By Avraham Ben Avraham

Pesach, which comes once a year, is celebrated as one of the three festivals when everyone is expected to appear before Hashem as commanded in the Torah. While the Temple stood, people continued to move to Jerusalem, some traveling by caravans accompanied by their households in honor of these seasons of remembrance that would be passed on from generation to generation. Though the Temple is no longer present, and with more Jewish people living outside of Israel, our synagogues and homes have played a significant role in helping us keep these sacred traditions alive.

Uganda, in the eastern part of Africa, recently marked a century-long practice of Judaism, and is also experiencing growth in Jewish observance. This growth is evident in the opening up of new Jewish synagogues and communities in different enclaves around the country. Also, this development is occurring at a rate that surpasses that of the surrounding, closest neighboring countries in specific parameters. This is sparked by many factors, including marriages, births, and an increase in the number of new converts across the country.

The Abayudaya, meaning “the people of Judah” in the local language, are well-spread across the federation, from its headquarters in Mbale in the east to Apac in the far north, as well as in the capital of Kampala and other parts of the central regions. However, as their numbers increase, so does the challenge of navigating the corridors of living and practicing Judaism. Most of them reside in communal dwellings near each other in rural settlements, where they primarily engage in farming to grow their crops. But since the country is landlocked, it depends solely on neighboring
Kenya to source affordable Jewish products like matzah and wine for Pesach.

Challenges of Locating Pesach Food

Being an eight-day festival marked by the symbolic food of matzah instead of challah, celebrating Passover demands adequate preparation and resources. It’s a time for acquiring new utensils or ensuring the ones you have are kosher
before the festival begins. But while there’s a way of doing all this, the true difficulty lies in getting supplies for Pesach. Nonetheless, the resilience and persistence of these Jewish communities are demonstrated in their ability to celebrate the feasts yearly amidst logistical and halachic challenges.

This year, 5785/2025, as Jews around the world gathered to remember the Exodus from Egypt, Jewish communities that are spread across vast rural and semi-urban areas of Uganda were presented with familiar challenges. Chief among them was the struggle to access two essential symbols of the holiday: matzah (unleavened bread) and kosher wine, both crucial to the rituals of the seder night.

In many parts around the globe, all it takes is a trip to the supermarket if one needs to get Pesach supplies. However, in Uganda and most other African countries, the situation is different. Rarely do people manufacture kosher-for-Pesach products locally or import them in significant quantities. This has been the situation for several years, making communities either depend on different sources, stick with expensive imports, or make difficult halachic compromises.

Kulanu’s Pesach-Preparation Support

Every challenge has a solution, and, as humans, we are naturally inclined to find solutions to the problems we encounter repeatedly. Normally, everyone would have considered finding a solution for their family and community.
Fortunately, one unique individual, Sarah Nakintu, sought a solution to the “matzah drought” affecting her community of Mukono in the central region of Uganda, as well as other communities nationwide. Aside from being the founder and chairperson of the Shalom Women’s Development Network (SWODN), Sarah’s baking experience and leadership skills launched one of the first efforts to mass-produce matzah for Ugandan Jewish communities. In 2023 it was done on a small scale due to limited resources. The baking of matzah requires strict adherence to Jewish laws. It is also dependent on the use of special equipment, trained supervision, and rigorous hygiene that ought to be observed.

Recognizing these barriers, we asked Kulanu to step in. Since 1995, Kulanu has had a long- standing partnership with Ugandan Jewry, providing resources, education, financial assistance, and connections to the wider Jewish world. When the request was brought to Kulanu in 2024 for making matzah on a larger scale, Kulanu helped with what turned out to be a “test run,” with an outstanding turnout, also led by Sarah Nakintu. This year, Pesach of 5785, Kulanu did more than just provide matzah for a few. They sponsored a full-scale matzah baking operation as well as the making of kosher wine. These projects involved 22 Jewish communities representing about 95% of Uganda’s congregations.

In a historic collaboration, these 22 communities from the eastern, central, and northern parts of Uganda came together for a collective religious operation. The movement resembled a spiritual pilgrimage that saw people travel from near and very far destinations to reach the designated baking center in Mukono. Each community brought its own volunteers to take part in what felt like a national Jewish campaign. There was a tangible sense of purpose in the air as everyone joined the effort of mass matzot-baking to ensure it was widely available during the festival.

“I traveled all the way from the northern region to this place (263 km or 163 miles). Pesach has been a challenge for several years. Our financial resources are limited. Getting matzah into Apac is expensive. But, recently, Mukono has emerged as a place where we can get large quantities of matzah for our community,” Joram, beaming with excitement, told me. Jeremiah Aliro, who also hails from the northern region, shared some intriguing insights: “My community is known as Sharei Tzadek. There are now two communities in Apac — one is Conservative, and the other is Orthodox. We’re so grateful to Kulanu for their support to make sure our communities can have matzah.”

The Abayudaya “Matzah-Bake”

From further discussion, I found out that the name of their district, which used to be known as Apac in northern Uganda, has recently been changed to Kwania district; eventually the community had to change their name from Apac Jewish community to Kwania Jewish community. In fact, we had a lot to talk about, as the event was two days of non-stop matzah baking.

