One of the most widely known symbols of the Jewish holiday of Passover is the unleavened bread known as matzah. During Passover, Jewish people all over the world celebrate by sharing a ritual meal called a seder.
At this meal, matzah is eaten to represent the exodus of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery. During their exodus, the Jewish people left Egypt in such a hurry that they did not have time to wait for the bread they would take on their journey to rise, and therefore placed the dough on their backs and fled. The dough baked quickly in the hot Egyptian sun and did not have time to rise, and thus became what we know today as matzah.
Explaining the Passover holiday to young children is often complicated because the story of the holiday involves topics such as slavery, oppression, a series of ten plagues, one more horrible than the next, escape and even death.
At Temple Beth Sholom Early Childhood Center in Roslyn Heights, the students and staff spend weeks talking about Passover, retelling the story, and making ritual objects to share with families during the seder meal.
For young children ages 2 to 5 years old, the Passover story, with all of its plot twists and turn, can be complicated and at times, scary. At Temple Beth Sholom, the children learn about the important parts of the Passover story through age-appropriate books, songs and activities.
On Wednesday, April 13, the students and staff at the preschool will share in a seder and celebrate the freedom of the Jewish people from slavery.
In an effort to help children better understand the relevance and significance of matzah as it relates to Passover, Early Childhood Center Director Jen Schiffer, transformed a part of the temple into a ‘matzah factory’, and put the preschoolers to work. In order for bread to be considered matzah, the entire process, from making to baking, must be completed in under 18 minutes.
The word matzah literally means “unleavened bread.” The main ingredients in matzah are flour and water. This “18-minute rule” is crucial for bakers to follow since it has been scientifically proven that after 18 minutes there is potential for fermentation, which would then change the composition of the matzah to bread.
On Friday, April 8, Schiffer invited parents and relatives to help the students work in the Temple Beth Sholom Matzah Factory to make matzah. Children and grown-ups alike took their jobs very seriously.
From mixing, to rolling, to poking holes in the dough using a kitchen utensil called a dough docker, it was a race against the clock to prepare the dough for baking. Just as in ancient Egypt over 3000 years ago, the matzah dough takes just a few minutes in the oven before being done.
The children and adults gathered for the event were thrilled to be able to be together again in community as COVID restrictions begin to ease up in New York state. “Running a preschool in a pandemic has not been easy, said Schiffer. “Finding creative ways for families to gather safely in our school, involves a lot of careful thought and planning. We are taking it one step at a time.”
The matzah factory was held in a large, ventilated area, with families arriving in shifts to prevent overcrowding. Each class had its own “job” to do in the assembly line, which kept things moving until the job was done.
“Nothing brings people together more during the holidays than food! How fitting then, to be able to bake matzah with our children,” said Parent Association board member, Hila Klein. “Watching the kids engage with such focus and excitement (handmade hats and small rolling pins in hand) was a festive, memorable experience for all!”
At the end of the day, the children, families and staff were able to “beat the clock,” and matzah was made. The children will enjoy the matzah they made during their seders. There is nothing better during Passover than matzah made with love.
