ubiquitin, I’m not worrying about the rabbit, I’m worrying about this minhag. I come from a chassidish background and have this minhag, and it would be terribly upsetting to learn if it really did stem from christian practices because of, in my opinion, its beauty and meaning (besides even the halachic aspect, which I am completely ignorant about). And many chassidish people have minhagim regarding challahs yearround – round (dunno why), bird shaped (alluding to passuk in yeshaya “like birds appearing form nowhere, so will hashem’s help arrive”), shofar, or hand shaped challah (dunno why) for rosh hashana, round challah with outstretched arm for hoshana rabba (to accept a “good kvittel”), crown or torah challah for simchas torah, menorah challah for chanukah, fish or hamantash shaped challah for purim, etc. These are events with more symbolism to put on a challah than the time between pesach and shavuos, which could be why the key challah is specifically at this time. In any event, just because there could be other times this minhag could apply doesn’t mean it isn’t appropriate here. I’m not trying to fool myself, but I am skeptical about believing that the minhag stems from a non-jewish source. If there is a problematic correlation, anyway, why didn’t previous rabbonim point it out and stop the practice?
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