.011111110111011PW.

PASSOVER

from page 43

mother's Pesach date cake, say the
Movsas children of Southfield.
Six months ago, the family moved
here from New Jersey. Tammy Movsas
is a neuro-opthalmologist at Henry
Ford Hospital in Detroit, where her
husband, Benjamin, is chairman of
the radiation oncology department.
The couple is originally from New
York, then settled in New Jersey.
Pesach was an easy drive to the
home of Benjamin's mother and
father, who still reside in Great
Neck, N.Y.
Distance isn't stopping the fami-
ly this year. The Movsases are
planning on heading back to
New York for Pesach, and that
yummy date cake is just the
beginning.
"One nice thing about
Pesach is that it usually falls at
a beautiful time of the year,"
Tammy Movsas says.
Another bonus: the chil-
dren are really happy about
the holiday, because there
has been so much prepara-
tion and excitement in
school (the four Movsas
girls attend Yeshivat Akiva
in Southfield and Hillel
Day School in Farmington Hills).
"The kids have been learning about
the holiday, and they're excited about

showing the family what they've done
and how much they've learned."
Being in New York on Pesach is a
great adventure, Tammy Movsas says.
Since so many children are out of
school, the streets are filled with Jewish
families during the middle of the holi-
day. The Movsases like to go to muse-
urns and the Queens Zoo, "where you'll
always see people eating their matzah."
But the best part: being with family.
"My in-laws love having their grand-
children all together for the seders, and
the kids love the attention they get from
their grandparents," Movsas says.
Benjamin's mother, Sonia, is a native
of England, a "phenomenal cook,"
Movsas says. "We get the best food in
the world when we're there for Pesach."
"Best food" and "Pesach" — are these
really words that can be uttered in the
same sentence?
"Yes!" Movsas insists. "My mother-in-
law makes a matzah pizza that my kids
love." She also makes unforgettable
brisket, soup, mandelbread and chicken
— and especially cakes, the date cake in
particular.
Benjamin's birthday falls during
Pesach — "another reason the holiday is
always fun," Tammy says. Benjamin's
mother makes a birthday cake and it's
not just edible, as you might suppose a
Pesach birthday cake would be, says
Tammy. "It's delicious."

Pesach At-A-Glance

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
AppleTree Editor

• What We Celebrate: Pesach in
Hebrew, Passover in English.. Pesach
means "skip over" or "pass over," and
refers to the 10th and final plague that
God brought upon Egypt, where He
killed all the first-born Egyptians but
passed over the Jewish households
(Exodus 12:21-30).

• What We Celebrate:
In part, our liberation from slavery
to the Egyptians, 3,000 years ago. On
a more profound level, the founding of
the Jewish nation and the beginning of
our relationship with God on a nation-
al level.

• Why We Celebrate:
In the Torah, God commands the
Jewish people to commemorate their
liberation from Egyptian slavery
(Exodus 12: 14-19).

4/21

2005

44

• When We Celebrate:
On the Jewish calendar, 14-22
Nisan. On the secular calendar, Pesach
begins this year at sundown Saturday,
April 23. Most Jews observe an eight-
day holiday, while some celebrate for
seven days. In Israel, the holiday lasts
for seven days: Sunday and Monday
(April 24 and 25), and Saturday and
Sunday (April 30 and May 1) are full
holidays when no work is permitted.
The intervening days are semi-holidays
when work is allowed.

• How We Celebrate:
With prayer, discussion and plenty
of food. Special prayers are recited at
all services for the entire holiday. In
observance of the Torah command-
ment, "You shall tell your child"
(Exodus 13:8), we gather with family
and friends to hold a unique com-
memorative meal called a seder
("order").
The seder menu includes foods
intended to arouse curiosity from the

children and discussion
among everyone on the
many subjects that
revolve around Pesach:
Jewish identity, our rela-
tionship with God, the
actual events of the
Exodus from Egypt, our
life in Egypt before our lib-
eration, miracles, etc.

• Rules And Regulations:
There are many, most of
which are concerned with
food. On Pesach, we do not eat any
foods that are leavened or contain leav-
ening (such as yeast). This includes
bread and other items made from
dough or batter, most foods and bever-
ages made from grain, and anything
edible that even might contain any
amount of anything leavened.
All food for Pesach is certified as
kosher for Passover (kosher l'Pesach) or
is beyond suspicion of containing any
leaven. Instead of bread, we eat

matzah, either
plain by itself or
prepared with
other ingredients
to make a vari-
ety of dishes.

• Read All
About It:
Two new
Pesach books
have just
been published, both
targeted to different age groups, both
very good.

Had Gadya: A Passover Song
($16.95), with paintings by Seymour
Chwast, is published by Roaring Brook
Press of Brookfield, Conn., and is writ-
ten for younger children. The book is
simply the telling of the famous Had
Gadya, often sung by whoever is still
awake at the end of the seder, so the
story is nothing new.
What is new, and absolutely delight-
ful, is the art. Chwast says he was