An unexpected matzah shortage in the Soviet Ukraine has left the National Conference on Soviet Jewry scrambling to raise money and find matzah for an emergency shipment by week’s end.
An American Hasidic rabbi working in the Kiev synagogue called the group at 3 a.m. Monday, saying there was going to be an acute shortage of matzah, said Martin Wenick, executive director.
The rabbi, Yaakov Bleich, said the shortage was due to a surge in demand, a poor wheat harvest and the closing of a matzah factory in Kishinev, Moldavia. He requested that 25 to 30 tons be flown to the Soviet Union.
“The surge in demand probably results from the new Jewish awareness taking place in the Soviet Union,” said Wenick.
In anticipation of Passover, which begins the evening of March 29, a number of American Jewish groups have donated matzah and flour to help Soviet Jews fulfill the mitzvah of eating only unleavened bread on the holiday, which celebrates the Jewish flight out of Egypt.
While Wenick said his group would be unable to ship as much matzah as requested, it did arrange to buy five tons of matzah and was trying to get cargo space on a Pan American flight.
The group is hoping to receive donations to help defray the costs of the matzah and its shipment. Costs are expected to total around $20,000.
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