In through the out door part 1
One of the things I am most looking forward to is spending the chagim in Israel. The first on the list is Passover. In the past we had to make arrangements for two Seders and two lunches, total meals served, over 125. As daunting as that was we had a routine . My wife made the soup and all the mains, my father in law bought the sides, my sister brought the matzah, my mom brought home made egg noddles and my brother brought his family.
This year brings many changes. It is only one day. It will be only 40 meals. The only thing is that we have to find the places to buy all the things that we need. Should't be a problem as this is Israel. You can get anything here.
First on the list was matzah. Every year , my father, זצ"ל , used to go to the Shotzer Matzah bakery in Brooklyn. He would pour the water into the flour and eighteen minutes later we would have our had made shmurah matzah. He always did this close to Passover so the matzah would be fresh. He even went on erev chag to get one matzah, for every head of household, made that day. My mother and sister continued that tradition.
This year I had to find a local source ( to be fair my mother did volunteer to bring). I asked several people in my shul but the only answer I got was " go to Chabad". I did not want shaliach matzah ( if you have ever gotten these you know what I mean) . I wanted fresh shmurah matzah like I always have had.
Luckily one of our neighbors knew where to go. They told is of a place that was down the stairs and through an alley in Bnei Brak. They did not know the name or the address but the matzah came from an ultra orthodox rabbi originally from Argentina. Just what I was looking for. With only landmarks to guide us , we went to Bnei Brak in search of the matzah.
First a word about going to Bnei Brak to shop for Pesah, Don't. The streets are packed with people preparing for the holiday. Small children ( as young as 3) walk unattended, stopping traffic by themselves like crossing guards. While driving , everyone has the right of way so you get nowhere fast.
After spending 30 minutes in a waze induced loop of the neighborhood we finally got close to where we need to be ( remember we have no address). Surprisingly enough we found the place.It was in a small alley down some stairs just as we were told. It was a small room full of boxes of matzah, manned by a very elderly gentleman who spoke , Hebrew , Yiddish and Spanish. I went with Yiddush. We bought 5 kilo at the american price ( 30 NIS more than what we were told it was going to cost) and went on our way. I will do a follow up on whether or not it was worth it once we eat it but I will keep looking for a matzah bakery
Next to the special Passover supermarket. A good friend told us about this place, they had an address but no name. It seems the name changes every year. When we got there it was clear that this was a low price low cost place where full time yeshiva students shop. Many were looking at my wife's knees which I found amusing. The place had many things we needed and at the time we thought was a zoo ( more on that later). More surprisingly they had some men working at the registers who were clearly from the neighborhood. I have never seen that before.
This is where we encountered the infamous Kitniyot problem. First let me explain. In the USA there are very few, if any, mass market items produced for Passover that contain Kitniyot. Also if you go to one of the big stores ( i.e. Pomegranate) they wont have any. In Israel it is the opposite. We went to Bnei Brak specifically because we thought it would be different. It was not. We had to check every item ( like the old days) and it was written in the smallest lettering I have seen. None of the baked goods were OK for us and if someone can explain to me why chili powder is Kitniyot I would appreciate it. To my Sephardic friends, what are you waiting for????
to be continued .......