http://www.thefivetowns.com/images/schlisseltefillah.pdf(tifilos after havdala)
from the blog a simple jew;
There is a minhag to bake shlissel challah (shlissel means key in
Yiddish) for the Shabbos after Pesach. Shlisel challos are best known
as a segula for parnasa, though there are other reasons for it, as we
will soon see. Some bake the challah with an actual key inside, some
make the challah in the shape of a key and some put sesame seeds on
top in the form of a key. There are those who make the challah flat to
look like matzos. We will discuss this later on. The Ohev Yisroel says
about shlisel challah that “the minhagim of our fathers are most
definitely Torah”. There are many reasons given for this minhag of
baking shlissel challah; we will go through some of them. (Some of the
items written below can also be found in Taamei Minhagim, Nitei
Gavriel, Sefer Hatoda’a and Minhag Yisroel Torah)
First of all, the second mishna in Rosh Hashanah says on Pesach we are
judged on the grains, parnasa. Rabbeinu Nissim asks if we are judged
on Rosh Hashana then how are we judged on Pesach? He answers that on
Pesach it is determined how much grain there will be in the coming
year for the world, but on Rosh Hashana it is decided how much of that
grain each individual receives. The Meiri, however, says that on Rosh
Hashana it is decided if one will live or die, suffer or not and other
such things, but on Pesach is when we are judged on the grains. Based
on this there are customs in Sephardic communities to do things Motzei
Pesach as a sign that we want Hashem to give us livelihood. In Aram
Soba (Syria) and Turkey they put wheat kernels in all four corners of
the house on Motzei Pesach as a sign of prosperity for the coming
year. (Moed L’kol Chai -R’ Chaim Palagi, Beis Habichira). From a
mishna we already see that there is a connection between Pesach and
parnasa.
Reasons for Shlissel Challa
1).In Shir Hashirim (which we read on Pesach) it says פִּתְחִי-לִי
אֲחֹתִי רַעְיָתִי - “Open for Me, My sister, My beloved". Chazal say
that Hashem asks us to open up for Him a small whole like the tip of a
needle and He will open up a huge hole for us. Also, Klal Yisroel is
called a bride and they are called the bechina (aspect) of bread.
During Pesach all the upper gates and minds are open and after Pesach
they close and we need to open them. Therefore, we put a key in the
challah after Pesach to hint at us opening a small “hole”, through the
mitzvah of Shabbos (and, if I might add, the mitzvah of challah) and
now Hashem should open up all His good from his storehouses and the
heavens like He gave the mon to our fathers in the month of Iyar, and
this Shabbos we bless the month of Iyar.
2) After Pesach is when the mon stopped falling and we brought the
Omer. From then on we needed to eat from the produce of the ground; we
needed parnasa, since untill now we had the mon. It is known that
everything has a gate. Therefore just as we daven to Hashem to open up
the gates of parnasa we have a minhag to put the form of a key on the
challos to allude that Hashem should open up the gates of parnasa for
us.
3) During sefira we count 49 days till Shavuos, the 50th day, which is
the shaarei bina. We go from gate to gate, and each gate has a key.
That is why we make an image of a key on the challah.
4) It says in Shir Hashirim 1:11 תּוֹרֵי זָהָב נַעֲשֶׂה לָּךְ עִם
נְקֻדּוֹת הַכָּסֶף - "We will make for you circlets of gold with spots
of silver." By the Mishkan it says זהב וכסף ונחשת, putting zahav
(gold) before kesef (silver). In Bereishis, by the creation of the
world, the first day it says Yehi ohr which is chesed (which is
represented by silver) and the second day represents gevurah, which in
turn represents gold. The reason is that by the creation of the world
it was pure chesed, as it says “the world was built on chesed”
(Tehilim 89,3), therefore chesed, which is representative of kesef,
precedes gevurah, which is representative of zahav. By the Mishkan,
however, Hashem had to, so-to-speak, contract (tzimtzum) the Shechina
(Divine Presence) to dwell in it, and tzimtzum is from the aspect of
gevurah, therefore zahav precedes kesef by the Mishkan. However, the
zahav written there has the nekudah (vowel sound) of a פַתַּח (it has
a patach instead of the usual kometz), it says זְהַב הַתְּנוּפָה
(Shemos 38,24), and that is the nekuda of chesed –the nekuda of
chochma. And פתח (the vowel) also means opening like פתח ושער- from
there comes all the kindness. Putting it all together, this that we
say in Shir Hashirim תּוֹרֵי זָהָב נַעֲשֶׂה לָּךְ עִם נְקֻדּוֹת
הַכָּסֶף means the Mishkan was made with zahav, the aspect of
tzimtzum, but with the nekuda of kesef, meaning the (word “zahav”,
instead of having the usual vowel, kometz, is written with the) nekuda
of patach, which is chesed. And the Shabbos after Pesach is always in
the second week of sefira which is gevurah, the aspect of zahav,
except that it is menukad with kesef, nekudas patach. Through this we
say that we will open up all the gates of blessing and since every
gate has a מפתח (key) we make the image of a key on the challah.
