Baltimore Jewish Community Marks Passover With Chametz Burning at New Location

Frank Storch spent the morning of April 1 watching cars line up along Reisterstown Road in Northwest Baltimore, a sight two decades in the making. For the first time since the early 2000s, the city's community-wide chametz burning had left its longtime home at Pimlico Race Course, displaced by ongoing construction at the racetrack. Storch, who organized the event through Project Ezra of Greater Baltimore, helped anchor the ceremony at Reisterstown Road Plaza, where thousands of families cycled through over a four-hour window before the morning's religious deadlines closed.

For neighbors unfamiliar with the tradition, chametz refers to any leavened food product, including bread, pasta, cereal, and crackers, that Jewish law prohibits during Passover. Before the holiday begins, observant Jewish families search their homes for any remaining chametz and bring it to a communal fire to be destroyed. The ritual, known as biyur chametz, is both a religious obligation and a public gathering that has pulled congregants from multiple synagogues across Baltimore's Northwest neighborhoods for generations. Passover began at sundown on April 2, commemorating the biblical exodus from Egypt.

The timing was precise. Religious authorities set the latest time to eat chametz at 10:29 a.m. and the final deadline for disposal at 11:42 a.m., meaning early arrival was more than just courteous.

Arranging a permitted public fire at a new site required coordination across six city agencies. Councilman Yitzy Schleifer, whose district includes the Plaza, worked with Dr. Bert Miller and the Project Ezra team to secure the location. The Baltimore City Fire Department, Baltimore City Police Department, Department of Public Works, Department of Transportation, the Sheriff's Office, and the Mayor's Office of Community Affairs each provided support, managing crowd flow, safety, and permitting.

A parallel burning, organized by Beth Tfiloh Congregation, took place at the Pikesville Volunteer Fire Company station at 40 East Sudbrook Lane in Baltimore County, drawing dozens of additional participants from the broader region.

Storch said organizers plan to return the main event to Pimlico in 2027, when construction at the racetrack is expected to be complete. The 2026 relocation to Reisterstown Road Plaza, a Northwest Baltimore landmark currently undergoing a $15 million revitalization of its own, provided an impromptu proof of concept: with enough civic coordination, one of Baltimore's most distinctive annual rituals can find a new address without losing its footing.