Rabbi helps locals prepare for Passover

By DINA ARÉVALO
Port Isabel-South Padre Press
editor@portisabelsouthpadre.com

Rabbi Asher Hecht has been on a mission this week. The McAllen-area rabbi, who represents Chabad of the Rio Grande Valley (Chabad RGV), has been traveling across the Valley distributing shmurah matzah to help the local Jewish population prepare for the upcoming Passover holiday.

Shmurah matzah, which means “watched matzah,” is unleavened bread that is traditionally eaten during Passover in remembrance of the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. “It was Passover that we were freed from bondage, slavery and were able to become the nation of the Jewish people and to receive our mandate from God at Mt. Sanai,” Hecht said during a phone interview this week.

With Passover beginning this Friday, March 30, Hecht and Chabad RGV wanted to make sure every Jewish person in the Valley had unleavened bread with which to observe the holiday. What makes shmurah matzah so special, Hecht explained, is that the ingredients used to make it are literally watched from the point of harvest until the bread is cooked to ensure that it does not come in contact with water.

Too, the matzahs Hecht distributed this week were handmade in Israel.

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