Shlissel challah—the secrets of challah in the shape of a key
Shlissel challah—the secrets of challah in the shape of a key
Shlissel challah is one of the well-known segulot for parnasah. For nearly ten years, women in the “Sila Tehillim” groups have baked challah in the shape of a key for the first Shabbat after Pesach. The photo groups have amassed an entire gallery of key-shaped shlissel challahs. Nevertheless, debate continues over the origin of this minhag.
We will endeavor to present the strongest sources. The tradition of baking challah in the shape of a key is based:
On the pasuk: “Pithi li, ahoti, ra’yati ...” - (“Open for me, my sister, my beloved”) - “Song of Songs 5:2,” regarding which the Midrash states: “Pithu li petah ke-chudo shel machat ani eftah lachem” - (“Open for Me an opening the size of the eye of a needle, and I will open for you gates through which wagons and carriages can pass.” (Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin)
The book “Ohev Yisrael” by the Apter Rav states that one of the reasons is connected to events that took place during the first days after Yehoshua assumed leadership of the Jewish people, following the death of Moshe Rabbeinu.
It is written in the Book of Joshua (5:11–12): “On the day after Pesach (the day after the Paschal offering was brought), they ate of the produce of the land—unleavened bread and roasted grain—on that very day. And the manna ceased on the day after they ate of the produce of the land; the Children of Israel no longer had manna, and that year they ate of the produce of the land of Canaan.”
After the death of Moshe Rabbeinu, the manna ceased to fall, although miraculously it still remained in the vessels used to store it. On the 16th of Nisan, however, the manna stopped appearing altogether. Until then, the Jews had not needed to worry about their sustenance, since the manna fell in the necessary quantity each day. This was an open miracle. Now, each person had to work to provide for himself and his family.
Therefore, on the Shabbat after Pesach, we ask the Creator to remember how He opened the gates of Heaven and provided sustenance for the entire Jewish people in the days of Yehoshua bin Nun. (http://www.beerot.ru/…/сгул…/шлиссель-хала-сгула-на-парнасу/)
According to Kabbalah, the Gates of Heaven are open on Pesach, but after Pesach the lower gates close, and we must open them again. Therefore, on the first Shabbat, we make challah in the shape of a key, demonstrating that through the mitzvot of Shabbat we open the locks.
The Shabbat after Pesach is the Shabbat on which we bless the month of Iyar. Since the manna began to fall in Iyar, by preparing challah in the shape of a key, we express our request to the Almighty to open the Sha'arei Parnasah—the gates of sustenance.
The gematria of the word mafte'ach (key) equals the sum of the gematriot of the words פרנסה + מן + חלה - parnasah (livelihood), manna (bread from Heaven), challah (Shabbat bread).
In addition, it is an acronym formed from the following words:
מ
Matar (geshem)—rain;
פ
Parnasah—livelihood;
ת
Techiyat ha-metim—resurrection of the dead;
ח
Chaim (pri beten)—offspring.
(““Sila Tehillim,” translation of “Ta'amei ha-Minhag,” pp. 249–250)
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Tags: Challah, Food, Segula for Parnassah, Shlissel Challah – The Key to Sustenance, Hafrashat Challah, Schlissel Challah — Secrets of Challah in the Shape of a Key, Shlissel Challah, Food — The Spiritual Dimension
