The Bread of Affliction Part 2

When last we met, I was going on about how the preparations for Pesach make me feel a bit unsettled, and how I thought that the uncomfortable feeling was crucial to understanding the holiday and celebrating it wholeheartedly. At the core of this feeling is my relationship with Matza. Of all the foods we eat at the seder and throughout Passover, I believe that Matza is the food that binds us (sorry, had to do that). While Passover, from preparation to celebration unsettles us in a wonderful way, Matza makes me feel unsettled, but for a very different reason.

For those of us who keep kosher, or for those who make an attempt at using Kosher for Passover products specifically because it's Pesach...or even for those hosting a seder, inviting people over, we all know the exorbitant costs involved in 'making Pesach'. I've never met anyone who hasn't grumbled over the prices of Passover food (at least here in Ontario...and I understand that we have it better than in other parts of the country). We all begrudgingly pay the prices...that is, we who can afford it. But what about those who can't?

The simple fact is that many, many people are simply not able to afford the elaborate feasts that you and I and everyone on the Facebook pages I frequent are preparing. More people than you may know cannot afford to make a seder at all. Many people in our communities rely on Kosher food banks to meet their needs each week, let alone on Pesach. That so many cannot afford to eat unsettles me greatly, but something else riles me, and that my friends, is the price of that 'bread of poverty'. Indeed, what upsets me is the price of Matza itself.

Perhaps one of you can explain it to me. Oh, I understand that companies need to make a profit, and well they should. I understand that the costs in keeping a factory kosher and kosher l'Pesach is very expensive, and I understand that, too. But the one food above all others that makes Pesach, Pesach is matza. Something has to be done to keep the price of a box of matza down to almost the price of a loaf of bread.


I aired my frustration to Kosher food guru and cookbook queen, Norene Gilletz, who informed me that some supermarkets in the United States subsidize the price of matza. We do it here too, but (unless I'm mistaken) only under the guise of 'Midnight Madness' sales prior to Pesach. Indeed, this year at one of our supermarkets, Shmura matza sold for one dollar a pound during the three hour sale. I'm not sure how high the price of matza is in other cities, but I believe that there must be some middle ground between the regular asking price and the 'Midnight Madness' price of matza. In my humble opinion, matza needs to be accessible to all who want to fulfill the mitzvah. I don't know how to make that happen and that frustrates me.

As we sit down to our seders, let us rejoice with our families once again this year. Let us remember that we eat matza because once we had no choice. We need to remember what it felt like to not have options, what it tasted like to not have the freedom of choice. And while we are remembering and celebrating, let's figure out how we can make it so that anyone who wants to celebrate Passover can do it with dignity, because it is their right.

Chag Kasher V'sameach!