Challah For Change: How One Bakery Spreads Connection With Every Bite

Sara Loffman and her siblings, Hannah, Marni and Eliana, grew up learning of the Jewish value of tikkun olam or “repairing the world.” When the COVID lockdowns spread isolation and lack of connection, they used the concept to launch an effort to literally break bread for change. Now, Challah Back Girls spreads unity one loaf at a time.

The four siblings were used to making challah together, baking bread in the kitchen for every Shabbat or holiday. They made it for community events and cooked it with their mom and grandmother. Challah is highly symbolic in Jewish culture, representing manna, food that fell from Heaven to sustain the Israelites as a gift from God, or simply a blessing. Braided, it personifies unity, love and connectedness. Rounded, it symbolizes completion. In either form, it is a powerful symbol of love and harmony.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, the family home was full, as the Loffman siblings moved back in to be with their parents. Just like so many of us, they baked and ate and posted their homemade bread on social media. As people began to ask if they’d sell the challah, they felt the push to change the world that they were seeing unfold.

Then, protests against racialized police violence gripped the country. “The murder of George Floyd shook everyone. We also felt this sense of wanting to amplify the voices that weren’t being heard,” says Sara Loffman, who now functions as the company’s CEO. “We literally were taking the strands of the dough and braiding it together with the TV on, and it felt so heavy. It took this symbol of unity to a whole other level.”

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The idea that sharing challah might bring together people began to form for the Loffmans. With a focus on the binding nature of the symbolic bread, the siblings imagined that they could connect people through bread, education and activism across the country.

“It was really important to us to get out of our tri-state bubble and Jewish bubble and learn about organizations that were impacting their local community,” says Loffman.

The siblings started looking up small organizations, charities and groups that could use help spreading their messages. With each purchase of bread, they sent the non-profit’s story with the package to amplify its message. Additionally, they donated a portion of the proceeds to the charitable organization in question. The first donation amounted to just $12, but they knew where to send it: The Okra Project. This organization supports the safety and well-being of Black trans people in the United States. The Loffmans included a printout of the group’s mission statement in the bread package so that the recipient of the challah would learn a little about what their bread purchase supported.

Around that time, the name “Challah Back Girls” was born, courtesy of dad, Clark. Evidently, he was a secret Gwen Stefani fan, inspired by the star’s 2004 hit, “Hollaback Girl.” CBG was born.

Proceeds from Challah Back Girls’ bread sales have also supported organizations like The Conscious Kid, which tackles racism in education and Fair Play, an organization of therapists and engineers that adapt toys to make them accessible for children with disabilities. Donations span Jewish Queer Youth, the Seattle Indian Health Board, the Asian-American Federation and more. The list of supported groups is long and growing. Each box of challah includes educational information about an organization the company supports.

With all the good generated by this effort, the actual product has the potential to get lost in the social value. Not this challah. The tender dough is endlessly addictive and flavored with creative additions. Customers love challah studded with Fruity Pebbles, filled with chocolate chips or made with coffee crumb flavor. It’s no surprise that anyone sinking their teeth into these loaves would be open to expanding their hearts for a good cause. Food that good is sure to open minds.

Loffman agrees. “I think people are more likely to avoid a hard conversation. If someone comes to you with a gift of food, that’s a barrier broken.”

The original challah recipe, written on an index card, holds a valued spot in the family’s Teaneck, New Jersey, kitchen, but the products CBG offers are ever-expanding, including a new kit where you can bake challah in your own home, fostering a sense of connection in your own family. Plus, the challah is now available in a whole scope of interesting flavors. Lemon poppy, birthday cake and even cookies and cream all aim to satisfy and delight challah fans.

Loffman has planned camps and school visits with the goal of sharing Jewish culture and baking education. If Loffman had her way, she’d have an interactive campus allowing visitors to see the intentional process of making challah.

“There’s something significant about breaking bread,” says Loffman. “To be able to share our differences and uniqueness together would be a huge part of that. It would be a big learning opportunity with an area where people could have conversation starters to get to know each other.”

Providing a religiously significant, ceremonial food to others to build bridges is the organization’s bread and butter. By taking a part of their own culinary culture and extending it to make a difference in the world, Challah Back Girls is literally breaking bread to motivate change.