Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi on parshat Shlach 5773, © all rights reserved to Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi and Yikrat Friedman, Jerusalem. www.rabbanityemima.com

Parshat Shalach – Mitzvah of Hafrashat Challah.
These are the 2 beautiful opinions of our sages Rabbi Haben Ish Hai, and Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsh:

The Ben Ish Hai

says the second you take hold of that little bit of dough, imagine how you are removing from yourself and all your family members all the fears, worries and negative thoughts, and how you are changing war into bread.

As Yehoshua and Calev said to the hysterical people,

And you, fear not the people of the land, for they are our bread!

We’ll eat our enemies like bread!”

The Ben Ish Hai says: You must also read

Her palm she opens to the pauper as Her palm interpreted

With your own palms you generate the power to positively interpret any sorrow that your poor family members for encounter.

Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch

The stalk in the field ripens - under the same sun rays shared by everyone.

How will I know that Hashem loves me, specifically? The grain stalks are everyone’s, and the sun shines for all of them. I want to see that I’m worthy in Your eyes, Master of the world! Rabbi Hirsch says: the only thing that requires you to give Terumah from it twice is bread. Once when you gather the grain and again when you make the dough. When you harvest grapes you give it once and you’re done; there’s no separate giving for wine. Only bread is given twice –

Separating challa shows each of us his share in Hashem’s blessing. A person’s daily bread is the result of individual supervision by Hashem of that home and of each individual within.

The giving of challa is exactly the - same measure as the manna was per person. It shows that Hashem does not only scan worlds and countries, but within the lands he watches over the cities. In the cities, He sees the houses. In the houses – the people. And when a person kneads his challa, that is the moment when Hashem eyes each member of the household, big and small

Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch writes: Knead it, and while kneading, knead your tongue in prayer. You’ll see just what your tongue can do.