Accepting orders for Feb. 27 bake

By Deb Silverthorn

The Hillel program at Southern Methodist University has perfected the recipe for mitzvah making by hosting monthly challah bakes. The proceeds will aid those who are hungry; the program is in tandem with Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger.

“In January, we spent three hours together and raised $386,” said Ali Vogel, SMU Hillel’s director of Jewish student life. “During our time together, the students are making new friends and visiting with already built friendships. They share thoughts about their own lives, about what’s going on in the world and more.

“I began baking challahs with my Bubbie Esther when I was 6 or 7 years old and it’s always been one of my greatest memories,” said Vogel. “I love that our students are making their own memories while giving back to our community. We’re able to wrap the ideas of tzedakahand tikkun olam and to make a difference with the spirituality that comes from learning about making challah beyond baking it.”

Students gather at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house, which shares its kitchen for the project each month, mixing and braiding ingredients with conversation and connections. The end result? Delicious classic, chocolate chip, peanut butter and chocolate hazelnut spread-filled challahs which are available for order, with proceeds supporting inner-city and low-income children throughout the Metroplex struggling with hunger.

“We’ve had a hip crowd of 27 students coming together and it’s a great time,” said Sam Netkin, a sophomore corporate communications and public affairs major from Miami, Florida. “Before coming to SMU, I was not so personally connected to faith on my own, but I have found an awesome community here. Especially since Oct. 7, I have realized I have to — I want to — take my Judaism into my own hands and that definitely means projects like this one.

“We have an obligation to help others,” said Netkin, “and through Challah for Hunger we are making a difference while also enjoying each other’s company and building community.”

In addition to orders placed online, SMU students sell challahs on campus to their peers, faculty and community members with 80% of this semester’s profits supporting Blocking Hunger. Founded nearly 20 years ago by Nazun, the Challah for Hunger program, now run by MAZON, has had thousands of participants raising more than $2 million for anti-hunger organizations.

In March, as part of their Purim celebrations, in addition to their donation, SMU’s students will participate in the tenet of matanot l’evyonim — sending food portions one to another and giving gifts to the poor. They will help organize, and donate to, Blocking Hunger’s Travis’ Pantry program, which creates fully stocked pantries in a number of schools so that children can take food to their homes.

“Our students are molding dough into mitzvahs, our hands serving as God’s hands, to help others,” said Rabbi Heidi Coretz, the executive director of SMU Hillel and the university’s assistant chaplain for Jewish life. “With Ali leading this amazing project, the students are helping so many they’ll never know. That is true giving.

“We are blessing the Shabbat tables of our own Jewish community with these precious loaves and also the tables of those around us in need,” she added. “Our students are giving, learning and caring people. I’m proud of them.”

Upcoming dates for SMU Hillel’s MAZON Challah for Hunger project are Feb. 27, March 27 and April 24, with orders due the day before each bake.

Challahs, which are delivered by Vogel, are $5 each and can be coordinated by emailing alivogel@smu.edu. Payments for challahs and Purim gifts (the latter until March 7) as well as additional donations to the program are welcome at give.mazon.org/team/633608.