Hi Rabbi Simon,
If two people don’t make enough dough separately to qualify for the full mitzvah of separating challah (ie 2.2kg of flour), and they want to combine it so that they can recite the beracha for הפרשת חלה, do they have to share ownership or can they put the dough under a towel or in the same bowl and then make the beracha? Does there have to be some sort of “gift” or transfer of ownership, one to the other?
Thanks so much.
Best wishes
Debbie
Dear Debbie,
Thank you for your interesting question. If the dough belongs to two different people, each less than the full שיעור חלה, the obligation to separate challah is not applicable. Even if one of them acquires it from the other, if the dough will still be baked separately by each of them, there is no mitzvah of challah on the combined dough(s). So best to take without a beracha (if you are each using a minimum of about a kilo of flour).
Rabbi Rashi Simon