Many Jews find it challenging to prepare meals for the Passover holiday, beginning March 29, because of the temporary dietary restrictions Passover creates.
Last year members of the Chapel Hill Kehillah Synagogue found a solution, and they are bringing it back with their second annual "Passover Ko-oP."
They have worked with national vendors to bring a wide variety of reasonably priced Passover items to the Triangle while helping needy families and raising money for their religious school.
For a Ko-oP joining fee that is 18 percent of the order up to $36, community members can select kosher Passover items from a catalog featuring a variety of candies, desserts, matzo, teas, cake mixes, jams, gefilte fish and wine. Most are below retail price.
Included on the order form is an option to donate a basket of Passover food or a monetary amount to a needy Jewish family through Jewish Family Services of Durham-Chapel Hill or Jewish Family Services of Raleigh-Cary. Every year, both organizations distribute Passover baskets to local families so that everyone will be able to celebrate the holiday.
Friday is the deadline for placing orders that can be picked up March 21.
The reason Passover food is different from all other foods lies in the story of the biblical exodus of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Because they had so little time to prepare for their leaving, bread had no time to rise, resulting in a flat, crackerlike food called matzo. To commemorate the eight-day festival of Passover, Jews eat matzo and avoid leavened foods, grains and other foods that have historically been used to make bread products.
These temporary dietary restrictions leave Jews searching for special food for the holiday.
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