(Photo: Tablet)
The Shabbos Project was a plan to conduct a single, simultaneously celebrated Sabbath meal on Friday, October 23. Jews from around the world participated. To create a symbol for this massive event, project leaders conceived of baking the longest challah in the world.
After locating a 20-foot long oven in Brooklyn, volunteers prepared a six-stranded loaf, which has earned a Guinness World Record as the longest braided bread in the world. Tess Cutler writes for Tablet magazine:
Before the official unveiling, the massive challah (the belle of the ball) was covered with a sheet like a veiled bride. At the end of the night, the challah was officially presented, accompanied by a room full of “oohs” and “aahs.”
It took two bakeries, two attempts (the first challah broke), 40 pounds of flour, five gallons of water, and a year of planning to get this baby baking, which was no easy feat. Supplying the dough was Eli Berman of Brooklyn’s Strauss Kosher Bakery while Edward Mafoud of Damascus Bakery generously offered his kosher oven (since apparently no heimishe bakery had an oven big enough).
Having grown up "heimish" I will do my best to explain.
The first thing I tell people that ask me to define Heimish, is "mixed up". From the outside looking in, our accent in davening is typically that of chassidim, yet we (For the most part) are clean shaven (which is a huge no-no in the chassidish world). You might see us wear a gartel on shabbos (chassidish) while wearing a suit and tie (not-chassidish). Heimish people also frequent going to rebbes. So, yes we're sort of mixed up.
From my experience, there are really two kinds of backgrounds to Heimish ppl.
1) After the war, many people who were brought up full-on chassidish, when they moved to various parts of Europe, or came to the states, they either weren't comfortable wearing the chassidish get-up or whatever their reasons were, they decided to shave and wear the more litvish style of clothing. These people, while all their minhagim and traditions were all Chassidish, they didn't dress the part anymore. However, the chassidish way of life was really all they knew.
2) Back in Hungary, there were many towns and shtetls that bordered around the bigger chassidish towns and these people all gravitated towards the rebbes in the larger towns, but they themselves weren't full on chassidish. Litvish however they were not, as all the customs they followed were from the chassidim around them.
So that explains that.