Delivering soul food – and a challah

Kelita Hoffman is a busy corporate lawyer and the mother of a three-year-old with physical challenges. She’s also the founder of Challah2Share, which bakes and delivers challahs to people in need.

Challah2Share aims to brighten up Shabbos for people with some kind of need, be they sick, alone, financially stressed, or a myriad of other reasons. The challahs go to the vulnerable, isolated, in need, and the families of special-needs children.

Started in August 2020, it has gone from 10 challahs which Hoffman made herself in her kitchen to more than 100 packages a week that are personally delivered.

“Sick? Alone? Medical kids? Unique needs? Diagnoses? A steep mountain to climb? We could all use a gesture, a happy face, and someone to show us how truly loved we are,” Challah2Share states on its website.

Challahs are a universally accepted Jewish symbol, Hoffman says. They are also culturally significant, and, of course, they’re food. The latter isn’t to be underestimated, as there are a huge amount of people out there who need help with sustenance. The bulk of the organisation’s recipients are elderly Jewish people living alone.

Though it has grown substantially in a short time, Hoffman still runs Challah2Share from her garage, relying on volunteers to bake, pack, and deliver packages to people’s doors. Ingredients are sponsored by one or two anonymous donors, and two rebbetzins make a huge contribution by baking the bulk of the challahs.

Delivery in person is an essential part of the process because a lot of people are depressed and lonely at this time. “Many haven’t had a conversation for some time, haven’t seen family, or their family is living overseas. Using a driver would lose that personal connection. Also, the fact that four to five people have gone into the creation of each package gives it a communal connection. It’s a message that the community cares for them,” she says.

“It’s wonderful to see people doing kind things for nothing,” she says, pointing out that she has made amazing connections in her garage, and that it gives meaning to their lives. “Some of our recipients have even become deliverers.”

Though she is delivering about 100 packages weekly, she has more than 400 people on her list of possible recipients, but lacks the resources to give more.

Hoffman says that ironically, she’s “not a womanly wife who spends her time cooking” – though she does manage to bake six challahs a week for her family with the help of her caregiver. A full-time lawyer with a masters degree from the University of California, Berkeley, she describes her life as “very busy”.

Reaching out to strangers is also about imparting strength in crisis. This was the theme of a virtual challah bake Hoffman organised last week with more than 100 participants. It included speakers across the generations from the age of three to 96, who shared stories of resilience.

Hoffman talks about the many challenges of being a parent to a special-needs child. At Rosh Hashanah, they managed to deliver to 250 recipients even though she was in hospital dealing with seizures. But on this journey, she says she has had numerous unexpected encounters with “guardian angels”, who taught her and her husband “the power of true kindness by simply being proactive doers and giving with no expectation in return”.

• To get involved, contact Challah2Share at challah2share@gmail.com or call 064 110 5367.