This year O.C.’s Mega Challah Bake was bigger, better and breadier than ever before. On Thursday, November 10th hundreds of Jewish women in Orange County came together for the O.C. Mega Challah Bake, to learn how to bake challah on the same date as other Jewish communities around the world. The Challah bake is a joint initiative of the O.C. Jewish Community.
“We are a unified community of O.C. women from all walks of Jewish life and from all over the world,” said event officials. “We are affiliated and unaffiliated. Some of us cover our heads and some wear shorts. Together with the International Shabbos Project we make challah and celebrate together.”
The Shabbat Project is a global, grassroots movement that brings Jews from across the world together around our shared heritage of Shabbat. The initiative was introduced in South Africa in 2013, and in the days that followed, the Jewish world heard, and was inspired by, how the majority of the community kept Shabbat in full, and how Jews were brought together in unprecedented ways.
The Mega Challah bake seeks to keep that spirit alive by bringing hundreds of Jewish women together to make delicious challah together as a symbol of Jewish unity and pride. The event organizers make this event as welcoming as possible by charging $18 a person per event, which includes all the ingredients and utensils to prepare a challah. There are also many sponsorship opportunities available for next year’s 2017 event. Please go to www.ocmegachallahbake.com for additional information and stay tuned for registration details!
This year, aong with a special Instagram photo booth prop, the Mega Challah Bake also tapped into even newer social media technology by harnessing the power of Snapchat.
“We were so excited for the 2016 O.C. Mega Challah Bake to have its own Snapchat filter,” said event orgainzers. “A special shout out to the talented and wonderful Jenny Forrest and her new company Over Moment for creating the O.C. Mega Challah Bake filter.”
The turnout did not disappoint this year. In 2014, 800 O.C. Jewish women created a unified community and in 2015, they were 1,600 strong. However, in 2016 the event was bursting at its braided seams with a SELL OUT crowd of over 1,400 participants.
“We all had an amazing time together with so many women from around Orange County. Without your support and commitment to our event, it would not have been the success that it was,” says the Mega Challah Baking Committee.
The event took place at the Hotel Irvine on 17900 Jamboree Road, Irvine. For more information on next year’s event and how you can get involved please visit OCMegaChallahBake.com.