The women of the Darchai Menachem School PTA got together to perform the special Mitzvah of separating Challah last week.
In light of the special connection between Parshas Chaya Sarah and Challah, mothers of Darchai students, wives of staff, as well as female staff members joined for a Challah Bake in a spirit of achdus to show their connection with Darchai Menachem and get more involved in the student’s chinuch.
“As a newer parent, with my son in 7th grade, I hadn’t had much chance to meet other mothers from my son’s class,” said Chavi Brennan. “It was really nice to socialize and get to know one another. It felt like there was such unity, like a community. Our boys are close because they have a smaller class, and now us mothers can be too!”
Participants were treated to a moving presentation by Rochie Pinson, author of “Rising! The Book of Challah.” Mrs. Pinson spoke about some of the significant aspects of the Mitzvah to separate Challah including the inner spirituality of the commandment, how to correctly separate the dough, the underlying meaning of ingredients, and more. Each participant made her own dough from scratch and took it home to bake for Shabbos. While waiting for their dough to rise, Mrs. Pinson discussed the mystical and practical aspects of the process. She also demonstrated different braiding techniques on pre-risen dough.
Rabbi Menachem Vail, associate director of Darchai Menachem, expressed his amazement “to see everyone come together for such a beautiful Mitzvah and event while strengthening the Darchai community.”
PTA Co-Coordinator, Mrs. Rivky Perl, expressed her gratitude to the PTA committee. “Thank you to my amazing and dedicated Darchai PTA Co’s for such a beautiful and fabulous mom’s night out. May all our efforts ‘rise’ beyond all expectations and bring in lots of ‘dough’ this year!”
After the event, parent Miriam Rochester remarked, “Rochie did such a great job demonstrating how to bring the divine into the mundane. It was a perfect mix of fun and inspiration.”
Mrs. Pinson summed up the event beautifully. “It was a real pleasure to see such a dedicated group of moms who want to see a community built around their school. It was a very unified and uplifting evening.”
The PTA would like to warmly thank our generous sponsors for such a beautiful event:
Mr. Greens, Vaad Printing, KRM Kollel Store, Isaacs Wonder Mills, Moshe Rubashkin, Zalmy Cohen, and מנחם משה דוד בן עדנה.
