MIAMI -- For many South Florida Jews, Passover is a holiday marked by spending time with family and friends, observing long held traditions and of course, eating festive food. As many sit down to their Seder meals Saturday night, one Broward organization is remembering those who struggle to put food on the table.

The Dorit & Ben J. Genet Cupboard on Sunday fed 1,100 families at their annual Passover food distribution event, with a large portion of the meals hand-delivered by volunteer drivers. In addition to traditional Passover packages, this year the organization donated 650 ready-to-eat Seder meals to the county’s most vulnerable individuals, including seniors and Holocaust survivors. The pre-cooked meals are meant to allow anyone to access a traditional kosher meal over Passover.

“If you’re a house of one or a house of two, or you’re a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor, you’re not going to cook a Passover Seder,” said Genet Cupboard operations director, Ross Adel. “It’s just as important that they get to celebrate just like anybody else.”

But, it’s not only about the food. Many of the meals are hand delivered by a volunteer and the kosher meal packages include a personal note. The personal gestures can be quite meaningful for those who have to spend the holiday alone, said Adel.

“I can’t tell you the number of phone calls we get after the holiday. ‘Thank you for just not only providing a meal, but thank you for just thinking of me on this holiday.’” he said, referring to the feedback he receives from the food pantry clients.

“More and more people today are finding themselves in a situation where they have to come and ask for food, and it’s becoming tougher and tougher out there everyday,” Adel said. Kosher food, which can be more expensive and difficult to find, adds an additional challenge.

“They’re learning about doing a ‘mitzvah’, doing a good deed, paying it back to someone who’s a little less fortunate,” said Adel. “These kids are unbelievable. They really and truly are. We can’t do any of the things that we do without all of our volunteers.”

He said that many parents will volunteer to drive and bring their high school children to volunteer alongside them. The teens, many from local Jewish day schools, are given all sorts of roles and responsibilities, from dispatching drivers to packing bags.

“The relationships that are built between the volunteers and the clients that we serve are really essentially, it’s priceless. And it does so much for both the volunteer and the clients,” Adel said.

Passover — observed from April 12 to April 20 — is one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays in America.

Passover commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt, a part of history that many see as essential to Jewish identity. It’s a story that’s shared over a Seder meal, which is a special feast that takes place over the first two nights of the holiday. Traditionally during a Seder, Jews eat matzah, or unleavened bread, bitter herbs (to represent the bitter slavery endured) and drink four cups of wine or grape juice.

Matzah, which is eaten to commemorate what the Israelites ate when they left Egypt, is an important part of Passover, as Jews avoid eating leavened grain (or Chametz) for eight days. It’s all the more reason why the Broward food pantry feels compelled to step in and provide the meals, as a way to help all Jews keep the Passover traditions alive.

“We as Jewish people, we tend to celebrate through food … And I think it’s important to tell stories through food, and so it’s important that everyone is able to have a meal all year round, most importantly, on the holidays,” Adel said.

____

This story was produced with financial support from Trish and Dan Bell and from donors comprising the South Florida Jewish and Muslim Communities, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners. The Miami Herald maintains full editorial control of this work.

____

©2025 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.