Yehoshua Matza 20 years on the Jerusalem City Council, 10 of which were in the capacity of deputy mayor. The Matza family first arrived in Palestine from Ioannina in Greece, and settled in the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem's walled Old City. Matza was born in the city during the British Mandate era. Influenced by his family's attitude, Matza joined the Jewish underground group Lehi at age 14. Of his three brothers, two were also active in the Jewish underground; one in the Haganah and the other in the Irgun. His Lehi activities included posting anti-British flyers during the night, participating in paramilitary
Passover contains an instruction to eat matzo, specifically, on the first night of Passover and to eat only unleavened bread (in practice, matzo) during the entire week of Passover. Consequently, the eating of matzo figures prominently in the Passover Seder. There are several explanations for this. The Torah says that it is because the Hebrews left Egypt with such haste that there was no time to allow baked bread to rise; thus flat, unleavened bread, matzo, is a reminder of the rapid departure of the Exodus. Other scholars teach that in the time of the Exodus, matzo was commonly baked for