Challah (also hallah plural: challot) (Hebrew: חלה) also known as khale (eastern Yiddish),(German and western Yiddish), berches (Swabian), barkis (Gothenburg), bergis (Stockholm), chałka (Polish) and kitke (South Africa), is a special braided bread eaten by Ashkenazi Jews and most Sephardic Jews, on the Sabbath and holidays.
According to Jewish tradition, the three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday lunch, and Saturday late afternoon) and two holiday meals (one at night and lunch the following day) each begin with two complete loaves of bread. This "double loaf" (in Hebrew: lechem mishneh) commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day before the holiday or sabbath. It is these hunks of bread, recognizable by their traditional braided style (although some more modern recipes are not braided) that are commonly referred to as challah.