Two temporary baking stations were set up: one inside the building and another outside under a canopy. Each station was equipped with a set of mixing tools, a table, and a fireplace. For those baking inside, a big industrial oven powered by electricity was used, while a set of flat pans served the outdoor bakers. The pans were heated beneath by firewood, upon which the mixed, flattened, and perforated dough was placed.

Each baking session was headed by an experienced supervisor at the mixing and rolling station, and by an overall instructor moving
through all the stations to coordinate the entire process. The baking was done in a highly coordinated manner: wheat flour was measured carefully, water was stored separately and used promptly, and the clock was meticulously watched. Teams, usually made up of people from two to three synagogues, worked in rotation, ensuring that every batch was completed within an 18-minute window. While they baked, the women sang songs in Hebrew to uplift themselves and strengthen each other. This group was mostly women from the Tzyon Beit Hamitzvot Jewish Community in Mukono. They added to the overall effort of the mass baking of matzot for the rest of the communities, since the other communities were only able to bring one or two volunteers, and the hosting Mukono women outnumbered the other delegations.

Another unique aspect that the Mukono Jewish community displayed is their experience in making local kosher wine. In a smart move to avoid dependency on overseas kosher wine, their community has been making its wine for over five years. In parallel with the matzah baking, a supervised process used grapes to produce local kosher-for-Pesach wine. The supervisor was a 75-year-old grandmother and chief brewer, Yechoved Ssozi, who, along with her son and daughter, helped coordinate efforts for this historic wine-making for Pesach. And what was the result? Enough kosher wine to serve at communal seders across the country!

Live Online “Matzah-Bake” with Kulanu

On this same historical record-breaking day, Kulanu sponsored a special speakers series on Zoom anchored by Molly Levine and Rabbanit Bonita Sussman, with Rabbi Ari Greenspan as a teacher and presenter. Thirty minutes into the program, Sarah Nakintu joined as a presenter on the ground, providing live footage of the Uganda matzah baking to the international Jewish audience in real time. During her presentation, she moved through the venue, introducing the groups who were baking, and explaining the baking procedure from start to finish. You can watch the Zoom presentation here: bit.ly/MatzahBakeZoom.

Following the Zoom, which had a significant participation, it was time to take a break and have dinner. With so much left to bake, many would stay up late and continue their baking the next morning. A group led by a young chazzan in Mukono, Moshe Ben Avraham, baked until around midnight before calling it a day. In the morning, there was a Shacharit prayer, followed by breakfast, and then the matzah baking continued for the second day. The objective was to get as much matzah as possible, which would be distributed according to community sizes.

At the conclusion of a long day, their perseverance was clearly evident, as an abundant amount of hand-baked matzot was presented
before us, neatly packed in elegant white boxes piled on a table. Shortly before that, the produced wine previously stored in a big drum was carefully bottled and labeled “Shalom Wines Uganda.” Then it was time to distribute the matzot to all the Jewish communities participating in the event. From Kwania to Beth Shalom in Kampala to Luwero and Namutumba, and from the Namanyonyi Jewish community to Kawempe, two boxes of matzah and bottles of wine were given. Others include the Nasenyi and Buseta Jewish community, Nangolo, Putti, and Beit Shalom Nabweru. No doubt, with matzah and wine in hand, the seder night would come alive in various synagogues and community halls.

Across Uganda, as Shabbat ended on Saturday night, Pesach began and the rituals of the seder unfolded —sitting around tables, washing hands, eating bitter herbs, recounting the Exodus story, children asking the four questions, and singing traditional songs such as Dayenu and Avadim Hayinu. The homemade matzah was crisp and meaningful. The wine was sweet with the taste of effort and hope.

Yosef, a representative from the Namanyonyi Synagogue in Mbale who took part in the baking at Mukono, expressed: “Kulanu really gave Uganda’s Jews massive support by providing matzah, wine, some cash for festival meals, and even our transportation to Mukono.”

In Mukono, the Tzyon Beit Hamitzvot Jewish Community hosted over 70 people in a vibrant communal first seder night. How heartwarming to see the locally made wine raised joyfully for each of the four blessings, a symbol of freedom created by their own hands. Everyone dressed up in colorful outfits as they graced the occasion, seated around the table enjoying a sumptuous meal at the end. With matzah and wine in abundance, they and many others were also able to host both nights’ seders comfortably. Each
community found its rhythm, but all were united by a shared sense of purpose: the desire to be Jewish and observant.

Nevertheless, with the success of the matzah and wine projects, communities across the country are already looking ahead. There have been calls and suggestions to continue to enhance the baking to halachic standards and make it an annual event, along with training programs for youth in kosher food preparation and the beginning of local production of other Jewish essentials.

For many, baking matzah and drinking kosher wine are more than rituals — they provide a profound sense of identity. It is evident that Judaism thrives in Africa with dignity, resilience, and strength, even in the face of limited access. The Jewish communities of Uganda, with the help of Kulanu, turned logistical hardship into religious triumphs. They built bridges across synagogues, strengthening inter-communal sect relationships, and reminded the world that freedom is not just a memory — it’s a mission.