5) The previous four reasons are all brought by the Ohev Yisroel in
Shabbos Acher Pesach and Likutim Parshas Shmini. There is a fifth
reason brought by the Ohev Yisroel, also based on the posuk תּוֹרֵי
זָהָב נַעֲשֶׂה לָּךְ עִם נְקֻדּוֹת הַכָּסֶף, connecting the written
and oral Torah to challah. (See Ohev Yisroel, Shabbos Acher Pesach)
6) The matza we ate on Pesach is supposed to instill in us Yiras
Hashem. And Yirah is compared to a key as we see from the following
Gemara in Mesechta Shabbos 31a-b: “Rabbah bar Rav Huna said: Any
person that has Torah but doesn’t have Yiras Shomayim is comparable to
a treasurer who has the keys to the inner parts (of the treasure
house) but the keys to the outer area was not handed to him. How can
he get to the inner parts (if he can’t first get into the outer
parts)?” Therefore we put a key in the challah the Shabbos after
Pesach to show we want the Yirah obtained from the matzos to stay with
us, because if one has Yirah then the Torah will stay attached to him.
(Yismach Yisroel)
7) The Rambam lists out at the beginning of Hilchos Chometz U’Matza
that there are 8 mitzvos (3 positive & 5 negative) involved there. The
key we put in the challah alludes to this Rambam: the letters of מפתח
(key) spell פ״ת ח׳ מ׳צות. (פ״ת is bread, representing the “chometz”
and מ׳ is for matza- these allude to Hilchos Chometz U’Matza, and
theח׳ is the 8 mitzvos involved) (Tzvi LaTzadik)
8) The Shabbos after Pesach we make challos that look like matzos, as
an allusion to the matzos that were eaten on Pesach Sheini. And we put
a key in it to allude to the “gates” being open untill Pesach Sheini.
(Imrei Pinchos)
9) The minhag is to put keys in the challah and make them in the form
of matzos. The reason is that in these seven weeks of sefira we are
supposed to work on our Avodas Hashem until we reach the the level of
the first night of Pesach. The way to do this is to put the “left into
the right”, meaning mix the trait of ahava (right side) with yirah
(left side). In this second week of sefira we have these two traits in
our hands, since the first week of sefira is chesed- ahava, and the
second week is gevura - yirah. That is why we make the challah look
like matza. Matza is representative of the yetzer tov, the right, and
chometz is representative of the yetzer horah, the left. Now, we have
challos which are true chometz, in the form of matza; “the left is in
the right”, chometz in matza. (Shearis L’Pinchos)
10) There are many reasons given for the shlissel challah, and I say
that the shlisel challos are the keys to parnasa. (Segulas HaBeShT
V’Talmidov quoting Nachlas Yaakov)
Different ways of making Shlissel Challah
As mentioned above (reasons 8 and 9) there are those that make the
challah round and flattish for this Shabbos, in the image of matza.
Some make the challah in the shape of a key.
Some attach a piece of dough in the shape of a key. Breslov Customs
for Pesach (page 57) says this is the minhag of the family of Reb
Elazar Kenig shlita and of Manistritch.
Sefer Hatoda’ah mentions making the image of a key with sesame seeds
on top of the challah. These first three customs can, perhaps, be seen
from the wording of the Ohev Yisroel in one place where he says we put
the image of a key on the challah.
Some place an actual key in the challah. Perhaps this is done because
of the wording in many places of indenting the challah with a key.
Either way it is done the key or image of the key is usually on top.
