95. Baking Challah on Erev Shsbbos
There is a minhag brought down in Shulchon Oruch that on Erev Shabbos and Erev Yom Tov a woman should bake challah out of respect for Shabbos and Yom Tov, and not buy from the bakery as she does during the week. The Rama writes, "Ve’ein leshanois", one should not change this custom unless, of course, absolutely necessary. The reason for this minhag is that it is considered respectful for the Shabbos and Yom Tov; in addition, if she is mafrish challah, separates challah, on Friday she is correcting the sin that occurred on the first Friday of creation, the chet Eitz HaDaas, the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge. A question arises: If the amount of challah a woman bakes each week is not sufficient to allow her to be mafrish challah, separate challah, is it better that she bake only every few weeks a larger amount requiring the separation of challah and freeze it, or should she bake every week even if the amount is less than the requisite shiur? The consensus amongst poskim is that it is still better for her to bake challah every week, despite the fact that there is not sufficient dough for her to be mafrish challah.