Mini Chefs Bake Matzah with Chabad of South Carolina

COLUMBIA, SC — Rabbi Levi Marrus, from the Jewish outreach organization Chabad of SC, led students at Columbia Jewish Day School in a matzah bakery Thursday, March 26. The activity was to give the students a hands- on understanding of the process used in making matzah and its role in the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Matzah is a crackerlike bread made from a dough of only flour and water that has not been allowed to rise. During the eight days of Passover, or “Pesach,” Jewish people do not eat anything with leaven, or “chametz.” Not only do they not eat chametz during Passover, they don’t want to see it, own it, or get any benefit from it. Matzah is eaten instead.

The primary observances of the Jewish holiday of Passover are related to the Exodus from Egypt after 400 years of slavery. The name “Passover” refers to the fact that God “passed over” the houses of the Jews when He was slaying the firstborn of Egypt. Rabbi Levi reminded the students that the removal of chametz commemorates the fact that the Jews left Egypt in a hurry and did not have time to let their bread rise. It is also a symbolic way of removing the “puffiness” (arrogance or pride) from the soul.

During the Model Matzah Bakery students learned to carefully measure the ingredients for their matzah. The two ingredients, flour and water, were then quickly mixed and kneaded into a dough, then patted and rolled into a flat, pancake- like circle. The flattened dough was rolled with a tool that looks like a rolling pin with spikes to make holes in the dough. The holes are to keep the matzah from rising. The dough was then baked in a very hot pizza oven Rabbi Levi brought to bake the matzah.

The entire process takes no more than 18 minutes from the time the water comes in contact with the flour, until the flat matzah is taken from the hot oven. If more than 18 minutes pass, the dough, even containing only water and flour, has time to ferment and rise, and is considered chametz, or bread.

Since little hands have a hard time quickly patting and rolling dough, taking them longer than 18 minutes to complete their projects, Rabbi Levi encouraged the students to eat their matzah before Passover.

This year Passover begins April 9. In addition to their matzah, students received a “matzah baking” hat to take home with them as souvenir of the matzah baking activity.

Columbia Jewish Day School, led by principal Rabbi Meir Muller, serves about 100 students from age two through fifth grade, with approximately 70 percent of them Jewish and 30 percent Christian. The school is located in the Beth Shalom Synagogue on Trenholm Road.