“It’s time,” the recorded message began. “I want the JCC to go into the challah baking business with you. Are you interested?” Mark Shapiro, then associate (now executive) director of the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, threw down the gauntlet.
Biskowitz’s answering machine beeped, signaling the end of the message, and in that fateful moment, she made the decision to partner with the JCC to make challah every Shabbat.
Each Friday, the smell of baking challah fills the JCC and community members gather at the JCC’s CAFA B DATA to pick up their weekly loaf.
Biskowitz seems to have hit on a winning combination: “Challahluyah!” went from making a few loaves at its November debut to now more than 100 each week.
In late February, Challahluyah provided challah for its first bar mitzvah of more than 100 guests.
Her loaves fill a need for bakery fresh challah that has been filled in recent years by a weekly delivery to Glendale’s Pick ‘n Save from North Shore Bakery in Chicago. Challahluyah provides a local, fresh option.
Biskowitz didn’t aim for a career in challah. She worked for years as a claims adjuster at an insurance company until the birth of twin daughters (now 11 years old) prompted her to become a full-time mother.
“I wasn’t looking to do this, that’s for sure,” she said. So how, then, did she go from adjusting claims to the labor-intensive, physically demanding job of baking challah for hours every Thursday and Friday?
“I always loved challah,” Biskowitz said, “I grew up having it every Friday night. It was just part of my food repertoire — something to look forward to.”
But she hadn’t considered actually baking her own. “I like to cook, but I would never say that I’m a baker.”
Some time after her twins’ birth, she attended a Shabbat dinner at a friend’s home and the seeds for the business were planted.
“When I complimented the hostess on her delicious challah, she admitted that she couldn’t take all the credit since she’d made the dough in a bread machine,” Biskowitz said.
That night, she recalled, was the first time baking challah “sounded like something that I could do”
So she borrowed the bread machine and the experimenting began. She nearly blew out her friend’s machine baking, she said. Soon, she bought her own and made loaf after loaf, tweaking an online recipe.
“I was hooked,” she said. She began baking challah weekly for her family. Ten years later, though, the idea of baking professionally hadn’t yet entered her mind.
That is, until she met Shapiro. After tasting her challah during a Shabbat dinner, he got excited.
“Mark immediately suggested that I join forces with the JCC and bake large quantities of challah in their kitchen.” Biskowitz was cautious but after a year of prodding, Shapiro left the aforementioned message, and Biskowitz took the leap.
The real secret
Scaling up from a small bread machine to a commercial mixer was no small task.
“Before starting my adventure,” Biskowitz said, “I surveyed everyone I knew who baked challah and perused multiple Jewish cookbooks.” She also enjoyed the help of chefs Jonah Levenberg and Jessica Pirozzolo of CAFA B DATA.
She soon discovered that “no two recipes are the same,” and there was only so much feedback she could follow. She had to just trust her gut — and taste buds.
She’s satisfied with the results. “If a hundred families are happy with my challah, I’ve done fine.”
The real secret? “Experiment and get your hands dirty,” she said.
And if you’re looking for a tested recipe, Biskowitz said she would be more than happy to share hers if asked.
For the past four months Biskowitz has baked kosher-certified (by Wisconsin K), pas Yisrael (bread that is certified to have been baked by a Jew) challah every Thursday and Friday morning, both for internal JCC use and retail sale to the community.
The mashgiach (kashrut supervisor) is Milwaukee-native Rabbi Aryeh Leib Devorkin. Originally only an observer, Devorkin now plays an integral role in preparing the challah.
For him, “It’s a mitzvah to make challah. He was very happy to do that mitzvah,” Biskowitz said. He enjoys glazing and braiding, making challah available to the community to celebrate Shabbat, she said.
About the future of the business, Biskowitz is taking it slowly. “I’ll see how it evolves,” she says. “It’s a lot of work. Physically it’s a lot of work. It’s not what I imagined. But I do love doing it.”
Available in plain, poppy, sesame and raisin, Challahluyah is sold exclusively at the JCC. A one-pound loaf costs $4; raisin challah is $5. Orders can be placed by calling CAFA B DATA at 414-967-8254 or visiting www.challahluyah.net.
Keith Lewis is a senior at Nicolet High School.
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