Last Sunday, Rabbi Amy Memis-Foler stood outside a grocery store in Skokie handing out flyers advertising a food drive. Among the items she wanted were gefilte fish and macaroons — both Passover staples — as well as kosher-for-Passover oil and jelly.

“It was really exciting to watch the shopping carts fill with food,” she said. “Some people would come out with full bag-fulls of groceries to put in, some people had one item. When you add all those items up, it just filled my heart.”

Her temple, Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, donated the food to The ARK’s kosher food pantries, which serve Chicago-area Jews in need.

Passover, a holiday commemorating the story of Jews’ exodus from Egypt, will begin Friday evening, and lasts seven to eight days, depending on a person’s denomination and location. The celebration is marked by seders, or ritual dinners, on certain nights, and a number of dietary restrictions. Many Jews avoid eating leavened products and a variety of grains. Some also deep-clean their homes.

But keeping Passover isn’t always accessible, according to Marna Goldwin, The ARK’s chief executive officer.

“Keeping kosher year round is more costly, and keeping kosher at Passover time is even more so,” Goldwin said. “And then, with the rising cost of food and inflation, it’s a serious commitment for any household.”

Goldwin’s group is working to change that.

She said The ARK relies on donations from local schools and synagogues, like Beth Emet. For Passover this year, The ARK is giving out food in advance of the holiday because it will be closed during Passover itself.

The ARK also partners with Maot Chitim of Greater Chicago, an organization that gives food to Jews for holiday meals on Passover and Rosh Hashanah. On Sunday, they delivered boxes packed with Passover staples to people throughout Chicago. The ARK is also hosting seders on Friday and Saturday night, according to Goldwin.

How strictly people observe Passover varies by personal preference and religious branch. At the Chicago Rabbinical Council, an Orthodox Jewish organization that oversees kosher certifications, preparations for Passover began months ago.

Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, the kosher administrator for the council, said the group began working in November to source kosher-for-Passover food. For example, the organization had to find alcohol that doesn’t include grains like wheat or rye.

While the council mostly supervises restaurants and stores, it has also offered community events to help prepare for Passover.

Fishbane said Chicago Rabbinical Council members went to Skokie on Sunday to help purify people’s pots and pans in preparation for Passover. This involves getting rid of every speck of non-kosher-for-Passover food from kitchen supplies.

“A lot of people don’t have the facility or the ability to do it,” Fishbane said. “People just bring their pots and pans and silverware and silver goblets for the bechers for Kiddush and all that.”

During the pandemic, maintaining community accessibility to keeping kosher has been harder for some Chicago-area Jewish organizations. 

Over the past two years at Beth Emet, Memis-Foler said the group has received fewer donations because some services have been closed and attendance has been down at others. However, with Sunday’s drive at the grocery store, she said the temple received exponentially more food to donate.

“We want to enable people to fulfill the holiday of Passover by being able to have the foods they need to celebrate and not feel, ‘I can’t do this,’” Memis-Foler said.

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