An interesting observation about this. The Gemara quoted by the
Yismach Yisroel (reason 6), about the key, is at the top of daf 31b.
At the bottom of the daf is the mishna mentioning the women’s mitzvah
of challah. Here to the key is on top and the challah on the bottom.
Conclusion
The Gemara in Taanis says there are three keys that Hashem controls
directly, without the assistance of Malachim. They are rain, which the
Gemara explains is parnasa, childbirth (or conception) and techias
hameisim. If I may humbly add, when we are making the challah to have
in mind the parnasa of others also, and also those who don’t have
children and most importantly daven for techias hamaeisim.
Either way one performs this minhag they are all correct and all have
holy sources. When I started writing this I did not realize how much
information there was on this minhag which is done only once a year. I
learnt a valuable lesson. Every minhag and of course every mitzvah has
many holy reasons behind it and it’s not done just because someone
decided this is a nice thing to do, as some say. The more I looked
into shlissel challah the more I found in seforim written by Rabbonim
who were geonim in every part of Torah, nistar and nigleh, and
tzadikim in every aspect, between “man and God” and “between man and
man”. They were able to understand reasons for every little action we
do as a way of serving Hashem. May we all be blessed with parnasa
berevach together with all of Klal Yisroel.
___
Giving Thanks for Doors Opened
Rabbi Yehuda Prero
Scavenger hunts usually do not find their way on to the Shabbos
preparation "To Do" list maintained by my family. Yet, last week, my
wife spent the better part of Friday afternoon running from grocery
store to supermarket in the pursuit of . . . dough. We had both
forgotten what was unique about this Shabbos. By the time we realized
we needed dough, it was too late in the afternoon to start whipping up
our own batch, so we had to go with the ready-made sort. After a few
stores, my wife was successful and she happily returned home with a
more-than-slightly frozen dough. Why, do you ask, we were looking for
dough? In two words, the answer is "Schlissel challah."
A custom of old is discussed in a number of places. The Sefer Ohev
Yisroel writes there is a custom, the first Shabbos after Pesach, to
pierce the Shabbos challah, the loaves, with a key. One reason for
this stems from events that occurred in the days after Yehoshua
(Joshua) took over the leadership of the nation of Israel. Sefer
Yehoshua (5-11,12) states: "and they ate of the old grain of the land
on the next day after Pesach, unleavened cakes, and parched grain in
the same day; and the manna ceased on the next day after they had
eaten of the old grain of the land; nor did the people of Israel have
manna any more; but they ate of the fruit of the land of Cana'an that
year."
Not long after entering the land of Israel, at the time of Pesach, the
nation of Israel was no longer provided with manna from heaven. The
nation began to eat from that which grew naturally in the land of
Cana'an, the land of Israel. At that point, the nation of Israel had
to depend on G-d for the provision of sustenance in a new fashion.
Until now, it had been miraculous. Now, each person had to labor and
toil and work the land so that their families would be provided for.
Sustenance was on the minds of everyone.
There is a metaphorical description of that place in heaven from where
blessings come. G-d's blessings, such as health and wealth, are stored
behind gates. On the high holidays, we ask G-d to open the gates of
heaven for our prayers. At this time of year, right after Pesach, we
ask G-d to recall how He opened the gates of sustenance for the entire
nation of Israel in the days of Joshua after Pesach. By impressing a
key into our challah, we are asking that we too should have the key we
need to open the gates of sustenance properly placed and turned for
us. The "schlissel," which is the Yiddish word for "key," should
unlock the gates of sustenance for us just as it was for the nation of
Israel after their first Pesach in the promised land.
Our entry into the land of Israel brought our nation into a new
status. We now had to work for our livelihoods, and our success would
not come without divine providence. Whereas the divine providence had
been outward and miraculous, now it would be more covert, hiding under
the cover of what we term "nature." With Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israeli
Independence Day, before us, this is a lesson to keep in the
forefront. Just as our initial entry into the land of Israel brought
the nation of Israel to a new level of appreciating divine providence,
so too should the events surrounding the birth of the nation of
Israel. Some events were clearly miraculous, others appeared to be
natural. Regardless of how the events played out, we must remember, be
thankful, appreciate, and pray for the continuance of G-d's heavenly
assistance, in sustaining us as individuals and a nation, physically
and spiritually.
R' Yehuda Prero
