This Passover, Consider These Four Questions:
Do you cherish our Tidewater Jewish heritage?
Do you want to help secure the future of Jewish life in Tidewater?
Would you like to see our traditions thrive for future generations?
Are you ready to create a lasting legacy for our community?
If you answered YES to any of the above, consider becoming a Legacy donor with the Tidewater Jewish Foundation. We will work with you and your family to develop a philanthropic plan that maximizes your impact. Learn more by contacting us at foundation@tjfva.org or 757-965-6111, or by visiting foundation.jewishva.org
PASSOVER
Dear Readers,
Like almost everything today, when Passover is mentioned, middle ground doesn’t seem to exist – people either love or disdain the holiday.
I fall into the category of loving it. The disdainers mostly just don’t like matzah or gefilte fish or the seder’s length. I’m all in on everything.
The food, the family and friends’ gatherings, the beautiful table settings, the traditions, the knowledge that seders are taking place in homes across the globe with Jews
reading variations of what I’m reading and eating variations of what I’m eating– all combine to make Passover one of my favorite holidays. Maybe that explains why I make matzah brei all year. . .
Of course, I’m not alone. Starting on the adjacent page, nine locals share their favorite part of the springtime holiday. Their stories show the multiple aspects people appreciate and look forward to when Passover arrives each year. The most often-mentioned favorite part of the holiday, however, is the seder – despite its length, bitter herbs, and drama.
The seriousness of the central part of the seder, the retelling of the story of Exodus – the Israelites’ struggle for freedom, the plagues, and more unpleasantness – could bring us down, as it certainly doesn’t take much to relate some of these horrors to the world we’re living in.
My preference, though, is to make some comparisons to maintain the relevance of that old story, e focus on traditions, create some new ones, and rejoice in the fact that we are free to observe and celebrate the most celebrated of Jewish holidays.
Here’s a question to ponder: When we read about the miracles, will we decide to wait for one or be inspired to make our own?
Chag Pesach Sameach,
Terri Denison Editor
Passover: a holiday with myriad parts and favorites
Stephanie Peck
The eight-day holiday of Passover begins this year with First Night Seder on Saturday, April 12 and continues through sundown on April 20. Many people observe the holiday by including favorite family recipes and traditions into their Seders. Others introduce current events or historical significance to embellish the evening.
For generations young and old, Passover offers an opportunity to revisit Jewish history, build a Hillel sandwich, and create memories with those around the Seder table.
Here, nine locals share what they enjoy most about Passover.
Rachel Crum
A
memorable year
Levi Cohen
Time to act
I really love Passover because all my family comes together to celebrate a very fun holiday. At our Seder we have the tradition of acting out a Passover play. While the adults tell us the story of Passover, my cousins and I get to act out the parts.
I remember this year vividly as the kosher butcher forgot to make my Passover delivery and we had no turkey. Thank goodness I was well stocked with chicken breasts, and we were able to get by with individual foil wrapped chicken with mint and parsley gremolata.
Robert was studying for his bar mitzvah that year and sang the entire hallel flawlessly. Collin sang a perfect kiddush. My breast swelled with pride as I saw my sons help take the lead at the Seder next to my father!
Every Passover, my father finds a new Jewish historical fact to discuss, breaking the monotony and emphasizing the important message of Passover and revolution. That year, my father chose to review ancient maps the Jews traveled during the exodus.
Focus on freedom
My favorite part of Passover is the Seder, a time to warmly celebrate with family and friends our becoming a free people with a divine mission.
Cantor Elihu Flax (center) with his children, Arielle and Solomon.
Collin, Rachel, Thom, and Robert Crum.
Levi Cohen.
Cantor Elihu Flax
Ingeresa Friedman
Family Judaica and the festival meal
My favorite part of Passover is bringing our families together to carry on traditions in our home and sharing memories. Each family has a favorite Haggadah or a collection of them. Although I like to add commentary that relates to current times, I still have a fondness for my old stained and ragged Union Haggadahs (published in 1923) that my grandfather and father used to lead the Seder when I was a child – with its black and white decorative illustrations and my father’s handwritten notes in the margins.
When I set the table using my mother-in-law’s Seder plate, matzah cover, and kiddush cup, I am reminded of my in-laws and the wonderful, engaging family Seders shared at their house years ago. Our sons enjoy watching their father and uncles attempt to sing their favorite Passover songs in Hebrew and listen to them recount funny childhood stories from their grandfather’s Seders.
