The Search for Matzah
Finding matzah here in SPB was an unexpectedly harrowing experience. We knew that this would be a harder Passover than our previous experiences in America, but we figured that in a community of 100,000 Russian Jews, it wouldn't be hard to find the basics for observing Passover: matzah meal, matzah, and cake meal. Besides, I saw lots of nice old babushkas from Chesed walking out of YESOD loaded down with boxes of matzah...if they can get it easily, surely we can, too!
This morning, Alyson and I left bright and early at 9:15 (yes, that's really early in this part of the world!) to head down to the kosher store at the synagogue.The kosher store is nearly an hour-long schlep from our house: a 5-minute walk to the Metro, a 20-minute ride on the Metro, and a 25-minute walk from there to the synagogue. On the bright side, it was a gorgeous day today--sunny and in the high 40s--so I packed away my heavy ski coat, opted for my lighter wool coat, and look forward to walking outside. Alyson, however, loves her pink coat, and can't bring herself to part with it!
So we show up at the kosher store as the doors open at 10 am, but we are totally disappointed by what they have to offer. This isn't KosherMart in Rockville, or even the Giant near our house in DC...this is basically a closet of kosher candy, macaroons, and other noshy food. Nothing to cook, but we find the matzah in the corner. We eagerly start loading up on matzah, but then notice a sign saying, "This matzah is not kosher for Passover."
Frustrated, we approach the counter-lady. Will there be another, kosher shipment coming in? No. Is this all there is in the store? Yes. So where do we get matzah that's really kosher for Passover? The synagogue. When does the synagogue open? I don't know.
Luckily, two blocks from the synagogue is the yeshivah, which (if it's possible) has an even smaller kosher store. It's basically two bookshelves put together and stacked with kosher food. There, we find a whole bunch more kosher-for-Passover noshy food (cakes, pudding, etc) but still no matzah! Another nice counter-lady gets accosted by two bumbling Americans who, in broken Russian, strike up a conversation: Where is the matzah in this town? It has to be specially ordered. When can we order it? Today is the last day. Oh, whew. Who do we order from? There is one lady who takes the orders, but she doesn't come in for another hour. Seeing no other option, we found some chairs and decided to wait. (While we waited, a nice Orthodox guy from the yeshiva decided we should eat pizza, so he makes us a couple of pizzas to nosh on. They may not be efficient, but at least they're hospitable!)
An hour later, a nice young lady named Sveta shows up. At this point, we've been searching for two hours and we're getting desperate, so I cheat on my Russian and speak Hebrew with her. Where is the matzah? We're all out. You're out of regular matzah? No, we never had regular matzah; we only sell hand-made shmurah matzah. We didn't want shmurah matzah anyway, so no big loss if she sells the other things we need. What about matzah meal, cake meal, or anything to actually make Pesadich food with? Nope...but we have salt, sugar, water, and macaroons. No thanks, we say, and dejectedly continue our search.
At this point, we leave the yeshivah and decide to try our luck one last time with the synagogue. On the way, I call the director of Chesed Avraham, which gives matzah to its elderly and needy clients for free (those are the babushkas I mentioned earlier). I ask him if, in case of emergency, we can buy some matzah from Chesed so we can survive Passover. The answer is "only if we have some left over from giving to the needy." Do you often have left-overs? We NEVER have enough matzah to go around, and we run out every year. OK, well, thanks anyway.
We get to the synagogue, which is now open, and find people distributing matzah in the basement. After 10 minutes waiting in line, we find out that this line is only for people who pre-ordered matzah; if you want to buy matzah, you have to go upstairs. Finally, we find the matzah lady, buy a ridiculous amount of matzah from her, then schlep our matzah, like the treasure it is, back to our home. Three-and-a-half hours after leaving our house, we arrive back home with the matzah we so desperately needed.
Even though we get to spend 4 days eating catered meals as part of the Pesach Project, the last 4 days of Passover will be difficult with so little Pesadic food available here. But maybe, somewhere in this city of 5 million residents, we'll find that matzah meal!
This morning, Alyson and I left bright and early at 9:15 (yes, that's really early in this part of the world!) to head down to the kosher store at the synagogue.The kosher store is nearly an hour-long schlep from our house: a 5-minute walk to the Metro, a 20-minute ride on the Metro, and a 25-minute walk from there to the synagogue. On the bright side, it was a gorgeous day today--sunny and in the high 40s--so I packed away my heavy ski coat, opted for my lighter wool coat, and look forward to walking outside. Alyson, however, loves her pink coat, and can't bring herself to part with it!
So we show up at the kosher store as the doors open at 10 am, but we are totally disappointed by what they have to offer. This isn't KosherMart in Rockville, or even the Giant near our house in DC...this is basically a closet of kosher candy, macaroons, and other noshy food. Nothing to cook, but we find the matzah in the corner. We eagerly start loading up on matzah, but then notice a sign saying, "This matzah is not kosher for Passover."
Frustrated, we approach the counter-lady. Will there be another, kosher shipment coming in? No. Is this all there is in the store? Yes. So where do we get matzah that's really kosher for Passover? The synagogue. When does the synagogue open? I don't know.
Luckily, two blocks from the synagogue is the yeshivah, which (if it's possible) has an even smaller kosher store. It's basically two bookshelves put together and stacked with kosher food. There, we find a whole bunch more kosher-for-Passover noshy food (cakes, pudding, etc) but still no matzah! Another nice counter-lady gets accosted by two bumbling Americans who, in broken Russian, strike up a conversation: Where is the matzah in this town? It has to be specially ordered. When can we order it? Today is the last day. Oh, whew. Who do we order from? There is one lady who takes the orders, but she doesn't come in for another hour. Seeing no other option, we found some chairs and decided to wait. (While we waited, a nice Orthodox guy from the yeshiva decided we should eat pizza, so he makes us a couple of pizzas to nosh on. They may not be efficient, but at least they're hospitable!)
An hour later, a nice young lady named Sveta shows up. At this point, we've been searching for two hours and we're getting desperate, so I cheat on my Russian and speak Hebrew with her. Where is the matzah? We're all out. You're out of regular matzah? No, we never had regular matzah; we only sell hand-made shmurah matzah. We didn't want shmurah matzah anyway, so no big loss if she sells the other things we need. What about matzah meal, cake meal, or anything to actually make Pesadich food with? Nope...but we have salt, sugar, water, and macaroons. No thanks, we say, and dejectedly continue our search.
At this point, we leave the yeshivah and decide to try our luck one last time with the synagogue. On the way, I call the director of Chesed Avraham, which gives matzah to its elderly and needy clients for free (those are the babushkas I mentioned earlier). I ask him if, in case of emergency, we can buy some matzah from Chesed so we can survive Passover. The answer is "only if we have some left over from giving to the needy." Do you often have left-overs? We NEVER have enough matzah to go around, and we run out every year. OK, well, thanks anyway.
We get to the synagogue, which is now open, and find people distributing matzah in the basement. After 10 minutes waiting in line, we find out that this line is only for people who pre-ordered matzah; if you want to buy matzah, you have to go upstairs. Finally, we find the matzah lady, buy a ridiculous amount of matzah from her, then schlep our matzah, like the treasure it is, back to our home. Three-and-a-half hours after leaving our house, we arrive back home with the matzah we so desperately needed.
Even though we get to spend 4 days eating catered meals as part of the Pesach Project, the last 4 days of Passover will be difficult with so little Pesadic food available here. But maybe, somewhere in this city of 5 million residents, we'll find that matzah meal!
posted by Matt Fieldman at 4:18 PM
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