Matzah baking with Ofek
Matzah baking with OfekArutz Sheva

How do you get secular Jews in Tel Aviv to reconnect with their Judaism? Ofek, an NPO based in northern Tel Aviv, has found a unique answer to that question - you give them the opportunity to bake matzah, traditional unleavened bread, in time for Pesach (Passover).

Arutz Sheva got in on the action, speaking to Ofek community manager Moshe Schendowich about the unique holiday activity.

"We invite all the people of Tel Aviv to come and sweat for a mitzvah (Jewish commandment - ed.)," Schendowich said, noting the matzah baking is a "race against time" given that the process must be completed within 18 minutes to prevent leavening.

The main lesson of the activity is that intense preparation and intention goes into a mitzvah, in this case the mitzvah of eating matzah on Pesach, he notes.

Speaking about the group's activities throughout the year, Schendowich explained how Ofek hosts Shabbat dinners and other community activities to get Jews to reconnect with their religion.

He said the group "wants to bring Jews closer to Hashem...in Tel Aviv amazingly enough people don't feel that you're going to 'convert' them, if you come to speak with a person on his level, in his terms."