Tiny Bakers Savor Tale of Unleavened Bread
Rochester, NY — Standing behind a table with flour spattered on her pink jumpsuit, Jessica Schwalb, 3, relished her role as a baker.
Hundreds of other little bakers are enjoying the same experience as they learn how to make unleavened bread over the next week at the Jewish Community Center, 1200 Edgewood Ave.
Rabbi Nechemia Vogel is director of Chabad Lubavitch, a Jewish educational outreach organization that hosts the model bakery. In its silver anniversary, the event gives kids first-hand experience in making matzo, the unleavened bread that Jews eat to commemorate their flight from Egypt, when there was no time to bake the leavened variety.
“This helps to educate children, not just give them the knowledge, but generate the excitement for the holiday,” said Vogel.
The holiday is Passover, April 2 to 10, which celebrates the liberation of Jews from bondage in Egypt more than 3,300 years ago.
Vogel told the story of Moses facing off with the pharaoh in an attempt to get the Hebrews out of slavery. Then with two student volunteers, he mixed the flour made of wheat grain and water to form a mound. Softening it and smashing it like modeling clay, the kids then sandpapered rolling pins and flattened the dough into circular smooth bread for baking.
“You can’t let the dough rise,” said Noah Rogoff, 3, who was well-versed in the story of Passover.
Lisa Cline of Penfield, a Jewish Community Center teacher, said the children learn best with hands-on activities.
“It’s a fun way for them to learn and get understanding about the culture,” she said.
