Satmar: Bakeries are working non-stop due to a shortage of matzos

April 10, 2014   

While in Israel, bakery owners are being forced to lower prices, in the US there is a shortage: In the Satmar community, there is currently a great demand for matzo, and the community's leadership is concerned that it will not be possible to provide enough matzo for all members of the community. The shortage arose because the Satmar bakery bakes matzo only from wheat that grows in the fields of the state of Arizona, where it does not rain after the Feast of Tabernacles, and therefore there is no fear of wheat sprouting and hatching in the matzo.

The Satmar Rebbe is particularly careful about using these wheats, and the community's bakery does not bake matzos from wheat grown in other regions of the United States.

However, since last summer - during the wheat harvest - it was very rainy in other areas, and the public wants to strictly adhere to wheat, many decided to consume the wheat that grew in Arizona, and thus a severe shortage of matzoh was created. According to the community leaders, a large part of the community members were left without matzoh. For the past week, the bakery has been working 24 hours a day, trying to fill the gap. The community management asked the public to reduce their purchases of matzoh, in order to prevent a shortage of matzoh for the Passover holiday. Yesterday, an urgent meeting was held by the community management, where it was decided to increase the size of the bakery for next year, so that it can bake double the amount of matzoh there.