28 | DECEMBER 7 • 2023 J
N
O
n Nov. 19, 600 Jewish
women gathered at
the Nancy Grosfeld
Campus of the Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah in Oak Park to knead
and braid challah, pray, dance
and sing. At a difficult time for
many Jewish women impacted
by the ongoing Israel-Hamas
war and rising antisemitism,
many are seeking out the
company and support of other
Jewish community members.
RISE Challah Bake offered
that sense of community for
local Jewish women. The
sold-out event put on by
the Partners Detroit team
generated a “tremendous
sense of belonging,” explains
Partners educator Racheli
Indig.
“I think now because of
what’s going on in Israel,
women want to be around
each other and feel more
Jewish pride,” she says. “We
connected with our Jewish
sisters, and you could sense
that there was a charged
energy in the room.”
Participants from more than
20 Jewish organizations in
Metro Detroit joined the event.
The multi-generational event
saw grandparents, parents and
children join in on the rituals.
A table was filled by women
served by JARC, who braided
and baked challah as part of
one community.
Described as a “morning of
unity” for Jewish women from
across Michigan to “join hands
and hearts to bake challah,”
RISE Challah Bake tapped into
shared Jewish traditions that
Indig says many attendees may
have experienced for the very
first time.
“We’re talking about this
powerful moment of prayer,”
Indig says. “We as a people
will forever persevere. We’re
strong, and to be around
people that feel the same
way is so empowering and
inspiring to everyone who
attended.”
Jill Menuck, a longtime
participant of Partners, was
moved when community
shlicha Lior Zisser-Yogev,
who lost her brother Eli, a
commander of an elite IDF
unit, the morning
of Oct. 7, said the
blessing of the
challah
“It was the
first time she had
partcipated in this
mitzvah,” Menuck
says. “Everyone in the room
was moved.”
Participants who attended
left with not only fresh challah,
but a renewed sense of pride
in their Jewish community and
faith, fellow Partners Detroit
team member Dassie Bausk
says.
So far, the organization has
received “tremendous positive
feedback” about the event.
“Everybody felt a sense of
belonging,” Bausk says. “They
loved to be with their Jewish
sisters.”
While the event was planned
OUR COMMUNITY
Building
Community
One Challah
Braid at a Time
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
600 Jewish women attended
Partners Detroit’s RISE Challah
Bake.
Lior Zisser-
Yogev