. Participants learned how to make and shape dough for round challahs in advance of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, enjoyed a buffet of flavored challahs and sweet dips, played a lively ice-breaker game to discover what they had in common with their tablemates, and danced together to Jewish music.
One participant, Rachel Richter, sent a photo from the evening to her brother, Noah, who is Sarajevo, Bosnia, for 10 months participating in a State Department YES Abroad program and living with a Muslim family. He texted Rachel for the recipe, which was printed on the placemats at the event. Noah then explained the Jewish New Year and traditions to his host family, and made the challahs with his host mother. He and his host parents ate the challahs, apples, and honey to celebrate the new year.
