Since 2002, the Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk has been home to one of the most important matzah factories in the former Soviet Union. Despite the looming threat of Russian invasion, its ovens are still running. Dovid Margolin explains the historical significance of matzah baking for post-Soviet Jewry:

For generations, matzah baking in the Soviet Union was a hidden, secretive affair. . . . Nevertheless, from the onset of Communist rule in the early 1920s until the regime’s demise in 1991, matzah remained a [Passover] staple for millions of Jews in the Soviet Union. Whether baked in the relative privacy of home or purchased at the local synagogue in exchange for government rations, matzah remained one of the last connections to Judaism [for many Soviet Jews]. . . .

During Soviet times, Jews living in smaller cities and settlements were unable to bake their own matzah, and therefore had to receive shipments from bigger cities such as Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. After the breakup of the Soviet Union and the independence of its republics, these shipments continued; Dnepropetrovsk for years received its matzah from Moscow. When it began baking its own matzahs in 2002, it naturally exported them to Russia for sale.

Today, that is no longer possible. Matzah production may not have been affected by the ongoing war between Ukraine and [Russian-backed] rebel forces a few hundred kilometers to the east, but there has been a breakdown in trade relations between Russia and Ukraine as a result of [the war]. That means that while Ukrainian matzah is shipped around the world, this year it will not be available for Passover use just across the border in Russia. . . .

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.