- March 3, 2019
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Robin Sweeting arranges the challah bread prior to the event. This was the first time Hershorin Schiff Community Day School has held the event.
Each challah critic was given a dish for sampling and sheet to rate each of the challah entries.
Students braided their own pumpkin-spice challah loaves to take home and bake.
Amy Meese and Sheri Weiss organize the entries on the table before tasting began.
Richard Hershorn, Patti Wertheimer, Rabbi Michael Shefrin and Ian Black pose for a photo before selecting their samples.
Head of School Dan Ceaser helps students Ava Gekht and Zoe Korman select their Challah samples.
Wes Rosenthal eyes the winning entry before giving it a try.
Micah Lifrak stuffs a sample of the chocolate challah bread into his mouth.
Zoe Korman (right) and Ava Gekht consider each of the challah entries. Their names were selected out of a hat, which gave the students the privilege of missing class to participate in the event.
Jessi Sheslow eyes the challah entries before taking a sample. Sheslow works with the Jewish Federation, which submitted two loaves to the competition.
Micha Lifrak gives Hershorin Schiff Community Day School Judaic studies teacher Yael Blecher at thumbs up after trying the chocolate challah.
Head of School Dan Ceaser poses with second-place-winner Marge Elin.
Head of School Dan Ceaser poses with first-place-winner Rabbi Michael Werbow.
Students, faculty and members of Sarasota's Jewish community had their work cut out for them at Hershorin Schiff Community Day School first ever "Challah-ween" bake-off.
Challah critics tried nearly a dozen different loaves of challah bread on Friday afternoon at Hershorin Schiff Community Day School, which were donated by local grocery stores and religious leaders.
Temple Emanu-El Assistant Rabbi Michael Shefrin was among the panel of taste testers.
“I want my memory jogged with these challahs,” Shefrin said. “Challah is one of the quintessential Jewish foods. It reminds me of family, tradition and holiness.”
Before the competition, students made challah bread of their own. Community Day School Director of Jewish Learning Melissa Werbow said she used 50 pounds of flour to make 70 loaves of challah bread for 206 children to take home.
"My husband, Rabbi (Michael) Werbow, is usually the one who makes the challah bread at our home,” Werbow said. “But now I can say that I have 70 loaves of challah under my belt.”
Rabbi Werbow's challah-baking experience showed when it was announced he won first place in the bake off.
Challah bread is a doughy, braided bread typically eaten during the Sabbath and other Jewish holidays. In addition to the bake-off, students learned about the significance of challah during the Jewish Sabbath called Shabbat.
"Challah is shabbat in the sense that it’s an all day process which means we’re thinking about shabbat all day long,” Melissa Werbow said. "The labor that you put into it and then you enjoy the rest of shabbat."
