We had the good fortune of connecting with Sara Loffman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sara, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
• We were one of the first few people isolated in the area as our youngest sister, Eliana, was the first school in the nation to close due to COVID cases. • Challah baking has been part of our upbringing
• We began baking to pass the time and enjoy an activity as a family that we hadn’t done together in probably about a decade
• Our mom worked with the ER at Hackensack Meridian Health in NJ and we would bake for frontline healthcare heroes boarding up together there
• People started to ask if they could purchase our challah but we didn’t feel comfortable selling it for a profit with everything going on in the world
• Then the murder of George Floyd happened and sparked even more soul-searching conversation in the family
• We all attended protests, which then inspired further brainstorming about how we can merge our challah baking tradition with the essential work of promoting equity in our country
• We would research organizations with a social and racial justice agenda, sell our challah, and donate the proceeds to those organizations doing the important work

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Our name, Challah Back Girls™ represents so much more than just challah. The Challah Back Squad at different corners of the world consists of individuals who give back through a common love of challah and what the bread symbolizes. The symbol of challah is powerful. After creating the dough, and performing the ritual of separating out a small piece of it, one engages in the practice of braiding. In taking these different strands of dough, crafted in isolation before unifying them, we are reminded of the powerful ways that our human beings are also intertwined with each other, inevitably connected, while also maintaining our unique experiences and histories. In this moment of social change, awakening us to how our lives are literally all connected, yet impacted uniquely by race, class, and our histories.

Creating the challah affirms that weaved into our Judaism is a responsibility to heed our interconnectedness with others, and support their fights for justice and equity. With each passing week, we are reminded of the Jewish teaching, אם אין אני לי מי לי, If I am not for me, who will be for me? Uch’she’ani le’atzmi, mah ani, and if I am only for myself, who/what am I? (Pirkei Avot 1,14). The Jewish community has a long history of standing with other minority communities to promote the needs of all. We want to honor this tradition by continuing to provide our special challah, a bread woven together by different strands into one braid.

We envision that through community engagement and spreading the love and warmth of challah, we can break bread together and impart the Jewish value of tikkun olam—repairing the world—to the widespread (and often overlooked) diverse communities which make up our society.

When you order challah from CBG, not only are you receiving delicious challah, but our hope is that people will also learn a little about the strengths that exist in our country currently impacting the wellbeing of real people, and feel inspired to contribute and support these organizations as well.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our parents are huge supporters of CBG—for both obvious and not-so-obvious reasons. Initially, our parents helped cover the costs of the whole operation so that we could better meet the demand of people all over the country who wanted to connect with our mission and enjoy delicious challah during a time of such severe isolation. This generous contribution also allowed CBG to donate even more to our partnered organizations and have a greater impact.

Our parents not only supported us financially but emotionally and physically too. They have both stepped in to get their hands dirty with baking, shipping, cleaning, organizing, thought partnership, overall emotional support, and so much more.

The next big check will definitely go toward renewing their kitchen ovens and any other appliances that were completely worn down before CBG moved ino a larger baking facility!

Website: https://challahbackgirls.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/challahbackgirls_/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/68844335/admin/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/challahbackgrls

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/challahbackgirls/

Other: https://shop.challahbackgirls.com

Image Credits
These images have all been taken by, created by, and photographed of: • Sara Loffman • Hannah Loffman • Eliana Loffman • Caryn Katz-Loffman • Clark Loffman • Marni Loffman

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.