Matzah. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – Despite the difficulties associated with overcoming the coronavirus pandemic, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress delivered tons of matzah to the Jewish communities of the Euro-Asian region enabling Jews in India, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and Uzbekistan to have matzah at their upcoming Passover seders.

On Sunday, following negotiations with local authorities, more than 661 pounds matzah were transported from Georgia to the Jewish community in Armenia.

As part of an annual project that has operated for more than 15 years, EAJC provides matzah and other holiday essentials for needy and underprivileged members of the Jewish communities in the Euro-Asian region. This year, the project’s organizers received a record number of calls from communities experiencing more difficulty in accessing such items in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

EAJC support helped the Moscow Public Organization of former Jewish prisoners of the ghetto and Nazi concentration camps to acquire and deliver medicine, matzah and kosher-food packages. The head of the organization, Oleg Mortkovich, said that operational headquarters have already been set up, and that they remain in constant contact with the Holocaust survivors.

The Integration Project for Jewish children with disabilities in Moscow, as well as a program to assist deaf Jews, have also received matzah and kosher food as Passover gifts.

“In addition to the matzah supply, we have provided emergency financial assistance to the Jewish communities and organizations affiliated with the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress,” said president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, Dr. Michael Mirilashvili. “The world is experiencing a pandemic, and we all need to mobilize so that Jewish life in the Diaspora does not fade away.”

“In the current situation, many of our sponsors could not provide donations, and we have to take emergency measures to support those who are vulnerable—many of whom are at risk from coronavirus. In such a difficult time, people will feel that they are not alone, and that the Jewish community thinks and cares about them,” said Irina Shcherban, head of the Moscow Jewish Community House and the Association of Jewish Community Centers of the Commonwealth of Independent States.