Prayer for Challah

Just having left the shelter, I’m choking on the news.

So I’ll leave you with this prayer I wrote for challah:

Avinu shebashamayim,

I hold within my hands the soft offerings of Your bread,

That You commanded us to bake and burn,

The scent fills our homes with warmth of Your Shechina.

We offer You,

The fruit of the fields, the souls who sew them, the sweat that harvests, the hands that grind,

Knead, shape, and prepare this bread for You.

With floured cheeks, damp eyes

Sore knuckles,

Faithful hearts, bowed heads.

I offer this sweet sacrifice

Bringing the holy Shabbat into my home,

Embedding the dough with my prayers.

To shield Your people and Your land from our enemies,

To heal the injured, comfort the mourners,

Protect our buildings and our babies,

Our emergency service members, doctors, and laboring mothers,

The soldiers in the field, and the families on the homefront,

The skies, seas, and promised land.

Bring us a Shabbat of peace.

May all Your people be blessed with rest,

And even in this time of war and struggle,

Please offer us a taste of the splendor

Of the world to come.

Let us hold on,

Week by week,

Loaf by loaf,

With faith in You.