News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Jews in the United States are being forced to cut back expenditures for their Passover meals because of inflation, a diving dollar and a weakening economy, the financial news service Bloomberg News reported. It said that a co-owner of a suburban Washington kosher store estimated that prices have risen 20 percent in the past year.
 
An 82 percent increase in the price of wheat has caused a 100 percent increase in the cost of flour to make matzo. New York City storeowner Scott Goldshine said he tried not to raise prices too much even if it meant cutting profits. "You don't like to play with the chicken soup," he told Bloomberg News. "Chicken soup, matzo balls you don't like to touch. Brisket we try and keep the same."