Rakusen’s million matzot for Ukraine
RAKUSEN’S HAS been baking around the clock this week in response to an SOS to produce a million matzot for Ukraine Jews.
With the war causing severe shortages both for Jews who remain or have fled to neighbouring countries, the Orthodox Union asked the London Beth Din’s kashrus division, KLBD, if it could work with Rakusen’s to produce an extra run of kosher l’Pesach matzot.
Rakusen’s has organised shifts through the night at its Leeds base to meet the order of some 70,000 boxes, equating to around a million matzot.
They will be distributed to Ukrainian and other Eastern European communities by the Orthodox Union, Vaad Hatzalah and Chabad emissaries.
Rakusen’s has had to purchase huge quantities of extra flour and packaging for the boxes and arrange additional staffing, the cost of which has been covered by the OU and VH.
KLBD supervision has been overseen through the company’s kashrut director, Rabbi Moshe Royde, who has hired additional supervisors and the goal is to complete the order by Friday.
The OU’s Simon Taylor said: “We knew we had to procure 20 tons of matzah for Pesach. We picked up the phone to KLBD in London to ask if they could help and Rakusen’s stepped up to the challenge and couldn’t have been more helpful. Otherwise, I simply don’t know if we would have been able to do this in time.”
Rakusen’s managing director Andrew Simpson added that “what the team in the factory have done in just a few days is unbelievable.
“I’ve worked in the food industry for nearly 40 years — to put on an extra shift to work around the clock is extremely difficult but we had no hesitation in saying yes and that’s down to the commitment and dedication of the team and KLBD.
“We knew that if we didn’t step up, people in Ukraine and beyond would not have matzah this year. Without my colleagues in the factory willing us to do it and finding a way to do it,
We knew that if we didn’t step up, they would not have matzah
it wouldn’t have happened.”
Rabbi Royde explained that “Rakusen’s finished their main kosher l’Pesach matzah run two weeks ago.
“But given the huge suffering in Ukraine, we knew we had to help out to ensure Jewish refugees and those still in Ukraine have matzah for Pesach.
“Despite the huge time pressure, we have managed to achieve a very high standard of production. We have also been able to label each box manually so it’s clear the matzah is for Jewish refugees.
“Getting the matzot to Ukraine quickly via Budapest has also proven challenging because owing to Brexit, everything now takes longer.
“But thanks to OU, VH and Rakusen’s teams, we have managed to make all the necessary arrangements.”