Challah for Parashat Shoftim

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

If a dead body is found…your elders and judges will go out and measure the distance from the body to the nearest cities. (Deuteronomy 21:1,2)

כִּי-יִמָּצֵא חָלָל
…וְיָצְאוּ זְקֵנֶיךָ, וְשׁפְטֶיךָ; וּמָדְדוּ, אֶל-הֶעָרִים, אֲשֶׁר סְבִיבת הֶחָלָל

Here we see a John Doe challah. He is surrounded by tape, just like in television shows. At his side is a challah measuring tape, which will be used to measure the distance from the body to the nearest city, as the Torah commands.