Preparing for Passover by Making Matzoh at Chabad

When Jewish families in the Somerset Hills sit down to their Passover dinners, the children who've been part of Chabad Jewish Center in Basking Ridge's annual matzoh-making session will have a better idea of how one of the essential foods of the Seder table came to be.

Each year, Chabad's Youth Rabbi Yitzchok Moully invites children from the center's Zimmer Preschool for a fun-oriented lesson in how to make matzoh. The unleavened bread is part of the ceremony on Passover (Pesach), which this year begins at sundown on Monday.

The children, some of whom are returning from a previous year and some whose older siblings enjoyed the tradition, start by grinding wheat into flour.

Moully then enlists audience participation by calling upon a "flour girl" and "water boy" to mix the two essential ingredients.

With the help of teachers from the Zimmer Preschool and parents and other relatives who had come along to assist, watch and take photos, the children then used matzoh sticks to roll out their creations. They then wrapped the matzoh around the stick (if they could) and delivered it to the rabbi so he could bake it in an oven.

The children then got to sample their matzoh as soon as it came out — or wrap it to bring home.

However, Rabbi Moully cautioned that although the matzoh made at school was authentic, it wasn't officially kosher for Passover. He said Chabad sells kosher matzoh for those who want some.

The previous week, Chabad had hosted its annual kosher wine tasting for wines suitable for Passover, which also uses wine during the ceremony.

Although the wines generally are ordered that evening, Moully said that some may be ordered through The Wine Rack on Allen Road in The Hills.

Chabad, at 3048 Valley Road in Basking Ridge, is holding a "Community Seder" on the second night of Passover, at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Area residents are invited to reserve a spot online.