Camp Uses Dough to Instill Culture

Pasadena, CA — Chanie Pinson knows just what to do to make young children interested in their Jewish heritage – give them a clump of raw dough and a pile of flour.

Video in the Extended Article!

“Kids love doing things that their mom doesn’t like them to do,” said Pinson, director of Chabad of Pasadena’s Camp Gan Israel. “Making challah goes way back into our heritage.”

Friday morning, about 45 camp kids got the opportunity to make their own challah, a special egg bread that is braided, cooked and eaten during the Friday night Sabbath dinner and many other Jewish holidays.

“We like to bring Judaism across in a fun, exciting way,” said camp counselor Mussie Lerman, 18. “They like making challah.”

Lerman said she believes lessons like these can instill in the children “a sense of Jewish pride.”

For 9-year-old Jordana Owens, it’s just downright fun.

“The flour’s pretty messy and the dough can be sometimes sloppy, but I like rolling the dough,” said Jordana, her face and clothes spotted with white flour. “I love braiding it and making it. Then you’ll be able to make it at home without any cookbook or anything.”
The process of making challah really “brings the tradition alive” for the kids, Pinson said.

“When the kids bring (their challah) home, it makes the whole Friday night special,” she said, adding that parents often will celebrate the Sabbath dinner more because of their child’s creation at camp.

Pinson noted that, although Chabad is an Orthodox institution, children from the Conservative and Reform branches of the religion and even kids whose parents aren’t very observant are welcome at camp, as well as the synagogue’s Hebrew school and other youth programs throughout the year.

“I think that all kids deserve a chance for a Jewish education,” Pinson said. “Maybe their parents didn’t have one or maybe they had a negative experience. It just breaks my heart to hear of kids that don’t get the opportunity to learn, though.”