Challah, Challah Boards and Challah Covers

three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon) and two holiday meals (one at night and one in the morning) each begin with two compete loaves of bread.

This bread is called challah - challah is cut on a challah board


A challah cover is a special cloth used to cover the two braided loaves (challah) set out on the table at the beginning of a Shabbat or Yom Tov meal. While its appearance lends a decorative and ceremonial aspect to the set table, its presence serves both a halakhic and symbolic function.

Halakhic

At the beginning of a Shabbat or holiday meal, a blessing must first be made over the wine (Kiddush) in order to the sanctify the Shabbat. This is followed by the blessing over the bread (challah), which begins the meal. However, in the hierarchy of blessings mandated by the Sages, the blessing over bread should precede the blessing over wine. In order to preserve the priority of the wine, and not to "shame" the bread which should be blessed first, the bread is “removed” by concealing it from view with the challah cover.

In the absence of a challah cover, one may use a napkin, doily, tissues, or similar covering.