Of course, it makes me happy when my family tells me that their favorite part of Passover is the festive meal, which always features my holiday brisket (my mother-in-law’s recipe which I have mastered and claim as my own) and my homemade chicken matzah ball soup with light and fluffy matzah balls.
PASSOVER
Mike Goretsky
Friends, food, and traditions
Like most Jewish holidays, Passover is meaningful to me because of the food and traditions that define it. The first night Seder, shared with friends and family, is always a special occasion. I have numerous fond memories of Seders throughout my life – first as a child and later as a parent watching my own children grow up and celebrate alongside me.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Passover is experiencing it with different friends, with each gathering bringing new traditions. One especially memorable Passover was spent with friends who, coincidentally, were also vacationing in Disney World for spring break. Learning new tunes for Seder songs and discovering creative hiding spots for the afikomen are memories that will be shared in my family for decades.
As with all Jewish holidays, food is central to the celebration. I always look forward to my wife’s specialties – matzah brei, matzah balls and chicken soup, and matzah farfel stuffing. While eight days of matzah can become a bit much, I do love peanut butter and jelly on matzah for lunch, especially at the beginning of Passover.
Michael Salasky
Intimate, independent, and a feeling of responsibility
I like that Passover takes place in the intimate setting of our home at our dinner table surrounded by family. Since no ordained member of the clergy is personally present to lead or supervise us, and since we find ourselves away from the synagogue, it all comes down to “just us.” So that means there is a responsibility that falls on all of us, a certain self-sufficiency (that might also come in handy in other situations), and a degree of freedom to pick and choose how we want to present the story.
These are all great ingredients for a tradition that has continued for thousands of years. And not to mention – there’s also lots of food!
The Friedmans: Neal, Brian, Ingeresa, and Cole and Lauren Klevan (Cole’s wife).
Rachel, Mike, Sharon, and Abby Goretsky.
Mike and Prue Salasky with their daughters, Julia, Vanessa and Charlotte.
Mike and Prue Salasky with their grandchildren: Zaki, Hayden holding Mylo, Max and Chloe holding Julian.
PASSOVER
Charlotte Zito
Family time – a favorite film, a creative seder plate, sharing the cooking
One of our favorite parts of Passover is our family tradition of watching the classic Charleton Heston film, The Ten Commandments, and quoting favorite lines. When Isaac and Louisa were little, we would put out toys to represent the plagues. We still have a plastic frog that does back flips! Louisa cuts out a paper bone to put on the Seder plate each year.
When Ari and I first got married, I bought Joan Nathan’s Jewish Holiday Kitchen cookbook and learned how to make matzo ball soup, a favorite for all of us. Ari’s favorite bite of the Passover meal is the Hillel sandwich. He normally makes the charoset. It’s one of our favorite family holidays!
Jared Mercadante
Nostalgia with family and friends
My favorite part of Passover is the familiarity and nostalgia of the traditions, as well as the time spent with family and friends I don’t get to see too often.
Passover
Chloe Zuckerman
A family tradition: singing Chad Gadya
My favorite part of Passover is when the whole family gathers around the table to sing Chad Gadya. My Nana has collected art that my cousins and I have drawn over the years to represent a different part of the song. It is a favorite family Passover tradition of mine because each year, we all reprise the same role, even if we usually end up laughing because no one can remember their part – except for my uncle with his fabulous goat impression.
With Passover just around the corner, I can’t wait to see who remembers their part and bond with my family over our favorite Passover song.
Chloe Zuckerman (far right) with her brother, Jonah and grandparents, Larry and Leslie Siegel.
Louisa, Ari, Isaac, and Charlotte Zito.
Samantha, Janet, and Jared Mercadante.
Happy Passover!
Simon Family JCC Seniors Club
Model Passover Seder
Led by Rabbi David Bockman
Wednesday, April 9, 12 – 2 pm
Simon Family JCC
Information: Mia Klein, program department/seniors program coordinator, 757-452-3184 or MKlein@UJFT.org
Beth Chaverim
Passover Community Seder with Temple
Emanuel
Sunday, April 13, 6 pm
Main entrée choice of salmon or vegetarian option.
Cost: $45 ages 13+ years (nonmembers $55), $30 ages 5-12, (nonmembers $40), free under 5 years old.
RSVP by April 2: www.tevb.org.
