"Hi! I'm your friendly, hand-made Shmurah Matzah.

The first thing you'll notice about me is that unlike other rnatzahs I'm not a square - I am round (only a Tallit needs four corners) without rough edges and hard-to-get-around comers. I'm nice and friendly. What's more, I'm the real thing, genuine. Shmurah means watched and from the moment the wheat in me was harvested, it was under constant surveillance, never to come in contact with water, chometz or any other harmful elements.

The most beautiful thing about me, though, is that I'm hand-made. No big, noisy machines have flattened me out. I am handled with tender, loving care by nice Jewish people who make me and bake me especially for Pesach.

When you baked me with your own hands, you identified with thousands of years of Jewish Heritage. Jews in every generation, in every corner of the world, since the time we left Egypt, have always made matzohs this way.

When you eat me, you taste the flavor of Jewish history. True, you'll remember the pain and the suffering, the slavery and exile, but you'll also relive the miracle of Jewish survival.

Yes, I am the Bread of Affliction; but, as we say in the Haggadah at the Seder: 'This year - slaves, next year -freemen. This year we are here; next year may we be in the land of Israel; next year in Jerusalem."

Masha Lipsker Johannesburg, South Africa 


haggadah Section: Motzi-Matzah
Source: chabad jhb