Syracuse Children Experience Passover Hands-On

Passover came to life for a group of children in upstate New York who got the chance this week to take part in a hands-on Model Matzah Bakery.

Children in the Jerome and Phyllis Charley Early Childhood Development Program at the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse participated Wednesday in the bakery, which helps bring meaning to the Passover holiday, said Rabbi Yaakov Rapaport, director of Chabad House Lubavitch of CNY.

Earlier this week Syracuse Hebrew Day School students also took part in the model bakery, which also will be set up for the community at Wegmans in DeWitt from 10:30 to 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

The Model Matzah Bakery is modeled after the famous Hand Shmura Matzah bakeries in Brooklyn and Jerusalem, Rapaport said. Children were able to grind the wheat into flour, mix, knead, roll, and bake their own Matzah as is done in these bakeries.

Shmura, which means “watched” in Hebrew, is used to describe the round handmade Matzahs in which the wheat is carefully watched and protected from any contact with water from the moment of harvest on. The wheat is only harvested on a sunny day and is given special care throughout the process.

In ordinary matzah, the wheat is watched only from the time of milling. These Shmura matzahs are baked entirely by hand under intense scrutiny, Rapaport explains.

The Model Matzah Bakery has been a tradition for about 30 years in Syracuse, and recently wheat grinding was added to the process, Rapaport said.

Children learn when bread rises, It represents negative influences, or “being a big shot,” Rappaport said. Matzah is flat, and represents humility.

The bakery is made possible through a grant form the Jewish Federation of Central New York.