The Amount of Dough that Requires Hafrashas Challah

OU Kosher

What is the size of dough that requires hafrashas challah?

Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 324:1) writes that the mitzvah of hafrashas challah depends exclusively on the volume of flour. If a Jew makes dough from one or more of the five grains (wheat, barley, spelt, oats, rye) that contains the volume of 43.2 beitzim (eggs) of flour then challah must be taken. However, there is a wide ranging dispute as to how to measure the volume of an egg.

Since, the ratio of volume to weight for flour is known; it is more common to state the amount of flour that will require hafrashas challah in pounds.

  • From slightly more than half a 5 lb. bag of flour, until slightly less than a full bag of flour, challah should be taken without a bracha
  • On a full 5 lb. bag of flour, challah should be taken with a bracha.

The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt”l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.