is°

Passover Traditions
Are Explained

WOMEN'S
STUDY RETREAT

_1

"EXPLORING
KEDUSHA"

OM NOGG SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

T

he obligation of Jewish
parents at Passover is
clear.
"And you shall tell thy
son on that day, saying, It is be-
cause of that which the Lord did
for me when I came forth from
Egypt." In other words, we are
duty bound to tell the Exodus sto-
ry to our children.
Ideally, children should both
hear about the departure from
Egypt and also participate in the
seder with great and sustained
enthusiasm. now, this isn't easy,
since most youngsters figure the
seder has, maybe, three high
points — the Four Questions, the
Afikomen hunt and the moment
when we finally (finally being the
operative word) sing Chad
Gadya.
Between these parts of the
seder, most kids fidget, yawn
and/or cry and it's been like this
for ages. it is said that even Rab-
bi Akiba had to "buy" the atten-
tion of the children at his seders
by giving them dried ears of corn
to play with.
Yes. Keeping kids interested
and awake during the seder is
tough. But let's face it. Keeping
adults from nodding off is no
cinch, either. After all, the Exo-
dus story is the same every year.
The seder menu rarely varies.
And, since Passover is usually a
family affair, even the faces
around the table don't change
much — although birth/death/
marriage/divorce or new friends
can alter the scenery a bit.
So how do we keep our seders
from becoming totally pre-
dictable? What should we do if
we start "losing our audience," so
to speak?
We should, in a word, speak!
During the year, according to
the rabbis, it's a virtue to say lit-
tle and do much. But on Passover
it's a virtue to talk at length about
the historic events we're com-
memorating. And so, here comes
some Passover commentary.
(Hopefully, it will help open the
eyes — literally and figurative-
ly — of your Seder guests.) Speak
about any or all, as needed...
* HaLachma Anya, the main
reading of the Haggadah which
declares, "Let all who are hungry
come and eat...", is written in
Aramaic. Why? According to tra-
dition, demons understand He-
brew, so this open invitation to
the Passover meal was written
in Aramaic (which demons don't
understand) to prevent the little
imps from joining our seders.
* The preferred way to dispose
of chometz is by burning. but, it

may also be crushed and thrown
into the sea or scattered to the
winds. Under no circumstance
may you dispose of chometz by
feeding it to your pets. You may,
however, flush it down the toi-
let — which could result in the
Roto-Rooter man joining your
seder, whether he knows Ara-
maic or not.
* Save a piece of Afikomen. It
will insure easy childbirth, pro-
tect against fires and (if kept for
seven years) prevent floods. Or,
toss a piece of Afikomen in the
sea and you'll have a calm cruise
since it is written, "For He hath
delivered me out of trouble" and
the first letters of those words (in
Hebrew) spell matzah!
* Haggadah art often shows
the Four Sons in professions that
"match" their personalities. The
wise son usually has a beard and
a book. The wicked son is drawn
as a soldier, a boxer or a clean-
shaven businessman with a cig-
arette! The son who knows not
how to ask is seen admiring him-
self in a mirror. And one Hag-
gadah, to illustrate "this bitter
herb", shows a man pointing at
his wife!
*Why do we drink four glass-
es of wine at the seder? Because
the Jews, while in Egypt, did four
virtuous acts. They kept their He-
brew names, kept the Hebrew
language, stayed moral and told
only the truth. By the way, even
a teetotaler must drink four
glasses of wine. One R. Judah did
so, and then had to "tie his tem-
ples until Sukkot." (Surely this
must be the longest hangover
mentioned in the Talmud.)
* Why are apples the main in-
gredient in charoset? Because the
Israelite women, while in Egypt,
gave birth to their babies in ap-
ple orchards. They chose the ap-
ple tree because only after the
tree has born fruit do the leaves
grow to protect the fruit. 'We will
do the same," said the women.
'We will bear our children under
the apple trees, and God will pro-
tect our children and redeem
them."
And here we are, back with the
kids! Which makes sense consid-
ering how pivotal children are to
the Passover story.
• Remember. Pharaoh offered to
free the Jews if they would leave
their children in Egypt. But
Moses insisted, 'With our young
and our old we will go." And then,
when the wandering ended, the
older Israelites had to stay be-
hind in the desert. Only their chil-
dren were allowed to enter the
Promised Land. ❑

ROSH 040DM IYAR 5755
SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 1995

Jtt -JPM, OAK PARK

$50 ❖ 12:30 PM - 8:30 PM

To register call Nancy Kaplan

or Sandy Loeffler at (810) 354-1050.

Co-sponsored hy: Jewish Community Center of Metro Detroit, Women's League

for Conservative Judaism-Michigan Branch, Woman's Auxiliary of the United

Hebrew Schools, Greater Detroit Chapter of Hadassah, Sisterhood of Adat Shalom

S ynagogue, Sisterhood of Congregation Beth Shalom, Sisterhood of Temple Beth

El, Sisterhood of Temple Emanu-El, Sisterhood of Temple

Israel and Temple Israel.

Midrasha is a division of the Agency for Jewish Education.

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