Separating Challah
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Question
Shalom Rav,
I have a few questions regarding the mitzvah of separating challah:
1. From what exactly must one separate challah nowadays – is the separation done from the dough, or at which stage? And how much?
2. What is the meaning of the halachah that one must separate “one challah” – isn’t it sufficient to take a certain amount from all the dough, and what is the significance of “one challah”?
3. What exactly should be done with the separated challah – must it be burned, and if so, how? And if it is not burned, then what should be done with it?
I have a few questions regarding the mitzvah of separating challah:
1. From what exactly must one separate challah nowadays – is the separation done from the dough, or at which stage? And how much?
2. What is the meaning of the halachah that one must separate “one challah” – isn’t it sufficient to take a certain amount from all the dough, and what is the significance of “one challah”?
3. What exactly should be done with the separated challah – must it be burned, and if so, how? And if it is not burned, then what should be done with it?
Answer
Shalom u’vracha.
1. Ideally (lechatchila), one separates from the dough, but if it has already been baked, one may separate from the baked product.
One separates a small portion from the dough, not a whole loaf/challah. [According to the Rema — at least a kezayit (the volume of an olive), and according to the Shulchan Aruch — it may be less than that.]
2. “One challah” means a single act of separation, and not two separate separations as was done in the times when there were members of the Jewish people who were ritually pure.
3. Ideally, the separated portion should be burned, but one who has no possibility to do so may wrap it and throw it into the garbage.
Source
Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah, siman 332
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