The first-ever Challah Festival in Israel: Three days of art, culture, and food

What do Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market, Haifa’s Lower City, and Tel Aviv’s Salame Street have in common? All will take part in the world’s first cultural-culinary celebration devoted entirely to challah. This week, from November 13 to 15, challah—the bread that has accompanied the Jewish people since the Middle Ages—will become the star of three days filled with unique cultural, artistic, and culinary events.

FOODISH, the culinary department of ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, is launching this first-of-its-kind festival at the museum in Tel Aviv and in various locations throughout the country. Despite challah’s prominent place in Jewish tradition, until now no large-scale cultural or culinary festival in the world has been devoted entirely to this iconic bread.

Challah, in its familiar braided form, developed in medieval Europe, inspired by local festive loaves that were often braided. Jewish communities adopted the braided design and imbued it with deep spiritual significance—a symbol of abundance, holiness, and community. As Jewish communities migrated across the globe, challah spread and evolved into many variations—sweet or savory, round or long, with raisins, sesame, or poppy seeds.

Sponsored by Roladin, the festival features a rich variety of events. The group exhibition Hafrashat Challah (“Separating the Challah”) will be hosted at the museum, featuring dozens of artists. “Hafrashat challah—an ancient commandment rooted in the Torah—is much more than the technical act of removing a piece of dough before baking,” explains the exhibition’s curator, Dr. Guy Morag Tzepelewicz. “It represents our intimate connection to the earth, to wheat, and to our daily bread.”

In addition to the exhibition, bakery tours will take place throughout the country—from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Haifa, the Gaza border region, and Bnei Brak. During these tours, participants will be able to taste unique challahs in different styles, hear the stories behind the bakeries, and take a peek into the baking process.

Families can enjoy the interactive mystery game Who Ate the Challah? held throughout the museum, as well as a community picnic along the Yarkon River, including a challah-baking workshop for children and a play area.

At the Florentin Quartet complex, a “Challah on a Stick” pop-up will open in collaboration with DigiTel, offering four mini-challahs inspired by different cuisines—Greek, Persian, Eastern European, and American. All proceeds from the pop-up will go toward food-therapy activities for Tel Aviv–Jaffa residents displaced from their homes during the conflict with Iran.

“Challah is much more than a baked good—it’s a symbol of connection, tradition, and human warmth,” says Merav Oren, CEO of FOODISH. “The Challah Festival allows us to joyfully celebrate the creative and unifying side of the Jewish story. I see challah as a canvas for cultural culinary expression.”

Oded Revivi, CEO of ANU – Museum of the Jewish People, adds: “The Challah Festival is a groundbreaking initiative that brings to the forefront the essence of the Jewish experience—one that begins at the family Shabbat table and is woven from identities and traditions passed down through generations.”

At the festival’s opening event, FOODISH will present the Golden Challah Award honoring cultural creativity and social impact through challah, recognizing individuals and initiatives that have turned challah into a cultural, artistic, or social medium. Among the honorees: Abulafia Bakery, Yeladudes Bakery, artist Elisheva Revach, international challah artist Idan Chabasov, and three civilian projects that prepare “challah-schnitzels” for soldiers.