Just hours before 20,000 pounds of shmurah matzah baked in Odesa, Ukraine, were to be loaded onto ships and brought to Jews in the United States, Russia commenced its war against its neighboring country. In total, some 180,000 pounds of matzah were baked in Ukraine and shipped out to America, which accounts for 15% to 20% of the number of shmurah matzos consumed in the United States. However, the final 20,000 pounds are unable to get out of the Ukrainian port. “I think the U.S. market will feel it,” Rabbi Meyer Stambler, head of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine told JTA. “I think we are probably going to have a deficit og shmurah matzah this year.” The good news is that most matzah baked abroad has already made it to the United States, lessening the risk of a severe shortage. However, with worldwide logistics snarled and gas prices rising, the end-user cost of matzah is shooting up as well, with some stores selling a pound of matzos for an eye-popping $85 a pound. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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