Chabad House Catches Hollowed Out Challah Culprit

While tradition for thousands of years to have Challah bread on Friday night, the Chabad on Campus at Long Beach State University did not enjoy it as much over the last few months. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Horowitz and his wife Chaya Mushka have been providing Jewish students on campus a Friday night meal for over nine years, always having excellent fresh baked challah. While common for children ages about ten years old and younger to rip a piece of challah bread, then hollow out the middle because it’s the best part and contains no crust, it is rare for an adult to do so, even though it remains highly desired. Rabbi Horowitz elaborated, “We just figured these are adults and they were over it. Boy were we wrong. Every time we’d leave the room for second to welcome someone else in, the challah would all of a sudden be burrowed through like a coal miner had gotten into it. Look, I’m aware no one likes the crust, but this is ridiculous.” The Rabbi’s wife also voiced frustration. “I expect it from one of my eight kids, but once you hit eighteen it should stop.”

The Rabbi and his wife would always return to the room frustrated, and no student wanted to expose the culprit for fear of being labeled a “rat” or a tattle tale. This past Friday night though, the Campus Rabbi caught a break, thanks to a new student. Simon Hirsch, a freshman and first time visitor to the Chabad House on campus, exclaimed loudly and as joke that he was looking forward to tunneling through the challah, and Sharon Zeigart, a long time attendee of the Friday night dinners accidentally blurted out, “It’s bad enough Josh does it… oops!! Sorry, I didn’t mean…” and the case was solved. Josh Lambert, a sophomore and economics major readily admitted to tunneling through numerous challahs and when outed, was not even that upset about it. “I actually don’t blame Sharon. I think she just gut instinct responded, and to tell you the truth, I’m trying to cut down on the carbs anyway. The Rabbi and I had a nice talk about it and he couldn’t have been nicer about the whole thing.” The Rabbi and his wife were happy the case had been resolved and even heard from numerous students that they were relieved about not having to carry around the guilt of knowing who it was.

The Chabad House on Campus at Colorado A&M University has recently reported a similar problem and is considering inviting other freshman to “accidentally” challenge whoever may be responsible for their bread issues.