The Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine (FJCU) has completed a complex logistical operation to distribute Passover kits to Jewish communities across the country, mainly for hundreds of Jewish soldiers serving on the frontline.
This year the Federation has initiated the delivery of small matzahs, exactly the size required by Jewish law to be eaten on the Seder night, which were baked especially for the Jewish soldiers.
The matzahs, which are only about 18 centimeters in diameter, compared to 30 centimeters of regular matzahs, were hand-baked at the Tiferet Matzot bakery in Dnipro and enable the soldiers to carry them with them on the frontline, without taking up too much space.
The logistical operation, which commenced immediately after the Purim holiday, included the distribution of Passover kits to 169 Jewish communities throughout Ukraine, with each kit containing handmade and machine-made matzahs, wine, grape juice, a Seder plate, a goblet, a puzzle, holiday and Shabbat candles, a Haggadah translated into Ukrainian, and an information leaflet.
Despite the increase in rocket fire at the main cities and the curfews at night, forty-one public Passover Seders are planned to be held throughout Ukraine, in which about 20,000 Jews are expected to participate. This is the fourth year in a row that the Jewish communities in Ukraine have been celebrating the Passover holiday under the constraints of war.
Rabbi Meir Stambler, chairman of FJCU, said: "After four years of war full of 'maror' (bitter herbs), we hope that we will soon be able to celebrate the holiday of freedom in peace."