A sweet deal is coming back to campus.

Challah for Hunger, an international not-for-profit aimed at eradicating hunger by baking and selling challah on campus, has made a comeback at Syracuse University Hillel.

“The premise of the whole thing is that it’s all about raising awareness for food-based causes — for food need, for food shortage — and also to bring awareness to both a national and local causes,” Brian Small, the executive director at Hillel, said.

During their first bake of the semester last Thursday, the group sold a total of 115 loafs of challah and raised about $500. The project originated in 2004 when several students at Scripps College in Claremont, California began making challah for fun. The program has donated more than $600,000 to the American Jewish World Service and other non-profit organizations to date.

The challah, a traditionally rich, sweet bread served on Shabbat and other Jewish holidays, is $5 for an individually wrapped loaf and can be purchased via an order form on SU Hillel’s website. Recipes for challah vary, but the most basic recipe includes flour, oil, eggs, salt, sugar and yeast.

“It’s a staple bread that’s generally braided. You can braid it in a lot of different ways. It ranges from simple forms to more complicated, fancy ways depending on the purpose or holiday,” said David Kimelman, a junior political science and policy studies double major and executive vice president at Hillel.

Rachel Mandel, a student office manager at Hillel, said there are a few misconceptions about Challah for Hunger. A common question asked is where the organization’s proceeds go. Half the money will go to the national charity MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, and the other half will be donated to a local charity. While a local charity has not been selected, Hillel is leaning toward the food pantry of Temple Concord, a local synagogue.

“A lot of people hear ‘Challah for Hunger’ and think that we’re making challah to donate to a food kitchen or something like that, but we’re actually selling it to students, parents, people on campus and that money is donated to charity,” said Mandel, a senior psychology and Jewish studies double major.

Before its recent success, Challah for Hunger had trouble maintaining active supporters and attracting a crowd for sales. While serving as the coordinator of programming and special initiatives, Small took a group of Hillel interns to the University of Delaware in 2011 where they witnessed Challah for Hunger in action. Inspired by this experience, they began baking challah for charity at SU. The next year, however, the project was discontinued due to lack of interest.

The project was brought back this semester by co-organizers Rebecca Leon, a sophomore communication sciences and disorders major, and Lauren Weinstein, a junior psychology major, both active members at Hillel. Originally showcased at the FreshFest Pre-Orientation Program this summer, Leon and Weinstein turned the project into an umbrella group of Hillel.

Leon and Weinstein have many ideas for improving the project, including expanding of their line of flavors. Previously, they baked only plain and cinnamon sugar challah, but want to add chocolate chip, pumpkin and hot chocolate to their menu. In addition, Challah for Hunger will make direct deliveries to all Greek houses on campus. Leon said the group plans on making the challah three or four more times during the semester but hasn’t set any dates yet.

“I wasn’t expecting this to start so fast and it was just amazing that it took off so quickly. And we love getting feedback,” Leon said. “People came up to me the next day and said, ‘Your challah rocks.’ It can only go up from here. We have big plans for the future.”

Published on September 24, 2014 at 12:01 am

ztgipson@syr.edu