Florida Town’s Passover Gift: 600 Boxes of Matzah

“For us, it’s definitely a first, and it’s definitely a big deal,” said Rabbi Yossi Eber, co-director of Chabad of West Pasco in Trinity, Fla., about mailing out 600 boxes of handmade, authentic shmurah matzah.

He noted that one of the mitzvah campaigns of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—was to give other Jews shmurah matzah—round handmade matzah made from grain that is guarded from the moment of harvesting, so that no fermentation occurs. Once an old Jewish custom that went by the wayside in many communities, the Rebbe asked and encouraged people to reinstate it, Eber said. So for the past 50 years, it’s been traditional for Chabad rabbis to give such matzah away.

Shmurah matzah is similar to the unleavened bread the Israelites brought with them as they fled Egypt thousands of years ago.

It’s made specifically for the purpose of fulfilling the obligation to eat matzah during the eight-day holiday of Passover, which begins at sundown on Monday, April 14. In fact, it’s a mitzvah to eat it.

“When you do a mitzvah, you want to get as close to what it really was,” said Eber.

From the time that the wheat is taken to the mill to be ground into flour, shmurah matzah is kept under careful supervision to make sure that it does not come into contact with water or other moisture; it then would be considered chametz—any food product made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt or their derivatives that has leavened (risen) or fermented. Each matzah is also thoroughly checked before it’s packaged to ensure that it has been completely baked.

‘It Touches People’

The rabbi and his wife Dina, who have six children, have been delivering shmurah matzah every year since they arrived from New York in 2007, but this represents a whole new level for them.

“You see people are very touched when you bring them handmade matzah,” he said. “It touches people in a very real way.”

The donation is sponsored by Rabbi Menachem and Chanie Minsky of New York, who visited the Ebers last year. Rabbi Eber asked them for help distributing the matzah; instead, the Minskys went a step further and offered to support the matzah gifts.

The 600 boxes is enough to cover the entire West Pasco Jewish community. It’s equivalent to approximately 100 pounds of matzah, versus 10 to 20 pounds in previous years. They ordered the matzah from New York and had it shipped down south. While it costs a considerable $20 or so per pound, it also lends a sense of connection, a sense of awe to the holiday.

About a dozen volunteers went to the Chabad House to package up the matzah, along with an enclosed letter and brochure, and got the gift boxes ready to mail out to area families.

According to the rabbi, the volunteers expressed amazement when informed that there would be 600 recipients—more than they expected. He explained that since arriving there, he and his wife have been gradually compiling and expanding a mailing list, looking for families in this central part of Florida off the Gulf of Mexico, about a 30-minute drive due north of Clearwater.

A rental truck was arranged to haul the boxes to the post office in Tampa, the closest major city that could handle such a load.

Because the matzah wasn’t deemed standard mail, the rabbi said postal employees were a bit stumped at first as to how to go about sending the boxes, but they eventually figured it out.

Matzah is about celebrating freedom, “when we became who we are as a nation,” the rabbi explained. “It’s food of faith, food of healing. It’s not just a cracker. It’s infused with faith and spirituality; it’s very special. And shmurah matzah is the best matzah.”

About Celebrating Freedom

Barbara Goldblatt served as a volunteer helping to prepare the boxes of matzah for mailing. “The day we made the boxes was a very festive time. It was work, but everyone was happy,” she said.

“It was a pleasure doing it. Rabbi Eber makes you feel so warm and so wanted. And he’s so patient. He’s turned my life around,” said Goldblatt, who lives in a rented mobile home about 20 minutes from the Chabad House.

Originally from Washington, D.C., and then New York, she moved to the area several years ago and attended High Holiday services. But she has now incorporated Shabbatservices into her routine, as well as classes taught at the Chabad House. “I think G‑dsent me down here to meet Rabbi Eber,” she said.

“He is one of the most wonderful people that has come into my life,” she added. “When I think about him, it makes me cry. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

Of sending the matzah, she said: “What charity, what humbleness, to send matzah to all those people. It was fantastic.”

Larry Hersch, who lives in the Heritage Springs retirement community not far from the Chabad House, also participated in the matzah-packing. “I think it’s wonderful,” he said. “I’m very fond of the rabbi.”

He said the Ebers made several trips to visit him while he was recently in the hospital.

And even though Hersch knew the matzah was coming by mail to his home, he said he was still so pleased and overwhelmed to receive it.

“The rabbi’s spreading a lot of good will with his approach,” affirmed Hersch. “He’s quite a guy.”