Last Sunday, Rabbi Amy Memis-Foler stood outside a grocery store in Skokie, handing out flyers advertising a food drive. Among the items she wanted were gefilte fish and macaroons — two Passover staples — as well as kosher oil and jelly for Passover.

“It was really exciting to see the shopping carts filling up with food,” she said. “Some people would come out with bags full of groceries to put in, some people only had one item. When you add all of these together, it just filled my heart.

Her temple, Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, donated the food to ARK Kosher Food Pantries, which serve Chicago-area Jews in need.

Passover, a holiday commemorating the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt, will begin Friday evening and last seven to eight days, depending on the person’s denomination and location. The celebration is marked by seders, or ritual dinners, on certain nights, and a number of dietary restrictions. Many Jews avoid eating sourdough products and a variety of grains. Some also deep clean their homes.

But keeping Passover isn’t always accessible, according to ARK chief executive Marna Goldwin.

“Keeping kosher year-round is more expensive, and keeping kosher at Passover time is even more expensive,” Goldwin said. “And then, with the rising cost of food and inflation, that’s a serious commitment for any household.”

Goldwin’s group is working to change that.

She said ARK depends on donations from local schools and synagogues, like Beth Emet. For Passover this year, the ARK is giving out food before the holidays as it will be closed during Passover itself.

ARK also partners with Maot Chitim of Greater Chicago, an organization that donates food to Jews for Passover and Rosh Hashanah holiday meals. On Sunday, they delivered boxes full of Passover staples to Chicagoans. The ARK also hosts Friday and Saturday night seders, according to Goldwin.

The rigor with which people observe the Passover varies according to personal preference and religious branch. To the Rabbinical Council of Chicago, an Orthodox Jewish organization that oversees kosher certifications, preparations for Passover began months ago.

Rabbi Sholem Fishbane, the council’s kosher administrator, said the group began work in November to source kosher food for Passover. For example, the organization had to find alcohol that didn’t contain grains like wheat or rye.

While the council primarily oversees restaurants and stores, it has also offered community events to help prepare for Passover.

Fishbane said members of the Rabbinical Council of Chicago traveled to Skokie on Sunday to help purify people’s pots and pans in preparation for Passover. This involves getting rid of every grain of non-kosher food for the Passover kitchen supplies.

“A lot of people don’t have the facility or the ability to do that,” Fishbane said. “People just bring their pots and pans and silverware and silver beakers for Kiddush beakers and all that.”

During the pandemic, maintaining community accessibility to keep kosher has been more challenging for some Chicago-area Jewish organizations.

Over the past two years at Beth Emet, Memis-Foler said the group received fewer donations because some services were closed and attendance declined at others. However, with Sunday’s walk to the grocery store, she said the temple received exponentially more food to donate.

“We want to empower people to celebrate the Passover holiday by being able to have the foods they need to celebrate and not feel, ‘I can’t do this,'” Memis-Foler said.

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