Congregation Ohr Torah in Edison was the site of a communitywide challah bake in support of Yesh Tikva on September 9. Approximately 75 women and girls signed up for this community event co-hosted by Ohr Torah, Highland Park Congregations Ahavas Achim, Khal Chassidim, Ohav Emeth and the Young Israel of East Brunswick, featuring a challah braiding demonstration by Mira Septimus. The Edison/Highland Park/East Brunswick Challah Bake was one of eight scheduled nationwide on behalf of Yesh Tikva this month, and the one that generated the highest attendance.

Lisa Goldberg of Highland Park came to support this “wonderful organization,” she said. “I’m not the best challah baker but I’d like to learn. This is a perfect opportunity.” Each attendee was given a custom logo apron, mixing bowl, mixing spoon, five pounds of flour and other ingredients to make challah according to Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky’s recipe. It was a fitting recipe choice, as Rebbetzin Kanievsky was known as a “miracle worker” and devoted her life to helping people and performing good deeds. There were also lists of people hoping to have children who would appreciate being mentioned in the prayers and challah baking merits. As noted in the Yesh Tikva literature, some couples struggling with infertility wished to remain anonymous.

One of the co-founders of Yesh Tikva, Elie Haller Solomon of Edison, said: “I am always blown away by the number of people who show up to support Yesh Tikva in my community, whether it be coming to a challah bake or reaching out to see how they can be more sensitive to a sister/daughter/friend facing infertility. It’s a very different world than when I was going through it [infertility] and shocking everyone by telling them unabashedly what I was going through. I’m very glad to see that the shame is lessening. By being straightforward you can be a resource for others and enable people to feel less alone. The challah bake brings women from all over the community together in numbers that exceed other communities. It gives me such pride in where I live.”

Jackie Louk, Yesh Tikva’s development director, and Gila Block, executive director and co-founder, flew in from their West Coast headquarters to attend some of the challah bakes. “We were in West Hempstead last night and plan to be in Teaneck tomorrow,” said Louk. ”We are happy and excited to be working on an international fertility awareness Shabbat event to be held before Passover 2025 in honor of Yesh Tikva’s 10th anniversary with over 200 synagogues expected to be involved. Participants will be nationwide in the United States, and there are branches in London, Israel and Australia.”

Block added that as co-founder she has been involved since the beginning and has found it most meaningful to hear from people who have benefited from Yesh Tikva’s services and have connected with others and shared resources that were not available previously. “Others do not have to suffer or feel as alone as I had. A mutual friend put me in touch with Elie, who was going through the same thing. We got together and decided to form a support group, which has grown to include peer mentorship, written resources and education. An empowered person is stronger and connecting to support networks provides a valuable tool. The support extends to include other family members who also need information and skills to help them navigate the world of infertility and what it means to the couple involved.” She added a reminder that additional support may be needed during the upcoming holiday season since it is such a triggering time. Tips and tools to help understand infertility and suggested approaches are available on the Yesh Tikva website at https://yeshtikva.org/.

Septimus began her challah braiding with demonstrations of various types of braids using four, six, eight or more strands, which can then be connected to create round challah. Of the three mitzvot specifically directed to women (lighting candles, using the mikvah and making challah), challah making is the most flexible regarding time. Challah can be made ahead of Shabbat, frozen, then baked on Friday. Attendees were also reminded to keep Israeli refugees in mind who had to leave their homes on October 7 and still may be living in temporary locations where they are unable to bake. Videos were taken of each challah shape being prepared and were to be emailed to participants for future reference.

According to a 2023 study by the World Health Organization, one in six men and women worldwide face infertility. These are people we know, people who are all around us. Salomon noted that in addition to women who came to the challah bake to offer support, several were women hoping to have children of their own, hopeful future grandparents asking how best to support their children, or mothers of high school girls with newly diagnosed issues that may impact their fertility. “The one in six are here, in our community, and because of this beautiful evening of community solidarity, they felt seen and valued.”

For more information, reach out to Yesh Tikva’s website at yeshtikva.org