Chabad of Green Valley plans hands-on Passover lesson for children

By Jean Reid Norman

Friday, March 27, 2009 | 6:10 p.m.

Chabad of Green Valley plans to give Henderson-area children some hands-on preparation for Passover.

The synagogue at 10870 S. Eastern Ave., Suite 104, will present Model Matzo Bakery, a demonstration of baking the unleavened bread that Jews eat during the weeklong holiday. The workshop will be at 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 per child.

Passover, which begins at sundown April 8, commemorates the freeing of the Jewish nation from slavery in Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. It is the second most important time of year in the Jewish calendar, next to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, which occur in fall, said Pesha Rodman, assistant to the rabbi at Chabad of Green Valley.

When they fled Egypt, the Jewish women prepared dough to take as food for the trip into the desert, but it did not have time to rise, Rodman said. It baked into the flat, cracker-like pieces known as matzo, she said.

The workshop is designed to mimic matzo bakeries found in Orthodox communities around the world, Rodman said.

Children will learn how the wheat is watched from the time of harvest through the grinding process. Then they will knead, roll and bake dough by hand, she said.

To be kosher, the bread must be finished baking within 18 minutes of the time the flour is mixed with water, to ensure it has had no time to rise. The synagogue cannot guarantee that will be the case during the workshop, Rodman said, so officials do not recommend using the bread for Passover. However, kosher homemade bread will be available to take home, she said.

For more information, call the synagogue at 617-0770.

Jean Reid Norman can be reached at 990-2658 or [email protected].