After the outbreak of COVID-19, when all of us were working overtime in the kitchen, one of the most popular (and most photogenic) products of our efforts were challahs shaped like keys. But the custom of baking that variety of challah started in Ashkenazi communities long before Instagram. Evidence of that can be found in the book Sefer HaToda’ah written by Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov: “On the Shabbat after Passover… we have the custom of making challah in the shape of a key and sprinkling it with sesame seeds… to remind us of the manna that began falling from heaven in the month of Iyar…”.
Challahs braided in the shape of a key, or challahs topped with a key-shaped decoration (and some are even stricter and insert a real key into the dough!) symbolize the unlocking of the gates to our prayers and are considered a talisman for good financial fortune. According to tradition, key challahs are baked on the first Shabbat after Passover because it was then that our forefathers stopped relying on the manna from heaven and were forced to find their food on their own.