28 Friday, April 18, 1986
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
--.)PASSOVERF-)
Adat Shalom youngsters mix the flour and water.
Lani Goldman eats the matzah she made.
The Matzah
Factory
Bais Chabad and the Jewish
Community Center had one of the
busiest matzah bakeries in town be-
fore Passover. Nearly 2,000 Detroit
area youngsters visited The Matzah
Factory during its ten days of opera-
tion. Staffed by Lubavitch students
from around the U.S. and the
Lubavitch Women's Organization,
the project was coordinated by Rab-
bis Elimelech Silberberg of Bais
Chabad of West Bloomfield and
Chaim Bergstein of Bais Chabad of
Farmington Hills. Jo Greene of the
JCC staff helped coordinate school
visits and the work of JCC volun-
teers.
In addition to viewing a 20-
minute videotape about making
matzah at the Lubavitch shmura
matzah bakery in New York, the
youngsters learned how to recite the
appropriate blessings, mix and
knead the dough, roll it flat and
bake it. The manufacturing process
must be completed in the prescribed
18 minutes to make sure the matzah
does not rise — become leavened.
Rabbi Silberberg said the vis-
itors to the "factory" ranged across
the Jewish spectrum in Detroit, in-
cluding students from the Birming-
ham Temple and Yeshivath Beth
Yehudah. "When all the kids con-
verge at the same time it can be
very tumultous," the rabbi said, "but
it is nice to see yeshivah and temple
kids doing the same things and
enjoying it."
The students were also given a
pamphlet about shmura (guarded)
matzah and the obligation to eat one
ounce of the hand-made unleavened
bread on each of the first two days of
Passover. "One ounce is about the
equivalent of half a big shmura mat-
zah," Rabbi Silberberg explained.
He credited the Jewish Center
staff for its cooperation in the proj-
ect. JCC carpenters built the booths
that were set up in the main lobby
of the Center, and ovens were used
on the building's second floor.