Crab Orchard Review Vol. 12, No. 2, our

Making Challah for the Sabbath
We have in us deeply planted
instructions—the ways I’ve learned
to measure ingredients from my palm,
set dough aside for a slow rise.
I like to think of the many women
uncovering bowls in kitchens
on Fridays—mixtures doubled,
fingers managing what’s whole,
unformed—the week’s end in yeast,
flour, salt, and the worn days
left behind like wind-dragged leaves
outside our kitchen door—the door
you enter just in time to portion
and piece a braid, careful not to worry
the dough. A good bread depends on
a firm touch, care in the work—
what a lover’s hands can do.
It’s in this way God plaited Eve’s
hair, blessed her marriage
to Adam in the Garden. You arrange
62 ◆ Crab Orchard Review
Chanda Feldman