Temple Emanuel
Chabad of Tidewater
Community Seder
Saturday, April 12, 8:30 pm
RSVP: www.ChabadOfTidewater.com
Chabad
Community Seder
Sunday, April 13, 8:30 pm
RSVP: www.ChabadOfTidewater.com
Chabad
Kabbalat Shabbat/Mariv and Shabbat dinner
Friday, April 18, 8 pm
RSVP: 757-616-0770
Chabad
Special Moshiach Meal
Sunday, April 20, 7 pm
RSVP: 757-616-0770
Chabad
Congregation Beth El
Fast of the First Born - In-person Minyan and Siyyum, followed by light breakfast Thursday, April 10, 7:15 am
Congregation Beth El RSVP: 757-625-7821
Burning of the Chametz Friday, April 11, 9 - 11 am
Congregation Beth El’s kitchen parking lot
Pesach Dinner
Friday, April 18, 7:30 pm
Congregation Beth El RSVP: 757-625-7821
Ohef Sholom Temple
Congregational Second Night Seder
Led by Rabbi Roz and Cantor Jen. Guests are welcome to bring their own drinks.
Sunday, April 13, 6 – 8 pm.
Arrive no later than 5:45 pm, as the Seder will begin promptly at 6 pm.
Cost: $42.50 (ages 13+), $22.50 (ages 6-12), $10 (ages 2-5), Free (under 2).
Ohef Sholom Temple RSVP: 757-625-4295.
Temple Emanuel
Passover Community Seder with Beth Chaverim Sunday, April 13, 6 pm
Main entrée choice of salmon or vegetarian option.
Cost: $45 ages 13+ years (nonmembers $55), $30 ages 5-12, (nonmembers $40), free under 5 years old.
Temple Emanuel RSVP by April 2: www.tevb.org
Penny Schwartz (JTA) — An endless Passover seder takes center stage in One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe, by writer Dara Horn and illustrator Theo Ellsworth, award-winners who teamed up for a humor-filled, timetravel graphic novel for young people. The tale of an epic seder — it drags on for six months — joins a new crop of children’s books with Passover themes, from
2809 S. Lynnhaven Rd., Suite 100 Virginia Beach, VA 23452 (757) 490-1193 www.coheninvestmentgrp.com
PASSOVER
JBI Library offers free Passover Haggadot and programming to individuals who are blind or experience low vision or other print disabilities
Deadline to order Haggadot: March 28, 2025
101” program: Tuesday, April 1, Zoom
A Jewish organization that supports people who are blind, have low vision, or have print disabilities, JBI Library offers several free Passover offerings, including complimentary accessible large print, braille, and audio Haggadot (17 different editions) and inclusive virtual and in-person “Passover 101” programming.
“During Passover, we sit together with family and friends and read the story of the Jews’ Exodus from Egypt from the Haggadah,” says Livia Thompson, JBI’s executive director. “The act of reading this ancient story in parallel with Jews sitting at other tables around the world creates a sense of warmth and connection. For those with blindness, low vision, or other print disabilities, however, not being able to partake in this communal experience can instead feel very isolating. Whether leading a seder or asking the Four Questions for the first time, everyone deserves the opportunity to engage in the Passover story and feel a true sense of belonging—our accessible editions help make that possible.”
JBI Library 2025 Passover offerings
Accessible Haggadot (Large print, braille, and audio)
Seventeen different versions, including Haggadot in several languages, denominations, as well as a Haggadah “digest” for communal seders, perfect for use in settings such as nursing homes are available. Included are Mishkan HaSeder from the CCAR Press, PJ Library’s Family Haggadah (plus audio version for families who want to study the text and songs in advance of the holiday) and The Chabad Haggadah.
Judaism 101: Passover Programming
To learn more or to request a free large print, braille, or audio Haggadah, visit JBI’s website at www.jbilibrary.org, call 800999-6476, or email haggadah@jbilibrary. org. In order to receive a free Haggadah in time for this year’s Passover Seder, orders must be placed no later than March 28, 2025.
Haggadot are free for individuals. Organizations and businesses located outside of New York City may request materials for a modest fee used to cover production costs.
As part of its ongoing Judaism 101 Learning Series, JBI will offer free, accessible in-person and virtual programming entitled Passover 101, which will discuss the themes and customs of Passover. Register at jbilibrary. org/catalog/ judaism-101.
