On the Chocolate Trail

When Logan Zinman Gerber felt enraged about the loss of reproductive rights in the U.S., she baked challah. Not any challah. She shaped it into a uterus. It wasn’t long after the birth of her daughter that Gerber, a longtime challah baker and staff member of the Religious Action Center of the Reform movement, considered the situation. She had conversations about the first Repro Shabbat in 2021 with people at Lilith Magazine and at the National Council for Jewish Women. A photo of that uterus challah, and then a cartoon image from the photo became the logo for the now annual event, unfortunately in its third year. It is co-sponsored by Jews for Abortion Access, Religious Action Center, Women of Reform Judaism, American Conference of Cantors, Women’s Rabbinic Network, Keshet, T’ruah, and numerous synagogues and organizations.

Lilith Magazine published her recipe where she wrote this about the process of baking challah:
The kneading grounds me;


how many mothers


in how many kitchens


over how many generations


were clutched by fear

as they 
gently
 brought strands together into one whole


creating something from nothing.


It has been about 
nourishing our bodies


choosing for ourselves.*

As she kneads, shapes, and bakes her challot, Gerber contemplates nourishment, justice, and food justice. Check out the video. Even when the week-in, week-out work to achieve justice feels exhausting, her challah baking, whether uterus shaped or not, reminds her to take breaks, to rest on Shabbat, to replenish her energy for the work to come in the following week. As she has written, “I’m kneading chazak (strength and courage) into each inch of this challah” for those whose abortion rights have been stripped away. She hopes the same for everyone else. Gerber’s loaves communicate about and feed justice for organizations and for individuals.

*https://lilith.org/2023/02/make-your-very-own-uterus-challah-this-shabbat/