- April 19, 2024
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Lakewood Ranch's Stephanie Guido attends with friend Deborah Majchel. "I like to see so many Jewish women together," Majchel says.
Chabad of Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch's Rabbi Chanie Bukiet honors Wendy Claussen with an award as part of the festivities.
Longboat Key's Terry Roth attends with her daughter, Sarasota's Leslie Podolsky. They enjoyed making their first challah loaves together.
Lakewood Ranch's Heidi Schild leads her table. She collects pinches of dough from each woman at the table. The pieces will be burned and cannot be eaten.
Lakewood Ranch's Katana Carotti, 16, attended with her mother, Bree Goldberg. Neither had made challah dough before.
Lakewood Ranch's Lisa Cuker enjoys dancing with friends just before the women settle down to separate and braid their dough in the loaves they will take home.
Lakewood Ranch's Paula Reich and Dvora Millstone loved how the event brought together Jewish women from all congregations.
Sigal Strauss, Anne Lewis, Trisha Weiner, Laurey Sandler and Donna Ristow are all friends from living in Del Webb at Lakewood Ranch.
Lakewood Ranch's Toby Simon, Sandie Ivers and Shelly Goldklang work side by side to brain their challah rolls. Ivers is the pro — she makes challah bread every Friday.
The dough of Lakewood Ranch's Susie Steenbarger did not come out quite right — it was too sticky to form into braids — but she still had fun.
Lakewood Ranch's Sandie Ivers makes challah bread every Friday. She helps bread-making novice Shelley Goldklang braid rolls of bread.
Myakka's Erin Kehoe came out with her sister, Kelly Welch, not picture. "It's the best time," she said after completing her bread to take home.
Lakewood Ranch 16-year-old Katana Carotti grinned as she and her mother, Bree Goldberg, watched dozens of women join hands and begin to dance joyfully in a circle.
At their tables nearby, they had already kneaded dough for their challah bread and were waiting for it to rise. Soon, they’d be splitting it, rolling it in their hands and braiding the pieces together to form two loaves.
Carotti and Goldberg had never made challah bread before and were relying on the other women at their table for help during the Mega Challah Bake event hosted Jan. 9 by Chabad of Bradenton and Lakewood Ranch at the Grove. About 200 women attended, taking time to share food, make bread, dance and sing.
Women could choose from a variety of toppings for their loaves. Goldberg kept hers plain so Carotti could taste it unaltered.
“I put chocolate chips in it,” Carotti said.
“This whole experience is cool,” she said. “You make with with people who have made it before or people like you who haven’t.”
Carotti had made matzo balls and potato pancakes before, but not challah. In Jewish tradition, it is considered a good deed to separate some of the dough before the challah is baked. Chabad Rabbi Chanie Bukiet said doing so symbolizes that sustenance comes from God and a portion of one’s livelihood should be reserved for giving.
