A time for reflection: Palm Beach houses of worship prepare for Holy Week, Passover
By BETTY NELANDER
Palm Beach Daily News
Thursday, April 14, 2011
In preparation for Passover Seders, volunteers at The Palm Beach Jewish Center boxed packages of Shmurah Matzah to be given to hundreds of Jews living in the area.
Shmurah Matzot are round, kneaded and shaped by hand, and are similar to the Matzot that were baked by the people of Israel as they left Egypt.
“Shmurah means ‘watched’ because the ingredients of which (the flour and water) are watched from the moment of harvesting and drawing through the baking process itself,” according to Rabbi Zalman Levitin. This gives them “an added infusion of faith and sanctity.”
“One of the first things we do at the Seder is break the middle Matzah on the Seder plate,” says Rabbi Zalman Levitin at The Palm Beach Jewish Center. “The smaller piece is set in front of us, representing the Jew who sits at the Seder table following the traditions. The Afikoman, the larger piece, is put aside for the end of the Seder, representing the Jew who wandered from Torah and does not attend the Seder. The lesson of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is: One part of the matzah or Jew may be absent from the table, but we are still one matzah, we are still one whole Jewish nation, responsible for each other. Just like we cannot conclude our Seder if we do not bring back the Afikoman to the table, so too we cannot rest until with much love and sensitivity we reach out to every Jew until he/she reunites with his/her Yiddishkeit.”