“Passover 101” (virtual Zoom) Tuesday, April 1, 4:30 pm, led by Rabbi Gabrielle Cohn.
Founded in 1931, JBI Library is a nonprofit organization that supports people of all ages and backgrounds who are blind, have low vision, or have print disabilities to fully participate and feel connected to all aspects of Jewish life, from culture, education, and community to religious practice. To learn more, visit www.jbilibrary.org or contact JBI’s librarians at 212-545-8025 or 1-800-433-1531.
PASSOVER
The Best Matzah Lasagna
This easy take on a Passover classic is sure to become a family favorite.
Sonya Sanford
This story originally appeared on The Nosher. Once you’re halfway into Passover, and the leftovers from seder are long gone, do you find yourself craving something that
will scratch the itch for doughy bread and silky pasta? That’s when it’s time to whip up a matzah lasagna, or “matzagna” as it’s more lovingly called. While the dish’s exact origins are unknown (although it’s likely an Italian Jewish creation), matzah lasagna strongly resembles Sephardic mina, a popular Passover matzah pie made with layers of cooked spinach and melty cheese.
Every family has their distinct way of preparing matzah lasagna; some insist on including cottage cheese in lieu of ricotta, others rely on torn fresh mozzarella instead of shredded, and some swear that it’s essential to soak your matzah before you assemble the lasagna. So, what makes this matzah lasagna different from all the other matzagnas?
This recipe simplifies as many steps as possible by utilizing prepared ingredients, while leaving room to customize and personalize your matzah lasagna. While the ingredient list is short and simple, there are a few musts to maximize flavor. Basil and thyme added to the ricotta mixture offer a fresh, punchy, herbaceous note, and the sharp cheddar combined with mozzarella heightens the savoriness and depth. And it may seem like you’re adding a huge amount of ricotta, but trust the process because matzah is more drying than a noodle and
requires a heftier amount of filling. If you’re feeling ambitious, you can even go the extra mile and make your ricotta and marinara from scratch. Sometimes, I also like to add in a layer of sauteed spinach or mushroom for a dose of fiber and nutrition.
Layered together and baked until browned and bubbly, matzagna is impossible to resist. Serving it to my family, my niece took one bite and enthusiastically exclaimed: “This tastes just like pizza!” followed by a request for seconds. Matzah lasagna is guaranteed to satisfy the kid in all of us.
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: Serves 6-8
Ingredients
• 6–7 sheets matzah
• 3 ½ cups (1 jar/25 oz) marinara or your favorite tomato sauce
• 2 (16 oz) containers whole-milk ricotta
• 1 cup chopped basil + more for garnish
• 4–5 sprigs thyme, leaves removed from stems, about 2 tsp
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp black pepper, or to taste
• 5 cups (16 oz) shredded low-moisture mozzarella
• 1 ½ cups (5 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
• ¼ cup grated parmesan (optional)
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Add the ricotta, chopped basil, thyme, egg, salt and pepper to a bowl, and mix until just combined.
Top the matzah with 2 cups of the ricotta mixture (half of the mixture), and smooth it into an even layer with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Evenly top the ricotta with 2 cups of shredded mozzarella and ½ a cup of shredded cheddar.
4. Repeat the process by dolloping 1 cup of sauce over the shredded cheese. Top the sauce with two sheets of matzah, the remaining 2 cups of the ricotta mixture, followed by 2 cups of shredded mozzarella, and ½ a cup of shredded cheddar.
cup of cheddar. Finally, sprinkle the parmesan over the top.
6. Cover the lasagna with foil, and bake for 30 minutes covered.
7. Uncover the lasagna and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until browned and bubbly on top. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving so that the lasagna can set and hold its shape.
Notes
• This recipe requires one full jar of marinara, but if you like a saucier lasagna, add an additional cup (or a small 8 oz jar) of tomato sauce to the top of the lasagna.
3. Assemble the lasagna in a 9”x13” casserole dish that is at least 2.5”-3” deep. Start by adding 1 cup of the marinara to the bottom of the dish. Layer two sheets of matzah on the bottom, break as needed to fit them into a single layer.
