Some People Eat Matzot in The Most Awesome Places

Question:

Where are these young women eating their matzot?


Answer:

Ibiza.

Running On Matza

Most Boston Marathon runners will participate in the tried-and-true practice of loading up on carbohydrates before Monday’s race. But some runners will defer to a much holier practice this year and replace their bread and pasta with matzo and potatoes.

The marathon falls on the second day of the Jewish holiday of Passover, when eating leavened bread is forbidden for eight days because of dietary rules.

For many runners used to filling up with carbohydrates in the days before a race, exactly what to eat, and not eat, to perform optimally and still obey the rules of Passover is somewhat vexing.

“We’re carb loading on matzo,” said Rabbi Jonah Pesner, who is running his first marathon.

Pesner and his wife, who are running the race for an autism-research charity, are having a Seder Sunday night with side dishes like potatoes and matzo ball soup, which has the sodium that runners need.

“This is my first marathon, so this was a total divine connection,” Pesner said. “I decided to run my first marathon, looked at the calendar, and it happened to be Passover.”

...Marc Chalufour, a spokesman for the marathon, said the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the race, will provide matzo at its traditional Sunday night pasta dinner. There will be salad and other offerings.

The marathon is always run on the third Monday in April, Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts, so conflicts happen.

“With Boston pegged as the third Monday of April every year, this is unfortunately an inevitability for us,” Chalufour said. “It’s certainly not the first time, and it certainly won’t be the last.”

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Interesting Stats

Newark does not instantly evoke images of Kosher Central, but a warehouse district on the city’s outskirts has been the home of Manischewitz’s core production since it consolidated three plants into one in 2006. And all those seemingly nontraditional products reflect the way kosher food has become a growth area in a country whose Jewish population is more or less stagnant.

The company says there are now 86,000 kosher-certified products, the market is growing between 10 and 15 percent annually, and more than 14,000 new kosher products have been introduced in the United States and Canada over the last five years.

Non-Jews make up the market’s fastest-growing segment, the company says...

...matzo baked in a separate one with its 150-foot, three-zone tunnel oven churning out almost a thousand matzos a minute.

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