Children learn matzo making and Passover's traditions ahead of the Jewish holiday

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — The group of first graders had no time to waste — they had matzo to make.

The students from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital had just 18 minutes to prep and cook the cracker-like, unleavened Passover staple if they wanted to keep it kosher for the holiday. It could not be allowed to rise.

Starting in the evening of April 22 this year, the major Jewish holiday commemorates the exodus of ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Torah. Observant Jews avoid leavened grains for Passover as a reminder of the unleavened bread the Israelites ate when they quickly fled Egypt with no time for dough to rise. Most breads, pastas, cakes and cookies are off-limits, but matzo — or matzah as some translate the Hebrew word — is OK.

But the first graders, in their paper hats and blue school T-shirts, didn’t have to face the time crunch on their own. Wearing a chef’s hat on top of a matzo-themed kippah, Rabbi Levi Raskin led them through all the steps on Thursday during their “Model Matzah Factory” field trip. The children, whose school is in Washington, D.C., learned all about the history of how the festival is celebrated and the story of the exodus.

“As soon as they mix the flour with water, an 18-minute clock begins,” said Raskin, who is director of the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Maryland.

The center is a collaboration with Chabad and has outreach with public schools as well. The demonstration includes a mini flour mill to grind wheat kernels, an example of a water well, and a piping hot oven. While their dough takes about 2 minutes to cook, in a real matzo factory the oven is 2000 degrees and is done in seconds, Raskin said.

First grade teacher, Dafna Kiverstein, was also on hand to help the Washington area students roll out dough during their field trip on Thursday at the JCrafts Center.

The dough spread as Charlotte Gleicher, 7, guided the rolling pin over it, her hands flanked by her teacher’s. Wearing a necklace with her name in Hebrew, Charlotte then used a tool to prickle the dough with small holes, picked up the flattened disc and placed it by the others waiting to be baked into matzo and eventually eaten. Though she was disappointed that she was unable to find her personal piece after they were baked, Charlotte liked the handmade matzo a lot.

Passover generally lasts seven days in Israel and eight days elsewhere.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Freshly baked handmade matzo is seen after being prepared by first graders from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, during a "Model Matzah Factory" event with Rabbi Levi Raskin, at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday which begins next Monday evening. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

First graders from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, make matzah during a "Matzah Factory" field trip at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday which begins next Monday evening. To be kosher for Passover the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Ethan Pressberg, 6, a first grader at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, uses a tool to make holes in dough for matzah during a "Matzah Factory" field trip at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday which begins next Monday evening. To be kosher for Passover the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

First graders from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, make matzah during a "Matzah Factory" field trip to the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday which begins next Monday evening. To be kosher for Passover the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Wearing a kippah with a matzah design, Rabbi Levi Raskin, right, shows a first grade student from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, how water could be drawn from a well as part of a "Model Matzah Factory" field trip at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday which begins next Monday evening. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Rabbi Levi Raskin, director of the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition, playfully adds flat discs of dough to the oven to cook into matzah, as prepared by first graders from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, during a "Model Matzah Factory" field trip at the center in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024. To be kosher for the Passover holiday, which begins Monday evening, the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Hana Chmeruk, center, who moved to the U.S. from Ukraine, and Avigael Yahyisrael, 7, make matzah with other first graders from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, during a "Matzah Factory" field trip to the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday which begins next Monday evening. To be kosher for Passover the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Charlotte Gleicher, 7, a first grader at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, brings up dough to be baked into matzah that she made during a "Matzah Factory" event at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday which begins next Monday evening. To be kosher for Passover, which begins next Monday evening, the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Wearing a necklace with her name in Hebrew, Charlotte Gleicher, 7, a first grader at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital, is helped by her teacher, Dafna Kiverstein, to roll out dough for matzah during a "Matzah Factory" field trip at the JCrafts Center for Jewish Life and Tradition in Rockville, Md., Thursday, April 18, 2024, ahead of the Passover holiday. To be kosher for Passover, which begins next Monday evening, the dough has to be prepared and cooked all within 18 minutes and not allowed to rise. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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KB Home announces the grand opening of its newest community, Mystic Vista Enclaves, in desirable Buckeye, Arizona. (Photo: Business Wire)