Chabad of the South Hills celebrates Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Rabbi Moshe Barrocas demonstrates the process of writing the Torah during the Mega Challah Bake4Kids event at the Jewish Community Center – South Hills.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Tatiana Perlman works on making a pillow-like Torah.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Batya, left, and Sarale Rosenblum
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Esther Shkedi volunteered at the event by providing a frame in which children could pose for photos.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Madelyn Daffner mixes challah dough.
Here’s wishing everyone l’shanah tova.
The Hebrew greeting accompanies Rosh Hashanah, which was celebrated Sept. 9-11 to mark the beginning of Year 5779 on the Jewish calendar. And that’s how Batya Rosenblum, co-director of Chabad of the South Hills in Mt. Lebanon, greeted guests at Sunday’s Mega Challah Bake4Kids event.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Max Louik watches as daughters Mavis, left, and Emilia begin to prepare dough for challah.
“That means that you should have a good year, that you should have a sweet year,” she told youngsters and their family members as they got ready to prepare loaves of the tasty braided bread.
The event, held at the Jewish Community Center-South Hills in Scott Township, took place between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, which this year is Sept. 18-19.
Along with the challah, children had the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities, including making personalized “Build-A-Bear”-type versions of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Chaya Esther Rosenblum gives one of the children’s activities a try by spinning a wheel with questions posted on it about Jewish holidays. Prizes were awarded for correct answers.
They also had their names written in Hebrew by Rabbi Moshe Barrocas. The Squirrel Hill resident is a sofer (scribe), specially trained in the laws governing the proper writing and assembling of a Torah scroll.
“A lot of times, kids come to services and they may see the Torah from afar, and even if they see it close, they’ll see it with the cover on it,” Rabbi Mendy Rosenblum, Chabad of the South Hills director, said. “They don’t get to see actually what the letters look like or how a scribe writes the Torah. So this is an effort to educate them.
“Torahs across the world, even across denominations, are all the same, and they’re written in the same way,” he explained. “Every single letter is considered a letter of God and every word is the word of God, and it’s really important for them to see how it’s done with such care and such tradition.”
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Lielle Touaf works on an activity of making decorative “l’shanah tova!” greetings.
Challah represents a tradition of Jewish holidays, including Sukkot, the Feast of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles, which begins at sundown Sept. 23.
“When the family gets together, we start the meal by breaking bread,” Rosenblum said. “We take two loaves of bread and make what’s called the Hamotzi, the blessing.”
Also by tradition, the making of challah includes the mitzvah, or act of kindness, of separating a piece of dough, reciting a blessing and burning the piece before baking the loaves.
Youngsters had the opportunity for their own acts of kindness in conjunction with Sunday’s event.
“When we make our challah today,” Batya Rosenblum told them, “you each have a chance to make one that will be given to a senior, an older person who maybe lives alone or doesn’t have so much family.”
For more information about Chabad of the South Hills – Jewish Center for Living and Learning, visit www.chabadsh.com.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Harry Funk / The Almanac
Volunteers for the event included Sara Thaler, left, who helped with a coloring activity for children, and Julie Segel with the “holiday question” wheel.