Take 1,000 pounds of flour and 7,000 ounces of water, fold in 1,000 eggs and what do you have?
Perhaps a world record.
Some 1,100 children and adults took part in a massive challah-baking event last week at the New York Hilton that, according to the organizers, shattered the Guinness Book of World Records entry for the largest number of people taking part in a baking lesson at the same time.
The “Kids’ Mega Challah Bake” was sponsored by UJA-Federation of New York, PJ Library, the JCC in Manhattan and a few dozen other local Jewish organizations of all denominations, and commercial sponsors.
It was a night of sifting, kneading, braiding and rolling, with live music in the background.
Comedian Elon Gold, who sent in a promotional video, called on the children to “prepare the best challah in the world.”
The young bakers, ages 5-13, who had watched an interactive challah-baking video produced for the occasion, made a total of 1,128 challahs, of the poppy seed, chocolate chip and gluten free variety.
“There was something very special and unifying about so many children, from so many backgrounds, coming together and doing a mitzvah,” Gillie Shanowitz, a Crown Heights resident and Hebrew school teacher who was one of the event organizers, said. “There was a huge sense of Jewish pride in the room … an unbelievable sense of energy.”
She said Guinness officials had said that the old record in the cooking-lesson category was set by 426 students at a school in Hong Kong in 2013.
The organizers of last week’s event have not announced their next Guinness World records goal.
Hamantashen, anyone?
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