CENTER SERVES UP LESSONS ON PASSOVER : RABBI MIXES MATZAH WITH JEWISH PRIDE.

Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer

Flour flew, rolling pins pounded and hands kneaded as elementary school children turned balls of flour and water into thin, round matzah this week as part of a hands-on lesson about Passover.

Within minutes, the children faced a few problems. The dough stuck to the table. They couldn't get a good shape. And it was much more fun to slide around on the flour-covered floor.

Eventually, their creations went into a portable pizza oven, set up for two weeks in the Westlake Village office of Chabad of the Conejo, producing wafer-thin bread they could proudly say they made themselves.

``It's a little hard to make,'' said Liat Gorodenzik, 8. ``You need flour to do it and you have to keep patting it down. And sometimes it sticks.''

``It's pretty good - like bread,'' said 11-year-old Leetal Picker. ``It's cool.''

Chabad of the Conejo, with the help of the Council on Jewish Life, is providing the hands-on lessons as a way of making the Passover holiday more relevant to children, said Rabbi Yisroel Levine.

``Months later, they remember this. They remember making this,'' Levine said. ``We want them to feel their Jewish pride. It's the holidays that have kept our religion alive.''

Since Tuesday, Levine has given the Model Matzah Bakery workshops three times a day.

``Just think - this, three times a day. Just me,'' said Levine, while children crowded around as he pulled the baked matzah out of the oven. ``Who made Georgia?'' he asked the group, looking at an odd-shape piece of bread.

The workshops will continue until April 10, and anyone from the public is invited to visit the Matzah Bakery on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Willow Elementary School, 29026 Laro Drive, Agoura Hills.

The 40 students from Alonim Hebrew School in Agoura who visited Tuesday afternoon didn't get to grab the dough and rolling pins until they received a quick lesson about Passover.

Passover, which will begin at sundown April 21 and will last until sundown April 29, celebrates the Jews' freedom from slavery in Egypt 3,300 years ago. They escaped to the desert, where they stayed with only the uncooked dough, which became matzah, and no water, until God delivered the Torah.

Levine explained that Jews went to Egypt after the king promised to pay them if they helped build a city. They signed a contract and began working, but never got paid, he said.

This part of the story caused problems for 9-year-old Tom Kuperman, who immediately interrupted by waving his arm.

``How did they actually sign a contract if they didn't have pens back then?'' Tom wanted to know.

``They chiseled it,'' Levine told him, but it wasn't a satisfactory answer for Tom.

``OK, OK, they didn't actually sign. But they had an agreement,'' Levine said.

The Jews ended up enslaved for 210 years until God brought the 10 plagues against the Egyptians, allowing them to flee, Levine said.

``What did the women do when they were told, `We have to go, we have to leave?' '' Levine said. ``They said, `We have to pack, we need food.' They put flour and water together and then it was time to go. The dough cooked in the desert sun.''

The story about the quick departure into the desert is more than one about adventure, Levine said.

``It showed so much of their faith,'' Levine said. ``They went into the desert with no water and no food because they trusted God.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--Color only in Simi edition) Rabbi Yisroel Levine flips some matzah as kids watch during a Model Matzah Bakery-Passover lesson at The Chabad of the Conejo's Westlake Village offices Wednesday.

(2-3--Ran in Conejo edition only) At left, kids knead and roll dough in preparation for the oven. The youngsters learned about the holiday of Passover as they tried to keep their dough from getting too sticky. Shanee Aziz, 7, shares matzah she made herself with her mother, Orli.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News