את ספיח קצירך לא תקצור ואת ענבי נזירך לא תבצר שנת שבתון יהיה לארץ: (ויקרא כה, ה)
Chasak (חתך) is the appointed angel regarding livelihood. The allusion is that in the time that one does not plant or harvest, one still should not fear that one will lose their income. Rather the appointed angel rewards those that observe Shemita with income in fullness, similar to the verse which last letters are the same פותח את ידי ך .
Note: since aה and a ח are interchangeable, then this might be related to the התך in the Megilah that was the messenger between Esther and Mordechai, of whom some say he was the prophet Daniel.
O.C. 242 It is a well-known custom among the Jews to bake breads for the sake of honoring Shabbos.
The Mitzvah for women to make Chalah on Erev Shabbos is to atone for leading astray the original Adam who was the Chalah of the world. Also, the special atonement is connected to Erev Shabbos when man was created, and the sin occurred.
Another reason given is for the Jews to specifically use Pas Yisrael for Shabbos (the rest of the week most Jews were accustomed to buy bread from the non-Jewish bakeries since very few Jewish bakeries existed).
Olos Shabbos says there is a custom to bake three Challos for Shabbos: regular size for night; large size for day; small for the third Shabbos meal.
It is a special honor to Shabbos to have fresh-baked Chalah. If the point is to have Chalah special for Shabbos, then it is sufficient in our times to obtain special Challos made by the bakeries just for Shabbos. Or, perhaps, it is special that Jewish homes make their own bread, that the actual additional effort is requested in preparation for Shabbos.
Another custom on Erev Shabbos is to break (שבר) the bread into pieces using one’s hands (and not a utensil). The sixth day is the midah of Yesod of Yosef for whom it is written בשבר אשר הם שוברים. Another reason for this custom is breaking the bread is called חיתוק which is related to the appointed angel of livelihood Chasak. On Eruv Shabbos one is not supposed to become satiated in anticipation of the Shabbos meal. Therefore, one breaks the bread with one’s hands and not a knife (since the knife is to be reserved for the Shabbos meals). The allusion is that one’s merits should not be judged during the week of work based on a sharp accounting; rather one should receive an abundance of blessing like the crumbs resulting from breaking the bread with one’s hands.
Another custom is to sharpen one’s knives for use on Shabbos, when we are not judged for livelihood (the allotted portions of income are not affected by what one spends on Shabbos and Yom Tov meals).
He should bring (from the group of 10) half loaves and half wafers (Menachos 53)
The Gemara discusses the חלות and רקיקים types of Minchah offerings. Although these two loaves are prepared in essentially the same manner, Ibn Ezra offers two different explanations for the difference between חלות and רקיקים.
According to his first explanation the Challosחלות are thick whereas the רקיקים are thin. According to his second explanation the חלות were round. The term חלה is related to the term חלילה, as in the phrase חוזר חלילה , a cycle that begins again.
Sefer Yafeh L’lev discusses the proper shape for חלות on Shabbos and he cites Kitzur Shelah in the name of Kabbalists that the חלות should be long in the shape of a ו . When one puts his two hands on the חלות, each hand represents aה , and when combined with the piece that is removed from the חלה we have a י which completes the name of God. After suggesting additional explanations why theחלות should be made long he notes that common custom is that the חלות are made round in accordance with Ibn Ezra’s earlier explanation of the origin of the word חלות.
Sefer Shir Ma’on observes that it is common that during the year חלות are made long but during the period from Rosh Hashanah until Hoshana Rabba the חלות are made round. The reason for this is that round is considered a shape that brings good mazel since it has no end.
Likutei Amarim Tehorim observed that some people have the custom to make round חלות on the Shabbos after Pesach and offered the following rationale for the practice. When Bnai Yisroel left Egypt, they were obligated to offer a Korban Todah. They were not able to do so since the Korban Todah includes chometz which is not allowed on Pesach. They made up the missing Korban Todah after Pesach with חלות of chometz. Since according to Ibn Ezra those חלות were round we also make roundחלות on the Shabbos after Pesach.
