Challah for Hunger to Help Fight Genocide
Pictured here left to right are Mishaal Husain ’11, Michele Gilbert ’11, and Caroline Miller ’11, baking challah. (Photo by Jodi Kushins)
Ohio Wesleyan will take part in an international effort that is making a difference by simply baking bread.
Challah for Hunger (CfH) is an effort among a growing list of colleges and universities who have joined the fight against genocide in Darfur. Starting this week, OWU students engaged in CfH offered samples and have been selling loafs of challah, a braided traditional Jewish bread, for $5.
This is the beginning of CfH at OWU, with the support of OWU Hillel, the Chaplain’s Office, and Chartwells, OWU’s on-site food service. OWU students met this week for the first time in HamWil’s kitchen to bake the bread together, and intend to invite all students and organizations to join them for future baking sessions this coming Spring.
“We love to cook together and we know that food brings people together, gets people’s attention,” says Jodi Kushins, associate chaplain for Jewish Life. “CfH is for a good cause and will help us and OWU with interfaith work. The message of CfH is that people working together can do great things with a few simple ingredients. In addition to baking the bread and selling it for $5 a loaf, we’ll provide people with opportunities to learn about the causes we’ll be supporting and also letter writing to representatives.”
CfH, a non-profit, touts that it gives young people, who are sensitive to suffering, an opportunity to help provide some relief and work on changing the systems responsible for such conditions. Specifically, each CfH chapter agrees to send 50 percent of its proceeds to American Jewish World Service for their Darfur Action Campaign; and the other half goes to an organization of the chapter members’ choosing, generally raising awareness of and money for hunger and disaster relief. OWU’s members have chosen to direct funds to Pakistan flood relief.
Why challah, some may ask. Well Kushins explains that the braided bread is traditional Jewish bread made weekly for Shabbat, a day of rest, which starts at sunset on Friday and ends when three stars appear in the sky on Saturday. It also is enjoyed for holidays. Challah can be made in a variety of flavors from plain to chocolate chip, from sage to cinnamon sugar.
Learn more about the project at OWU on the OWUJew blog.