passover
On March 9, I called my friend Dovie Melnick. “I’ve been baking all day,” she said. My mouth began watering. “What have you been baking?” I asked. “Sponge cake for Passover,” she replied. “Oh,” I said. There was to be no instant gratification here.
Passover was three weeks away, with the first Seder to be Monday evening, April 2.
Dovie’s sponge cakes would be frozen and saved for this special evening, and were certainly worth waiting for. These flourless cakes contain lots of separated egg yolks and whites, which provide the leavening. Leavened products are forbidden during the eight days of Passover.
Passover, or Pesach, is the most celebrated of the Jewish holidays. It’s a family holiday, with particular meaning for Jewish identity, and it has universal themes as well. Passover is the celebration of and the telling of the story of the ancient time when the Jewish people were slaves, were led out of Egypt by Moses, spent forty years in the desert, and were delivered to the Promised Land of Israel. Among other things, it includes the ten plaques upon the Pharoah, the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, and receiving the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.
“There are many levels of Passover observance within the Jewish community,” according to Introduction to Judaism, by Rabbi Stephen J. Einstein and Lydia Kukoff. “The spectrum ranges from those Jews who simply refrain from eating leavened bread to those who use utensils and dishes completely different from those used during the rest of the year, “ it continues. Indeed, Reform Jews are more flexible in their choices of what makes a meaningful Passover observance, while Conservative and Orthodox Jews have a more prescribed and detailed form of observance. In addition, the Ashkenazi Jews (of western Europe) and the Sephardic Jews (of the Mediterranean and North Africa, who and who are often of Spanish heritage as well) approach the holiday somewhat differently. Casting out leaven represents casting out all kinds of evil and impurities in order to bring on a sense of self-renewal. Essentially this is a ‘spring cleaning’ of the home and the heart, as we create space for a better life.,
Most Jews prepare their homes in some way. This includes a thorough cleaning and ridding the home of chamets, or foods not permitted during Passover, ie. leavened bread, cakes, biscuits and crackers, cereal, and coffee substitutes made from wheat, barley, oats, rice, peas, corn, and all liquids which contain ingredients or flavorings made from grain alcohol. Leavened breads are forbidden because the Jews left Egypt in haste and couldn’t wait for dough to rise. Thus, they brought matzo, a flat unleavened bread, out of Egypt with them. For the eight days of Passover, Jews eat matzo instead of bread, and any baked goods are made from matzo meal or matzo cake flour, without leavening.
The Seder, or special Passover meal, has a definite prescribed order. ‘Order’ is the literal meaning of the word ‘seder..The books, or Haggadot, plural for Haggadah, vary greatly, but have a definite immutable core. Each is a compilation of stories, commentaries, prayers and songs, which are followed and read from over the course of the evening. Seders are held on the first two nights of Passover. Over the years I have experienced a variety of Haggadot, from the old-fashioned ones published with the support of Maxwell House coffee, to personalized loose leaf style Haggadot which included Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and other modern readings. Some have had beautiful illustrations, and others were abbreviated Xeroxed copies. The person leading the Seder chooses the readings to be included. Guests take turns and share in the reading. Some parts are in unison, and other parts are narrations of the story. Regardless, each Seder from all those evenings reminded me that I too was freed from slavery in Egypt.
I asked Dovie’s nine year old grandson Jack Melnick, a student at the Community School of Naples, what he would tell other children about Passover. “I would tell them that this was the holiday when we were freed from being slaves in Egypt. I like the Seder plate with all the different symbolic foods. From the Seders, I learn the story of Passover,” he said.
Jack’s favorite, the Seder plate, includes the following: The shank bone of a lamb – represents the Passover sacrifice, an egg –is a symbol of life, the karpas or parsley is the green of new growth and spring, charoset represents the mortar that held the bricks together, It’s typically made from grated apples, nuts, wine, and cinnamon, and sometimes dried fruits. The morar or bitter herbs represent the bitterness of slavery, and horseradish is the final ingredient on the Seder plate. Each is referred to in the telling of the Passover story.
As the story unfolds, four questions are asked by the youngest participant. They start with “why is this night different from all other nights”, and then refer to four things that children will notice, for instance, tonight we eat only unleavened bread, we eat bitter herbs, we dip twice –(greens into salt water, bitter herbs into charoset,) we recline or sit in a relaxed manner. Answers vary depending on the nature of the child. There are different answers for the wise, wicked, and simple child, and the child who does not have the capacity to ask. The lesson for adults is to be patient with all children and to share the story so that the next generation will personally feel connected, that they too were delivered from slavery. Had G-d not brought us our forefathers out of slavery, we would all be slaves today. Sometimes a fifth child is referred to, a child who didn’t live to ask the questions, who died in tragedy, as in the Holocaust.
According to Rabbi Bloom, senior rabbi at Temple Shalom of Naples, “one of the most important things is that we ask questions and that the questions are shared among everyone, between children and adults. Adults teach this is what the Lord our G-d did for me. Through the questions children become engaged and invested. The sharing of questions is the ultimate affirmation of faith.” Rabbi Bloom spoke of his
favorite Passover. “When I was a rabbinical student in Jerusalem, I once celebrated Passover in a rabbi’s home with many scholars and rabbis. We were served so many discourses and interpretations that we didn’t eat dinner until 11:30pm. We continued our questions and discussions until 6am the next day. We transcended time and place and became a part of the experience. This is what we want to accomplish – to enter the consciousness of being there. “
Several more items complete the Seder table. Elijah’s cup and Miriam’s cup, filled with wine, symbolically welcome the Prophet Elijah, and Miriam, Moses’ sister and a prophetess in her own right. During the evening, the door is opened to welcome both into the home. We are reminded to welcome the stranger, and to give of ourselves to the poor and afflicted everywhere.
The middle of three sheets of matzo is set aside as Afikoman, a Greek word meaning dessert. The afikoman it usually hidden by the leader, and the children hunt for it and turn it in to receive a reward since it’s needed to close the Seder..
Wine is a basic, and the contains prayers for four cups of wine, two before dinner and two afterward. Most people take just a few sips each time, and the cup is topped off. Sparkling grape juice can be substituted for the wine, especially for children. Dinner is served in the middle of the telling of the story. The story continues after dinner, and ends with songs and finding and eating the afikoman.
A typical Ashkenazi Seder dinner menu would include gefilte fish with horseradish, chicken soup with matzo balls, brisket or turkey, vegetables, salad, stewed fruit, sponge cake and macaroons. A typical Sephardic menu would start with poached fish, leek soup, lamb stew, artichokes, fresh fruits, and sponge or walnut cake or marzipan.
Today, Passover has universal lessons. We work toward liberating ourselves from slavery of all kinds. We remember to welcome the stranger, and to pass down our story and traditions from generation to generation, as we prepare our homes and hearts for a new season. We have the Ten Commandments as rules to live by. Gratitude is part of the Seder as well, and within the Passover story we say dayenu, or “it would have been sufficient” if G-d had ended slavery and had not performed all the other miracles related to the Exodus, and we express great thanks for all that G-d did and does for us.
Philecia Soltz, a religious school teacher at Temple Shalom, reminds her class that there are still people today “who live in chains of the soul, the heart, and the workplace, and who don’t have the freedom to pray or to live ” that we must be mindful of this and reach out to the afflicted. This is something we keep in mind all year long.
Happy Passover, Happy Easter, and Happy Spring to all our readers.
Click to read our Passover Survival Guide For Families:
