We know have a better understanding of the punishment HKB”H imposed on Adam HaRishon and mankind (Bereishis 3, 17): "בזעת אפיך תאכל לחם"—by the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread. Based on this insight, it behooves us to consider why HKB”H chose to punish mankind in this specific fashion—having to labor to make bread rather than have it grow fully prepared on trees. We will learn that a part of the tikun required after the “cheit Eitz HaDa’as” involves baking bread in an oven—exposing it to fire. Now, we find the following query in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 102b): From where are you supposed to break the loaf of bread over which you recite the berachah of “hamotzi”? "מהיכא דקרים בישולא"—from the part that is baked into a crust. Rashi explains that if a person has a cut piece of bread rather than a whole loaf, he should recite the berachah and break off a piece from the crust rather than from the middle of the bread.
The Yearos Dvash explains the matter as follows: Prior to the cheit of Adam HaRishon, no food required baking or cooking . . . The reason being that the only thing that expels (eliminates) the poisonous venom of the nachash is fire . . . Hence, as a result of the “cheit Eitz HaDa’as,” the poison of the nachash affects most of man’s food, such that it is not suitable for consumption until it has been subjected to fire . . . For this reason, some are of the opinion that anything raw and uncooked is harmful. See what the Rambam writes in Hilchos Madah.
Thus, you will understand why we recite “hamotzi” on the place where the baking begins, because the place the fire cooks fastest and affects first has less venom in it . . . Thus, it is more suitable for a berachah. For, as soon as the venom of the force of contamination is expelled, the force of kedushah takes effect . . . Therefore, this part is more suitable for a berachah!
Women Bake Bread on Erev Shabbas as a Tikun for the Cheit Eitz HaDa’as
The remarks of the Yearos Dvash enlighten us as to why prior to the cheit of Adam and Chava bread grew on trees ready to be eaten. In contrast, after the “cheit Eitz HaDa’as,” bread does not grow but only kernels of wheat do. It is because prior to the momentous cheit, bread was not polluted with the filth of the nachash; hence, it was unnecessary to subject if to fire to eliminate its poisonous venom.
After Adam and Chava sinned, however, and were swayed by the counsel of the nachash, its pollution and filth entered all foodstuff but especially bread, which was involved in the “cheit Eitz HaDa’as.” Thus, it is impossible to consume bread without baking it in fire first to eliminate and incinerate the venom of the nachash. Therefore, after the “cheit Eitz HaDa’as,” HKB”H arranged for only wheat to grow rather than fully formed bread. This requires man to grind it, make it into a dough, and then bake it in a fire in order to remove the poisonous effects of the nachash.
This sacred insight of the Yearos Dvash enables us to better appreciate the admirable, time-honored minhag of Jewish women to bake challot on Friday in honor of Shabbas Kodesh. The Rama writes (O.C. 242): It is customary to knead a certain quantity of dough at home from which to bake loaves of bread to be sliced (broken) on Shabbas and Yom Tov; this is to honor Shabbas and Yom Tov, and one should not deviate from this minhag.
The Magen Avraham writes: This is to fulfill the mitzvah of “challah,” because she (the first woman, Chava) caused the loss (fall) of the “challah of the world” (a reference to Adam HaRishon). We find a source for these teachings in the Midrash (ibid. 17, 8): And why was she given the mitzvah of separating “challah”? Because she led astray Adam HaRishon, who was the completion (the most perfect part) of the “challah” of the world; therefore, the mitzvah of “challah” was given to her.
The Magen Avraham brings a source for this minhag from the times of the Gemara (Ta’anis 24b, 25a). We are told that the wife of Rabbi Chanina would fire up her oven every Erev Shabbas even if she did not have flour with which to bake challot so as not to be embarrassed. Rashi explains that she was embarrassed, because her neighbors were all baking their dough in honor of Shabbas, and she did not have any.
In the Beiur Halachah, the Mishnah Berurah (242) writes:
This is alluded to in the text (Shemos 16, 5): “And it shall be that on the sixth day, when they prepare what they shall bring . . . that which you shall bake, bake, etc. This implies that it is proper to bake on Shabbas in preparation for Shabbas. This was an established practice even in the times of the Gemara cited by the Magen Avraham. Unfortunately, due to our numerous iniquities, some women today have ceased to practice this minhag . . . They are not acting properly; for they are diminishing the kavod of Shabbas.
In light of what we have discussed, the rationale for this minhag is easy to understand. By baking challot, a woman is performing a fabulous tikun for Chava’s sin—for persuading Adam HaRishon to partake of the Eitz HaDa’as and the resultant consequence—the earth ceasing to produce fully prepared bread. To make amends, a Jewish woman bakes challot fully prepared and ready to be consumed just like before the “cheit Eitz HaDa’as.” To counteract the pollution and incinerate the venom that the “nachash hakadmoni” introduced into the bread that Adam and Chava ate, a Jewish woman bakes the challot in a fiery oven.
