Making Matzah (Or Something Like It) - A Passover Lesson for Christian Kids

After dinner this evening our minds turned again to Passover. We watched several very entertaining and informative videos on www.chabad.org/kids. A couple of them went into pretty good detail on the making of matzah. One started in the wheat field , and explained all the care that goes into keeping everything Kosher.

Not being Jewish, we were not really concerned with being Kosher, but we were still interested in reliving the story of the Exodus. We were challenged too, by the fact that only eighteen minutes is allowed between the start of the matzah making and the pulling the "bread" out of the oven. Of course, we had to try it for ourselves!

Our oven is not nearly as hot as the proper matzah baking ovens, our flour was not Kosher, and we had not removed every evidence of leaven from our home, but we set about making our own version of unleavened bread anyway (call it hardtack if you it makes you feel better!) We preheated our oven to 400 degrees (not the 2000 degrees recommended), prepared our pans bowls and ingredients (just water and flour). Then, we set our timer for eighteen minutes and began.

We mixed three cups of flour with one cup of water and combined it together with our hands. We rolled it out as thin as we could get it (not nearly as thin as in the video we had watched). Then we placed it on the pan and poked it full of holes to allow the steam to escape and discourage rising. Finally, we popped it into the oven, and let the timer run down. Our bread was finished about 18 minutes after our timer went off - oh well.

We broke it into pieces and ate it with honey and jam, though we did taste it plain first. While we were eating our snack, we read from The Passover Journey a Seder Companion by Barbara Diamond Goldin. It was the one book I could find in at our local library about Passover. Really, in a small Montana town, I was very happy to find even one book on Passover, especially since I waited until today to go and look for it. It turned out to be a very useful, and enjoyable book, reviewing the Exodus story, and explaining the steps and meanings of the Passover dinner.

It was a very informative evening. We learned quite a bit about Jewish tradition, but also about our own faith and traditions. And although we are not still waiting for the prophet Elijah to prepare the world for the Savior, we opened our door in preparation for Easter and our hope of the return of the Messiah. Even so come Lord Jesus!

It's great to be a homeschooler!