Chabad to Make Matzah

It has been proven that children who participate in hands-on learning remember more and appreciate their accomplishments more than those who learn straight from textbooks.

The same can be said for the Chabad of East Brunswick's Matzah Bakery. The Chabad of East Brunswick invites you to its annual Model Matzah Bakery and Model Seder on Sunday, at 10 a.m., at Shoprite of East Brunswick on Route 18. 

“The Matzah Bakery is guaranteed to generate excitement for Passover and a renewed appreciation of hand-baked shmurah matzah,” said Rabbi Aryeh Goodman, who is organizing the presentation.

The Model Matzah Bakery lets children learn how shmurah matzah is made -- literally “from scratch.” Dressed in baker's hats, the children start by threshing and winnowing natural wheat stalks, separating the wheat from the chaff. Then they make flour in rustic hand-driven millstones that have the authentic look and feel of years ago. Next, the children draw special water from an old-fashioned well, and begin mixing the flour and water into matzah dough.

Once the 18-minute clock starts (according to Jewish tradition, the process must be swift so the dough doesn’t rise), the children quickly mix and knead the dough. Then the dough is rolled out and riddled with holes by special matzah perforators. The matzot are rushed to the "brick" oven in the hope of baking the entire batch of matzot in just 18 minutes.

While the matzah bakes, guests watch an exciting video presentation on Passover. At the end of the program, each child is given his or her own matzah to take home.

This fun, family Passover exhibit recreates a functional model of the hand-made matzah factories used by Jews for thousands of years. 

To learn more or to arrange a Bakery tour, please call Rabbi Aryeh Goodman at 732-333-3220 or e-mail him at rabbi@ebchabad.com.