Challah Bake at Temple Moses Revives a Lost Greek-Jewish Tradition
This past weekend, Temple Moses came alive with the sights, sounds, and smells of Bivas teens as they baked challah at our second annual ‘Pan de Siete Cielos’ challah bake. The event welcomed participants of all ages, and was led by young teens determined to revive a nearly forgotten tradition once cherished by the Greek Sephardic communities.
Pan de siete cielos— meaning the “bread of seven heavens”— was an ancient baking tradition kept by Sephardic Jews in Greece, like Salonika and Rhodes, before the holiday of Shavuot. This intricate bread was traditionally decorated with symbolic shapes—such as ladders, crowns, tablets, and gates—representing the spiritual ascent of Moses to receive the Torah. Baking the pan de siete cielos was a communal, often intergenerational ritual, rich in meaning and anticipation for the Shavuot holiday.
<b>Though this custom faded over generations, especially after the devastation of the Holocaust, Bivas teens are now working to bring it back to life!</b> Through this initiative, Bivas teens are ensuring that the unique legacy of Greek Sephardic Jewry is preserved!
Congratulations to Hannah Klein on winning first place in our Challah Bake!
