This is a photograph from 1990 of matzah production at the Aviv matzah factory in Bnei Brak. A man is standing next to the assembly line, and a worker is inspecting the matzahs. The matzahs shown in the photograph are machine-made, square, hard matzahs. These matzahs would subsequently be packaged, transported, and sold around the world for Pesach.
The company Matzot Aviv was founded in 1887 just outside Tel Aviv and was the first automated matzah factory in Israel. Since 1946, the Aviv factory has been situated in Bnei Brak, an Israeli city near Tel Aviv that is predominantly Ultra-Orthodox.
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Passover (Pesach) – Pesach, one of the three pilgrimage festivals, celebrates the freedom of the Israelites from Egypt that is described in the biblical book of Exodus. A main feature of the Pesach celebration is the Seder which is conducted in the home. The text of the Seder, as written in the Haggadah, tells the story of the Exodus with the aid of symbolic foods, songs, and discussion. As a reminder of the rushed manner in which the Israelites left Egypt, matzah (unleavened bread) is eaten during Pesach and chametz (leavened bread) is removed from the home. It is traditional to clean one’s house prior to Pesach and to perform a ceremony to remove and nullify any chametz that is in one’s possession.
