3,622. Taking Challah Outside of Israel
Hilchos Bikkurim 5:7
Challah is also taken outside of Israel by Rabbinic enactment. The reason is so that the Jewish people not forget the mitzvah of challah. Challah from outside of Israel is not brought to Israel, just like terumah and first fruits from outside of Israel are not brought to Israel. If someone does bring challah from outside of Israel, it must be left until erev Pesach and then burned, the same as with terumah.
Hilchos Bikkurim 5:8
Three sets of laws apply to challah in three different lands. In the territory that was settled by the returnees from Babylonia as far as K’ziv, one challah is taken in the requisite volume and it may be eaten by the kohanim. In the rest of Israel, which was settled by the Jews who left Egypt but not those who returned from Babylonia, meaning from K’ziv to Amanah, two challahs are taken. One of these must be burned and the other may be eaten. The reason we take two challos is because the first is ritually unclean, the land not being sanctified in the time of Ezra and its original sanctification being nullified when the Jews were exiled. However, since this land is part of Israel, 1/48 of the dough is taken and burned. The second challah is taken and given to a kohein to eat in order that people not think that ritually clean terumah should be burned. The first challah was burned even though it wasn’t rendered unclean in a way that was publicly known. The second challah doesn’t have a minimum required size; one may take whatever volume he likes, as this is a Rabbinic requirement. From Amanah and beyond, even in Syria (meaning lands annexed by Israel), two challos are taken. One is burned so that people won’t think they saw unclean terumah being eaten; the other is eaten so that the mitzvah of challah not be forgotten. Since these are both Rabbinic enactments, one should make sure that the larger challah is the one eaten. Therefore, there is no minimum volume for the challah that is burned – even the smallest size is acceptable. The one that is eaten should be 1/48 of the dough. This may be eaten even by a zav and a zavah, and certainly by others who are ritually unclean.