Thursday, April 7, 2011
How about some gefilte fish
A matzoh company is now following me on Twitter. I hope they're not disappointed. I did buy some matzoh today, though not theirs. Hmmmm
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Passover
A dear friend who attended my sister's funeral told me, "I just love Jewish things." Apparently, not only did the funeral impress her, the inherent Jewishness of the whole thing really touched her. I said to her, "Oh, I will have s Seder next spring." And as the calendar days have ticked away, the time has come. I texted her, "Passover at my house?" "Oh goody," was the reply.
I have not given a Seder in 22 years, and that one was the simplest of services with our Sonny Boy's God Parents, non Jews, too. It was then I learned that many Christian Churches give Seders because The Last Supper was a Seder. Our 4 month old Sonny Boy sat snuggled on his God Mother's lap as I lead the service. We read through the Haggadah, as I picked and chose my favorite parts, giving a thumbnail sketch of the Jews' life and escape from Egypt.
There was no Pesach preparation of the kitchen by scrubbing every inch of counter space, refrigerator, microwave, counters or sink. No extra laundering of tablecloths, no digging out the Passover dishes, silverware and utensils. I didn't start from scratch with the food in the frig or the cupboards. I didn't check the medicine cabinet. I didn't get rid of one crumb of chometz (non kosher ingestibles). There was no blessing before the search for chometz, no burning of the chometz, no worrying about chometz.
This year will be the same. In years passed, when I helped my mother prepare for Passover, I thought it was definitely symbolic of the slavery in Egypt. There is a way to avoid all of the work, go away for the week. I did that once with my mother and step dad. We went to Israel and had an honest to goodness Seder in Jerusalem. The service was so quick with all Hebrew, no arguing whether hard boiled eggs are really a legitimate Karpas (appetizer) no Hebrew then English. The matzoh balls were the kind that were so hard, when I went to slice it with my spoon, I thought it would catapult to the other side of the room.
In my lifetime there have always been 2 nights of Seders. I learned from my step dad that Passover has only one night in Israel because it's in the correct time zone, and there's no guessing exactly when the proper phase of the moon strikes. Which, by the way is how all Jewish holidays are discerned, by the phases of the moon.
So far, I have found a 30 minute Seder Haggadah, polished brass candle holders, and asked my cousin to sing songs and prayers for me in Hebrew to put on my ipod to play at the Seder. Two weeks and counting.
I have not given a Seder in 22 years, and that one was the simplest of services with our Sonny Boy's God Parents, non Jews, too. It was then I learned that many Christian Churches give Seders because The Last Supper was a Seder. Our 4 month old Sonny Boy sat snuggled on his God Mother's lap as I lead the service. We read through the Haggadah, as I picked and chose my favorite parts, giving a thumbnail sketch of the Jews' life and escape from Egypt.
There was no Pesach preparation of the kitchen by scrubbing every inch of counter space, refrigerator, microwave, counters or sink. No extra laundering of tablecloths, no digging out the Passover dishes, silverware and utensils. I didn't start from scratch with the food in the frig or the cupboards. I didn't check the medicine cabinet. I didn't get rid of one crumb of chometz (non kosher ingestibles). There was no blessing before the search for chometz, no burning of the chometz, no worrying about chometz.
This year will be the same. In years passed, when I helped my mother prepare for Passover, I thought it was definitely symbolic of the slavery in Egypt. There is a way to avoid all of the work, go away for the week. I did that once with my mother and step dad. We went to Israel and had an honest to goodness Seder in Jerusalem. The service was so quick with all Hebrew, no arguing whether hard boiled eggs are really a legitimate Karpas (appetizer) no Hebrew then English. The matzoh balls were the kind that were so hard, when I went to slice it with my spoon, I thought it would catapult to the other side of the room.
In my lifetime there have always been 2 nights of Seders. I learned from my step dad that Passover has only one night in Israel because it's in the correct time zone, and there's no guessing exactly when the proper phase of the moon strikes. Which, by the way is how all Jewish holidays are discerned, by the phases of the moon.
So far, I have found a 30 minute Seder Haggadah, polished brass candle holders, and asked my cousin to sing songs and prayers for me in Hebrew to put on my ipod to play at the Seder. Two weeks and counting.
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