Children make matzah at Chabad's Model Matza Bakery

Goshen — Chabad of Orange County, headed by Rabbi Pesach and Chana Burston, provided a Model Matzah Bakery which allowed children to gain new perspective into this famous Passover food and learn about the process of making matzah in an interactive way. The event was held at Chabad’s Goshen location and attracted over fifty children and adults. Children learned about the history of Passover and how the Jewish nation hurried out of Egypt without time for their bread to rise. Jews all over the world replace bread with matzah (unleavened bread) in their diets for eight days; crunching on matzah is a memorable part of the Passover seder and the entire holiday. Rabbi Moshe Grossbaum of the “Living Legacy Youth Programs” led the program. Two booths were sets up, entitled “flour” and “water” - the sole ingredients of the matzah. Dressed in baker’s hats, children stood in the booths and helped mix the ingredients. Participants explored the history and tradition of eating and baking matzah by grinding wheat stalks into flour and kneading and rolling out the dough. “The whole process of making the matzah, from the moment the water and flour mix, until the dough comes out of the oven, has to be within the time frame of eighteen minutes for the matzah to be considered unleavened bread,” explained Chana Burston. The children set a timer to see if they could meet this goal as they made their own matzot. “ It’s really fun to roll out the matzah and use the special roller that makes holes in the dough” said Shaina Steir, age five, of Monroe. Children watched their matzah being baked in a special matzah oven, and were excited to see it come out crispy and flat. The children also enjoyed designing “Passover sand art” and creating matzah puzzles. “The traditions of Passover are for the purpose of educating the children,” explained Rabbi Pesach Burston. “An enriching program like the Matzah Bakery allows the traditions and history to come to life and have more meaning for the upcoming holiday.” To learn more about Chabad and future events, visit ChabadOrange.com or call 782-2770 or e-mail Rabbi@ChabadOrange.com. To learn more about Passover, visit Chabad of Orange County’s special Passover Web site ChabadOrange.com/Passover.