In the lead-up to Pesach, the recently-opened ‘Shaarei Tsedek’ Charity Center is teeming with activity. “It was only just a month ago that we last got a call, telling us that we have the opportunity to pick up another care package,” explained one the Center’s beneficiaries contentedly. “These are really good packages. We each received one for Purim and thank G-d we got the call again”.

This holiday campaign aims to distribute 15,000 packages to Moscow Jews, each of which bears a special mark indicating that the food products are ‘kosher for Passover’. All items have been approved by the Kashrut Department of the Chief Rabbinate of Russia and were selected and assembled by employees of the ‘Supermarket’ program, led by Vera Libenson.

In addition to a 1 kilogram of Matzah, there is also a package of ‘Matzamel’ (flour used for preparing matzah), which was prepared at a special Matzah factory in the nearby town of Istra. Other contents include more pricey items such as kosher wine and grape juice from Israel, coffee, tea, chocolate, olive oil, two kings of grains, and other staples. Each beneficiary received two bags weighing a total of nine kilograms.

This Passover campaign demonstrates two remarkable tendencies in the region – the consideration and sense of inclusiveness that is fundamental in the work of the ‘Shaarei Tsedek’ Center and the widening number of options and selection of kosher foods available to Jews in the region.

(Source: FJC)