More than 28,000 pounds of kosher for Pesach matzah was distributed free of charge to needy Jews in Moscow by Lubavitcher rabbis the week before Passover.
First priority was given to the elderly and Holocaust survivors, who were identified through lists provided by local Jewish organizations.
The synagogue on Bronnaya Street, a stone’s throw from the McDonald’s in downtown Moscow, was filled with stacks of 2-and 3-kilogram packages of the unleavened bread.
“It smells like matzah everywhere,” said one rabbi.
For those unable to come to the synagogue, volunteers delivered the matzah to their homes. Rabbi Boruch Cunin of Los Angeles estimated that 10,000 Jewish families would get matzah.
Across town at the Choral Synagogue on Arkhipova Street, the same process was under way.
A matzah volunteer at that synagogue estimated that more matzah was baked and distributed in Moscow this Passover than at any time since the Russian Revolution.
This year’s production was a bonanza.
Massive matzah machines were used to make the unleavened bread, underscoring the fact that the era in which matzah served as a symbol of resistance to Communism has passed into history.
In Moscow, matzah is now a matter of mass production.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
