An old Jerusalem story tells of a Jew who invited a friend for Passover dinner and hosted him lavishly — in his kitchen. During dinner, the guest questioned his host discreetly as to why the festive dinner was not being served in the dining room. The dining room, the host explained, was filled to capacity with sacks of potatoes.

The story illustrates the amusing, sometimes absurd situation that precedes the Passover holiday every year in April, when the homes of many needy families are filled to overflowing with massive amounts of food products donated to help them celebrate the seven-day holiday.

“Kimcha DePischa” (Aramaic for “flour for Passover”) is an ancient Jewish tradition dating to Talmudic times of giving out food to the poor to help them celebrate Passover with dignity. The mitzvah (commandment) of extra charity also applies to other holidays, such as Purim, Sukkot and Rosh Hashana (Jewish new year), but in recent years it seems that aiding the poor on Passover is more than just a mitzvah. The tradition has turned into a massive charitable enterprise handing out hundreds of millions of shekels in (relatively) unprecedented quantities of food and assistance. On Passover, by the way, food is also distributed to those not strictly defined as “poor” but to any family that is unable to comfortably celebrate the holiday.

Many organizations throughout the country say that Kimcha DePischa is their largest outlay of the year. Yad Eliezer, for example, considered a relatively large charitable organization, has a Passover budget of 15 million Israeli shekels ($4 million). Dozens of other local, communal or regional organizations operate countrywide, distributing food baskets and vouchers for electrical appliances, clothing, eyeglasses, household products and more.