Challah for Parashat Noach

Every week, Julie Seltzer, artist and Torah scribe, bakes a challah depicting an aspect of the week’s Torah portion.

And the dove came to him in evening-time, and–a snatched olive branch in its mouth! (Genesis 8:11)

וַתָּבא אֵלָיו הַיּוֹנָה לְעֵת עֶרֶב, וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ

Mankind becomes wicked and God decides to destroy the world in a flood, saving only Noah and his family. Noah knows that the waters have receded when the dove can finally reach the branch of an olive tree. The olive branch has therefore come to symbolize peacefulness.