• 2 1/2 cups warm water, 1 tablespoon active dry yeast, 1/2 cup honey, 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, 3 eggs, 1 tablespoon salt , 8 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1. In a large bowl, sprinkle yeast over barely warm water.
2. Beat in honey, oil, 2 eggs, and salt.
3. Add the flour one cup at a time, beating after each addition, graduating to kneading with hands as dough thickens.
4. Knead until smooth and elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour as needed.
5. Cover with a damp clean cloth and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until dough has doubled in bulk.
6. Punch down the risen dough and turn out onto floured board.
7. Divide in half and knead each half for five minutes or so, adding flour as needed to keep from getting sticky.
8. Divide each half into thirds and roll into long snake about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
9. Pinch the ends of the three snakes together firmly and braid from middle.
10. Either leave as braid or form into a round braided loaf by bringing ends together, curving braid into a circle, pinch ends together.
11. Grease two baking trays and place finished braid or round on each.
12. Cover with towel and let rise about one hour.
13. Preheat oven to 375 degrees .
14. Beat the remaining egg and brush a generous amount over each braid. Sprinkle with poppy seeds if desired.
15. Bake at 375 degrees for about 40 minutes. Bread should have a nice hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Cool on a rack for at least one hour before slicing.
16. "Baruch atah Adonai, eloheinu melech ha'olam, hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz."

Samuel watched his mother and sisters make challah every week for fourteen years. He watched them knead the dough and braid the loaves. He watched them set aside a small piece of dough for God, but it eventually went outside to the birds. He watched them brush egg and sprinkle salt on the bread, then place it in the oven. They would eat the loaves of bread with Sabbath dinner and wine. His father would bless the wine and his mother would bless the wine. After Sabbath, Samuel and his family would gather together and read or listen to the radio. Later that week, leftover challah dough would be used to make bagels and other tasty pastries.

Samuel went without during the war. When he was fourteen, he and his family were moved to the Warsaw Ghetto and, eventually, the Klooga labor camp in Ukraine. At first, they were still able to celebrate the Sabbath and bake challah. But soon, they were surviving only on cabbage soup and tea. Of course, nothing could stop Samuel from dreaming of bread. He dreamed of challah and pierogi and all the good things his mother used to cook. At least in his mind, he still had bread.

After the war, Samuel and his family migrated to Israel. They experienced all sorts of new food, like hummus and pita. But they lived among other Eastern European Jews and soon resumed their former food traditions. His mother started making challah again every week, but Samuel moved out on his own after a while. He lived with some friends at a kibbutz where he met his future wife, Hanne.

Much to Samuel's delight, Hanne made challah the same way his mother did. They eventually married and moved to America. Although they stopped keeping kosher, Hanne always prepared challah every Friday afternoon. Soon, the babies came. Samuel and Hanne drifted further from Judaism; their children came to understand challah simply as Friday Bread, something their mother made every week.

After all the children moved out, when Samuel was nearly 60, Hanne taught him how to cook. He was especially interested in how to bake what had been a mainstay in his diet nearly his entire life, challah. Cooking became something Samuel and Hanne loved to do together. They continued to make challah together every Sabbath until November 2011, when Hanne passed away.

Nowadays, Samuel, his two living sisters, and I, his granddaughter, continue to make challah every Friday. We use the same recipe. Even though none of us are religious, we still say the same prayer over our bread. It makes Samuel happy that we carry on this tradition which started many generations ago. Hopefully, there will always be bread.