Shlissel Challah – A Key to Prosperity
April 7th, 2010 Print
There is a fairly well know custom to bake Shlissel (“key” in Yiddish) Challah for the Shabbos immediately following Pesach. Doing so is said to be a segulah for parnassa –good livelihood.
Some put an actual key inside the Challah dough before baking it, some shape the Challah itself into a key shape, and some place the seeds on top of the Challah in the shape of a key.
One of the reasons for this custom is that following Pesach in the times of Yehoshua, right after the Jewish people entered Eretz Yisroel, the miraculous falling of the mun stopped providing the Jewish people with sustenance and they were forced to work the land to provide for themselves. By baking Shlissel Challah right after Pesach we ask Hashem to unlock the gates of sustenance for us so that our efforts provide a comfortable livelihood for our families just like He did for our ancestors.
For some other interesting reasons given for this custom click here.
There are many great Challah recipes including the Heavenly Challah Recipe from Devorah Heller, the famous Challah Lady.
Thanx!!! Was searching for a challah key pic 4 a while– this is the best!!!!!!