5. For the last layer, top the cheese layer with two sheets of matzah, then finish it off with the remaining tomato sauce (if you enjoy a saucier lasagna, you can add an additional cup of tomato sauce over the top before you finish it off with the shredded cheeses). Add the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella and ½
• To make the lasagna ahead, bake for 30 minutes covered, remove from the oven and allow to fully cool. Refrigerate or freeze the lasagna. If refrigerated, reheat at 375°F for 15 minutes covered, and 15 uncovered; and if it’s frozen, reheat for 20 minutes covered, and 20-25 minutes uncovered.
VIRGINIA BEACH: HILLTOP EAST
NORFOLK: THE PALACE SHOPS
PASSOVER
Passover requires tons of eggs. Amid the avian flu, what’s
a
Jew to do?
Rachel Ringler (JTA) — This year, Rachel Levine is glad her family is heading to a Passover program in Arizona, departing from their tradition of hosting dozens for seders at their Manhattan home.
It’s not the cooking, the cleanup, or the wear and tear on her home that Levine is most relieved to sidestep. It’s the eggs.
In a typical year, she would buy at least 12 dozen eggs just for the first two days of the holiday — a minimum of 144 in total. This year, with avian flu decimating the egg supply, that feels like an impossible task.
“Making Pesach is always daunting, but the thought of having to do it with this egg shortage seems terrifying,” says Levine, a psychologist, mother of four and the wife of the rabbi at the Jewish Center, a Modern
Orthodox synagogue on the Upper West Side. “I usually buy at least 18 to 24 dozen eggs just for baking!”
Eggs are essential to Passover, as a symbolic food on the seder plate and an essential ingredient in cuisine limited by the holiday’s strict restrictions on leavened food. Many sponge cake recipes, for example, are made with potato starch and require a dozen or more eggs to create fluffiness.
But this year, eggs are in short supply because of the spread of avian flu, which has required producers to slaughter 150 million birds in the last two years, including 30 million since the start of 2025. As the supply of eggs has fallen, their price has skyrocketed to record levels, and many stores have set limits on how many customers can buy — if any are available at
all. Across the country, shoppers routinely find empty shelves where eggs once sat.
That poses a pressing concern for Jews preparing for Passover, which this year begins the night of April 12.
PASSOVER Happy Passover
“Aside from the symbolism, just the pragmatics – you are so limited by all the other restrictions on the holiday,” says Levine’s husband, Rabbi Yosie Levine. “To be limited by eggs, too? I don’t know what people are going to do. It’s a little crazy.”
Advance planners are already starting to come up with strategies.
Some are planning to stock up, buying eggs a dozen at a time in the leadup to the holiday. (The USDA says eggs can typically last three to five weeks after purchase if refrigerated properly.) For them, having to hunt down costly eggs — the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says they cost $5 a dozen on average, up from $2.45 a year ago — doesn’t change the Passover calculus all that much.
“So far we can still get eggs so that’s what we’ll use,” Sue Fishbain of Illinois says in an email. “Let’s face it, Pesach is SOOOO expensive anyway. If one keeps kosher, will we actually know the difference? Finding eggs in our area changes from day to day. I’ve seen empty shelves, and I’ve seen them full, with high prices, but I have always found some.”
Others are rejiggering their menus to hedge against egg availability. Katja Goldman, a chef and cookbook author in New York City, is considering taking her sponge cake off the menu and serving an egg-free dessert — perhaps something springy like rhubarb compote, strawberry sorbet and chocolate-and-nuts-covered matzo brittle.
She’s also hedging her bets by keeping a small flock of chickens at her family’s farm, Stone’s Throw Farm, in Sagaponack, Long Island — which provides a stable supply of eggs as long the birds remain healthy.
Others are turning to the array of egg-free recipes for traditional Jewish foods created in recent years amid an explosion in vegan and plant-based eating. There are “1001 ways to use egg replacements,” says Micah Siva, a dietitian and cookbook author who specializes in vegetarian Jewish food.
“When baking, I often rely on chia seeds as well as things like applesauce or if you feel comfortable, a silken tofu or even mashed potatoes if you need to bind
something,” says Siva, whose book, Nosh, includes a recipe for a vegan matzah ball that has aquafaba — the liquid byproduct of canned beans, as an ingredient. (Traditional Ashkenazi Passover rules prohibit the use of beans, but Siva’s husband is a Sephardic Jew who grew up eating such foods, known in Hebrew as kitniyot, on Passover and she has adopted his traditions.)
“There’s a nice way to meet in the middle so that instead of buying four dozen eggs, you can get by with two dozen,” she says about using more plant-based recipes. “It’s a great way to tackle this year’s cost of eggs.”
