challah

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challah

/ˈxɑ(ː).lə/
/ˈhɑ(ː).lə/

Rhymes with -ɑːlə

Where it comes from

From Hebrew חַלָּה (ḥallá, “loaf”), influenced by Yiddish חלה (khale).

noun challahs · challos · challot · challoth · halla · challa

countable A traditional bread eaten by Ashkenazi Jews, usually braided for the Sabbath and round for a yom tov. […]it is a time-honored custom that when women bake challah-loaves for Sabbath and Yom Tov use, they specifically prepare a dough large enough to be obligated in challah, so they can fulfill the mitzvah of separating challah[…].
uncountable The commandment to separate a portion of bread or bread dough for the cohanim (Numbers 15:17–21); in contemporary practice, the portion is burned until inedible.
countable The portion separated in fulfillment of the above.

Translations

Every language

noun traditional braided bread

Español	jalá
中文	辮子麵包 /辫子面包 biànzi miànbāo, 辮子包 /辫子包 biànzi bāo
Français	hallah, challah
Deutsch	Challa, Zopf
Русский	ха́ла xála
العربية	حَلَة ḥala, خَلَة ḵala
עברית	חַלָּה

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MLA

"challah." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/challah. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

challah. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/challah

Chicago

"challah." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/challah.

BibTeX

@misc{challah_2026,
  title = {challah},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/challah},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}