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Sempliner ost Jews of Ashkenazi background, informal surveys reveal, would find the celebration of Passover, Sephardic style, a to- tally unfamiliar experience. Although Sephardim, narrow- ly defined as Jews whose ances- tors lived in medieval Spain and Portugal, never differed from the Ashkenazim regarding basic tenets of Judaism—both credit the Babylonian Talmud as the ul- timate authority,there are nu- merous distinctions concerning the interpretation of law, cus- toms, rituals and the culinary arts. For starters at the seder, for- get about the traditional gefilte fish and the fluffy, featherweight kneidlach or matzah balls. They are virtually unknown to our Sephardic brethren. Marcella, from Alexandria, Egypt, points out that even their charoses—the symbol for mor- tar—is not the same. "We use dates and raisins, nuts and wine, never apples. Instead of horse- radish for the maror, which re- minds us of the bitterness of slavery our ancestors were forced to endure, we have shredded leaves of romaine or endive. Rather than roasted shankbone, symbol of the sacrifice offered to God, we use a roasted veal shoul- der, actually two pieces that are connected. For the karpas, signi- fying springtime, we dip celery in vinegar and water. The tray with the symbolic food is passed over our heads three times. We always have rice, not eaten by Ashke- nasim. We save the egg for the next day to eat. "Dessert is some type of white cake, to represent light and brightness, never chocolate. With the cake we serve a jam from ground almonds and coconut, cooked with sugar and water." Asked about the reward for those finding the afikomen, the three matzot placed together to indi- cate the unity of the Jewish peo- ple", Marcella said, "I never heard of giving money. They win; that's all." Michael Azose, rabbi of a Sephardic congregation, clears up some of the controversy per- taining to what is appropriate, since one group looks upon cer- tain foods to be a violation of Passover laws while the other does not. "Sephardim follow the codifi- cation of Rabbi Joseph Caro, who came from Turkey to Safad in the 16th century and presented a more liberal and permissive in- terpretation of religious law. The Ashkenazim accepted the rules and customs of the eminent rab- bi and codifier Moses Isserles, a contemporary of Caro, who lived in Krakow, Poland. Thus there have been departures in certain observances and detail. It was a halachic decision to abstain from legumes during Passover because in powdered form they resembled the forbidden grain. Sephardim are allowed to eat legumes, as long as they are fresh and not dried." There is an additional reason for the ban on legumes, Rabbi Azose explains. "Because the rules governing Passover are very stringent, it is possible that at the market the scoops in the recep- tacles might have been contami- nated or touched by a banned particle." The rabbi, whose par- ents were born in Turkey, notes that in Israel the rice is checked three times to ensure it didn't come in contact with the prohib- ited grain. As for the Sephardim not us- ing horseradish, Rabbi Azose re- flects that "our rabbinic sources felt that horseradish was not bit- ter, but extremely sharp. More- over, it is difficult to fulfill one's obligation of eating the proper amount, since it is so strong." Al- luding to symbolism of the shoul- der, the Zeroa, "God mentions taking the Israelites out of Egypt with outstretched arm. Thus the significance." Rabbi Azose concedes there is a cross-pollenization of customs that have trickled down to the Sephardim here. "Nevertheless, there are still differences, in food and customs," he indicates. "The Ashkenasim say a prayer over every one of the four cups of wine. We say a prayer only for the Kid- dish and the blessing following grace after meals. And we sing both in Hebrew and Ladino. (A linguistic blend largely of Castil- ian Spanish and Hebrew.) We lift up the tray at appropriate inter- vals during the service. Mainly, we learn through re-living the ex- odus experience." A Conservative rabbi, Victor Mirelman, whose maternal lin- eage is Sephardic—his mother came from Turkey—acknowl- edges that differences are chiefly in food and song. "Customs vary from community to community," he suggests. "Some were more lib- eral in regard to legumes." In his own family, they didn't pass the tray containing symbols of the service, but many friends did. They, too, sang in Ladino as well PASSOVER page 110 /\ „_/