What a wonderful way to dedicate the New Center! Thank you to all who came out and to all those who participated in making this a reality! Amazing Jewish music by the band, a delicious spread of Kosher sushi, desserts, strudel, salads and more. We affixed the Mezuzah and started the printing of Petaluma's first special edition Tanya!
Check out the photo gallery below!
Sunday we are having a Model Matzah Bakery, a hands-on Passover experience, taking wheat stalks, grinding them into flour, and making handmade Matzah. Educational, fun, and an amazing way to get into the Seder spirit.
Seeing this, a friend sent me some photos of a Matzah Bakery from 17 years ago. As young Yeshiva students, we traveled to Ryazan a Russian city some 4 hours away from Moscow. For the small Jewish 
community that lived there, it was a magical week that they looked forward to for months.
Many of the adults had grown up under the Soviet communist regim, when celebrating Passover in a communal setting was near impossible. As a result, the handful of children barely knew about Matzah, the Seder, or the slavery of our ancestors in Egypt. Yet, the inextinguishable Jewish flame burned brightly, curiosity apparent on these pure faces.
While the language made purchasing produce from the local bazaar more difficult and we needed a translator to do the traditional bargaining, when it came to the Jewish community, my poor Russian (I've improved since then!) hardly got in the way. Instead, as we baked Matzah with the children, hosted a kumzitz with a group of Jewish students in our Gastinitza (motel), and sat with over 140 people at our
seder celebrating freedom in a place that had much too recently only known oppression, we understood each other perfectly. As midnight approached and we sang Tumbalalaika, we communicated through the language of the soul. Together we prayed for the same future as Jews the world over at their family or community Seder table wished for, "Na sledushom gadu v'Yerusaleme" - Next Year in Jerusalem!
What I took from that special unforgettable trip, is that as wonderful as our traditions are, they are that much sweeter when shared with others. So whether you invite a coworker to join your family's Seder, or bring along a friend to Friday's Community Seder at the new Chabad Center, let's think of how we can help someone else on their journey out of a personal Egypt to true inner freedom.
ב"ה