ISRAEL: Who moved my chocolate sandwich?

Nearly 100 tons of chocolate spread were stolen Monday night from a factory in Haifa, in northern Israel. And it wasn't just any chocolate spread.

It was 'Ha'Shahar Ha'Oleh' (in Hebrew, 'the rising dawn'), beloved by kids and the local equivalent of the peanut butter and jelly. It is believed to make its way to Israeli schools on one out of two sandwiches daily.

At any given time, the 50-year-old secret formula is known to only two people in the unassuming family business (assumed, nonetheless, to earn $10 million annually from this single product). For hundreds of thousands of Israelis long past their school days, its taste amounts to a collective memory of childhood. It travels around the world with expats and is considered near-medicinal for serious cases of the munchies. Nutritional value? Not really. Anyone care? Nah.

Local websites reported that the sweet spread had been earmarked for marketing for Passover, during which leavening-deprived Israelis heavily indulge in Matza with a generous coat of the stuff. If the factory doesn't step up production to make up for lost production, well, the holiday just may not be the same this year.

— Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem