Blurb:

This paper discusses the braided Jewish Sabbath bread called berches (or berkhes, barches, Bärches or berchess) around the Rhineland. We site berches within the great traditions of Judaism, and to a lesser extent Christianity, but we also look closely at the little traditions of the Jewish and Christian women who made them, asking what is the relationship of this Jewish bread to its Christian neighbours. We go into the possible origins of berches, their past and present functions, as well as what might be called their after-life. We also examine a number of rituals connected with berches.