Matzah, the Food of Freedom, From a Ukrainian Bakery

As I write these words, the war in Ukraine continues, producing images harrowing, terrifying, and at times inspiring. The outcome, at this point, is uncertain. Yet I am certain that this Passover, as I sit at the seder, one image will be on my mind. It is a video of a Jewish bakery in Dnipro, Ukraine, with the war already begun, working to produce shmurah matzah, the unleavened bread eaten at the seder Passover evening, bread that is still baked by hand. The Jerusalem Post profiled the bakery, explaining that these Jews bake not for themselves, but for the Jewish world. "The bakery was established more than 20 years ago in the city of Dnipro in the Dnipropetrovsk region, bordering the separatist province of Donetsk," the Post reported. "A few months ago, a branch of the Ukrainian Matzah Bakery was also opened in the city of Uman."