This article is being published in collaboration with the Detroit Jewish News.
DETROIT—Levi Eber came in from Arizona to deliver matzah. A yeshivah dorm counselor in Scottsdale, he’s spent the week driving around Traverse City, Michigan, and surrounding areas, five hours a day, to deliver shmurah matzah and talk about Passover with residents.
He’s been to some remote areas, says Eber, where he saw deer and drove long dirt roads in the snow to try and bring Yiddishkeit to Jews near and far. “Most of them weren’t expecting anyone to come,” he says. “A lot of them were very excited that someone came—I had someone that signed up for a seder 10 minutes after I left their house.”
He’s one of more than approximately 300 volunteers joining 30 Chabad centers directed by 50 Chabad couples to take part in a Chabad-Lubavitch of Michigan campaign to send matzah out across communities statewide. In addition to handing out the matzah, he’s been fielding questions about the holiday, Jewish practices and more. “I’m happy for them to ask,” he says.
Volunteers from the Jewish communities are joined by 20 volunteer rabbinical students from New York, New Jersey and France to make the matzah deliveries happen, says Rabbi Levi Shemtov of Chabad of Oak Park. Approximately 16,600 households received matzah before the start of Passover. The project was initiated and inspired by a number of Chabad rabbis including Rabbi Mendel Shemtov, director of the Lubavitch Yeshiva in Oak Park, and Rabbi Chaim Moshe Bergstein, director of Chabad of Farmington Hills.
In 1954, the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—launched a campaign to give handmade shmurah matzah out around the United States, says Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov, executive director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Michigan. “The matzah is called the bread of faith and matzah is called bread of healing, and, of course, it’s during our celebration of our birth as a nation and the exodus of Egypt the Rebbe thought it very important that the old tradition of having handmade matzah that’s made especially for the mitzvah has a special value, so it should be the privilege of every Jew to have it,” he says.
It’s been inspiring to see so many people jump in to volunteer to deliver the matzah and holiday well wishes, says Shemtov, adding that he’s been receiving phone calls in the office from people saying how nice it was to be thought of and to feel connected.
Robert Schroder is a Michigan local who was one of the many matzah-recipients-turned-volunteers. He received matzah from the young yeshivah students who visit his office in Detroit every Friday to wrap tefillin with him. When he got his shmurah matzah and heard about the project, he was moved to help out.
“I am all about celebrating the seders and the mitzvahs [of Passover], and I love working on projects of this sort,” he says. “I had a fun time delivering the matzos. They were all delighted, and I was well received. Jewish people working at a beauty shop were happy to get a matzah and wanted to celebrate, too. They called me the matzah angel!”
‘Like We’re Sitting at One Large Seder Table’
Carol and John Horton were other super-enthusiastic community members who took to the project and delivered matzah to 20 homes in West Bloomfield. Marilyn Yarbrough heard about the campaign online and delivered to 40 homes in Royal Oak and Southfield, while Susan Tulupman delivered matzah to 200 homes across Metro Detroit, when she could have been relaxing at home during a rare week off.
“This was the most we’ve given out, and it expresses the Rebbe’s desire for us to reach every single Jew,” Shemtov says, adding that the campaign was expanded in honor of the Rebbe’s 123rd birthday on 11 Nissan, which coincided this year with April 9. “Usually at this time of year, we do some kind of campaign. It’s celebrated around the world by doing and expanding some of the teachings the Rebbe has given us. And this year, we decided that in honor of Pesach and in honor of the Rebbe’s birthday, we would expand the campaign of giving matzah individually to Jews.”
The round matzah is being delivered in a box with a booklet explaining the ideas of the seder. It comes with a letter and invitation to reach out to Chabad of Michigan for any Passover needs, he explains. “It’s really a campaign to embrace every individual Jew and tell them we are all one and we are together, and although everyone sits at their own seder table, it’s like we’re sitting at one large seder table.”
Mordechai Bronfin of Oak Park has delivered more than 200 matzahs around Metro Detroit. He goes to Chabad of North Oak Park and got involved after hearing about the opportunity from Rabbi Levi Shemtov, taking matzah around West Bloomfield, Waterford, Keego Harbor and Farmington. “I don’t know any of these people personally,” he says, adding that he delivered matzah to people of all levels of Jewish observance.
He left matzah on porches for people who weren’t home and stopped to talk with people who were around, he says. “Most of my interactions have been very positive,” he says, adding that he takes time to explain to them why he’s delivering it and what the matzah means. “I think there’s a lot of confusion in the world, especially after Oct. 7, and that people are looking for ways to connect to their Judaism and doing a fundamental thing such as eating matzah for Passover. That’s a great place to start.”
Bari Beckett of Waterford says she was glad to receive the matzah gift from one of the volunteers, and that it will enhance her holiday. “It was just lovely,” she says. “I don’t go anywhere for Passover, so it made a difference.”
Meanwhile, Paul Magy of Birmingham says he’s looking forward to talking about Passover with the yeshivah students who visit his office on Fridays this week, and that he was glad to see the matzah delivery when he returned from traveling last week. “These are days more than ever, where pride in your Judaism and Jewish culture need to be on the forefront, and these young men are living it and doing it every day,” he says.
As for the matzah, he says, it was waiting for him when he got home. “I happened to be out of town, but it was shmurah matzah in a box at my front door,” he says. “It was on my front porch with a little note about hoping that I have ‘Chag kasher v’sameach,’ which is a traditional greeting we give for Passover, and it just gives you a warm feeling knowing that you’re really cared about.”
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