Even Israeli Military Reservists Work Making Matzah for Passover

Jerusalem, 21 April, 2024 (TPS) -- Matzah (unleavened bread) baking for the Passover holiday done at the Emunah Matzah Bakery in the city of Netivot. Located west of Be’er Sheva, Netivot was one of the Israeli towns attacked by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre.

Here Israeli military reservist Yedidya Harush, the bakery’s owner, took time out from duty in Gaza to hand make special matzah called Shmura matzah (watched matzah) because even the grains are specially watched when harvested and through to the time of baking.

This matzah is baked right up until the day before the start of Passover so that it will be fresh for the holiday, as opposed to the machine made square matzahs that last for years.

Any dough made for matzah must be baked fully within 18 minutes from the moment water is added to the flour. Anything that took more than 18 minutes is not kosher for Passover and is called “hametz,” from the Hebrew word that means “to miss” as in the maximum time allowed for baking was missed.

Thisd bakery can bake 100 such matzahs every 18 minutes. They bake five in each row at a time and it only takes a few seconds to bake each one. There are 50 people working at a time, but just one oven where three people do the baking.

Passover commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egyptian slavery. The Bible notes that the redemption came so quickly that the bread which the Jewish people baked for their journey did not have time to rise. Anything made from grains in any form other than matzah may not be eaten or even be in ones possession during the week long holiday.

On October 7th, Yedidya, who is religious, was at home at the time of the attack, celebrating the Sabbath on the Simchat Tora (celebration of the Tora) holiday that fell on that day. His town, Shlomit, which is located in the southwestern most corner of Israel near both the Egyptian and Gazan borders was attacked by rockets but was not invaded by terrorists. Neighboring Pri Gan (fruit of the garden) was attacked. Fortunately, his community’s emergency response team and their people were free to come to the aid of Pri Gan where they helped to save the entire community.

After the October 7 Hamas massacre, he was called up for reserve combat duty during the war in Gaza to eliminate Hamas. Yedidya fought in Khan Yunis and in central Gaza. Yedidya saw his friend killed right next to him while fighting in Khan Yunis.

Passover this year begins Monday night April 22.

Netivot, Israel, April 16, 2024.
Photo by TPS