Others are just planning to make concessions to reality. Chanie Apfelbaum, a cookbook author and food influencer under the handle “Busy in Brooklyn,” says she anticipates nixing the hard-boiled eggs she typically makes in bulk and throws in her bag for outings during the holiday with her five children. This year, she says, matzah with nut butter will have to suffice.
Apfelbaum is also scouring her archives for recipes that are less egg-reliant, such as a Nutella tart with a macaroon crust. But she knows she’ll have at least one egg on the seder table.
“If there’s a shortage, there’s a shortage,” she says. “If it’s a cost thing, people will have to cut back on other things because eggs are an important part of the holiday. You need it for your seder plate. How do you get around that? Can we cut back on eggs? Yes. Can we say we are not going to use them? No.”
Indeed, it’s hard to evade eggs entirely if one wants to carry out Passover traditions. An egg is set on the seder plate, representing both the ancient Temple sacrifice and — with its roundness — the cycle of the year. Beyond that, it is customary to place bowls of hard-boiled eggs on the seder table so each participant can dip one in salted water, to remind them of the tears and suffering of the Israelites in Egypt while retelling the story of their liberation.
Rabbi Levine says it is acceptable according to Jewish law to substitute any cooked meat for the egg on the plate, since it joins the shankbone as representations of the two sacrifices that would be given during Passover in ancient Jerusalem. (Siva uses a beet and avocado pit.)
“The eggs also symbolize a mourning component that we also factor
Save on what you need for a joyous holiday.
into the seder,” Levine says. “Eggs are the food of mourning. After someone comes back from the cemetery, that first meal that we offer them are round foods like lentils or bagels or eggs. All speak to the same symbolic value which is the circle of life. There is an end and a beginning or there is no end and no beginning. We highlight that piece also.”
(Bagels are prohibited on Passover. Lentils are kitniyot, only eaten by some.)
For low-income Jews, the egg crisis is even more pressing. “I call them the poor person’s protein,” says Alexander Rappaport, executive director of the Masbia soup kitchen network in haredi Orthodox
neighborhoods of New York City. Eggs, he says, were “cheaper than any canned fish or frozen chicken.”
Surging prices have changed that calculus, he says, at least for most of the year.
“Eggs are a universal item,” he says. “In the past, it was used as filler in a recipe. You could make tuna salad with cooked eggs for filler because the eggs were cheaper than the tuna. That doesn’t make sense [now] so people will adjust. Now you can adjust your recipe, so you don’t use as much.”
But he’s not expecting any of his customers to go without eggs during Passover, when Masbia typically brings in two to three trailers of eggs — each holding
PASSOVER
18,000 dozen — to use and distribute to its customers over Passover. “We give anywhere from 15 to 30 dozen eggs per family for Passover,” Rapaport says. “Very large families of more than eight members might get more.”
This year, despite the rise in price, Masbia will still be buying and distributing eggs in bulk. “Any given haredi family goes through suitcases of eggs, not a few dozen” during the holiday, Rapaport says, adding, “In the observant world, eggs are synonymous with Passover, just like matzah.”
It’s clear that Americans will find little relief before the holiday. President Donald Trump campaigned on a vow to reduce egg prices, blaming their rise on his predecessor, but with avian flu continuing to spread — and some producers accused of taking advantage of the crisis to gouge customers — the USDA predicts that prices will rise at least another 20% this year.
“While we can’t predict the future, what we know right now is that our system is strained — and HPAI remains a clear and present risk to poultry flocks,” Emily Metz,
president and CEO of the American Egg Board wrote last month, using an acronym for highly pathogenic avian influenza. “It’s going to take a sustained period with no additional HPAI detections on egg farms to stabilize supply.”
Passover programs like the one the Levine family is joining for the eight-day holiday have the advantage of scale. Entities buying in bulk — such as restaurants, grocery stores, and hospital systems — can make use of egg brokers, longstanding middlemen in the industry who scour farms for available eggs on their clients’ behalf.
Even though Rachel Levine is sidestepping her own family’s Passover egg pressure, her anxiety about the crisis has her expecting to turn into something of an amateur egg broker herself.
“It’s not a joke!” she says about the crisis. “I told my sister-in-law that right after Purim I would start collecting eggs for her for Pesach. She has 11 kids and is hosting some family. I honestly don’t know how she’ll possibly have enough eggs.”
