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Passover Preparation

Get in the mood with new products and help for the holiday.

SheIli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer

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assover is right around the corner. If you haven't
started preparing for the holiday, which starts at
sundown April 2, here are some suggestions for
downloadable Haggadot from the Internet, new kosher-
for-Passover foods and a Passover hotline for those ques-
tions you simply must have answered.

Computer To Seder
By combining the old with the new, Telling The Story: A
Passover Haggadah Explained gives background on the
spiritual origins of holiday traditions and also can be
downloaded for use at the seder.

Other downloadable Haggadot:

•hagada.com: Stays close to traditional in form and
content with concise explanations, written and edited
by Rabbi Bill Blank of Sacramento. One time $18
charge.
•modernhaggadah.com: Haggadah for Jews and
Buddhists by Elizabeth Pearce-Glassheim. Links the
Haggadah reading with Buddhist concepts. $15 per
copy. (Mailable print editions also available at $15 per
copy.)
•chabad.org: Chabad's fully illustrated Orthodox
Haggadah
•www.scheinerman.net/Judaism: A Haggadah
for families with young children by Rabbi Amy
Scheinerman of the Conservative Beth Shalom in
Westminster, Md.
•machar.org/Passover.html: From Machar, a
Washington, D.C.-based Secular Humanistic congre-
gation, featuring seder steps, Hebrew songs and bibli-
cal quotations, without the use of God.
•rhnisrael.net/who-sits-with-us-at-our-seder: The
Hebrew or English Haggadah supplement on economic
justice from the Rabbis for Human Rights deals with
human rights issues like housing rights, poverty, inden-
tured servants and slave trade.
•www.jewishfreeware.org/downloads: Rabbi Barry
Dov Lerner's traditional,156-page Jewish Family
Education Haggadah
•www.accessibility.uscjhost.net/beta/
acknowledgements.html: The Conservative movement's
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism download-
able audio Haggadah for the visually impaired
•ccarnet.org/publications/haggadah: The Reform
movement's Central Conference of American Rabbis'
"The Open Door" Haggadah.
•www.shalom-bayit.org/haggadah.shtml: Haggadah
insert by the San Francisco-based Shalom Bayit, a
Jewish agency for abused women, to be used as an
adjunct or in place of the 10 plagues.
Jewish News Weekly of Northern California contrib-
uted to this story.

Passover Eating

From beverages to candy and condiments to soup,
each year more and more kosher for Passover foods
become available. Foods newly certified by the
Orthodox Union for use on Passover:

44

March 22 2007

The mostly English, 32-page Haggadah
and also follow the Torah commandment
by Barry Louis Polisar includes phonetic
to 'tell the story," Polisar said.
pronunciations and English translations of
His hope is for those who use the
Hebrew blessings. It explains each ritual in a
Haggadah "to be encouraged to add their
straightforward way, and features full-color
A Pa:•,sover 't agyadah.
own traditions and make this story a liv-
illustrations by Polisar's daughter, Sierra
ing one that evolves and becomes more
Hannah Polisar.
meaningful each year."
A musician who has been recording
To download Telling The Story: A
songs for children for 30 years, Polisar is
Passover Haggadah Explained at no
a four-time Parents' Choice Award win-
charge, or to order a print copy of the
ner, author of numerous children's books,
Haggadah at $7.95, access the Web site at:
poems and stories and starred in an Emmy
www.barrylou.com/books/TellingTheStory.
Award-winning television show for children.
html.
"I felt there was a need for a simple, basic Haggadah
Haggadot may also be ordered by calling, (301) 384-
that would keep with the traditional order of the night
9207.

• Manischewitz: whole wheat matzah, matzah farfel,
sparkling concord and Niagara grape juice, frozen
pizza, Cocoa Crunch, Fruity Magic and Sunny 0's (with-
out matzah meal), reduced-sugar macaroons, sugar-
free biscotti, sugar-free macaroons and sugar-free
cookies, parve ice cream and ices
•Kedem: shmurah matzah produced by the Savion
label, pomegranate juice, pomogrape juice,
•Cabot Creamery cheddar cheese (not cholev
Yisroel)
•Kineret: expanded line of cakes and cookies, new
line of ready-to-eat soup in a bowl items
•Gefen cake mixes (without
matzah meal)
•Bartenura amaretti cookies
(made from almond flour with-
out matzah meal), grapeseed oil
•Oppenheimer Candy of
Jerusalem's full line of chocolate
items
•Fireman's Frenzy, Savion's new
line of sauces
•Elite: Milk and White Chocolate Spread, Mini
Chocolate Assortment, Splendid Milk Chocolate &
Splendid Milk Chocolate with Caramelized Almonds
candy bars
For more OU-certified Passover items and other
Passover-related information, see www.oupassover.org .

Passover Hotline

For Passover-related questions ranging from how to
replace an animal bone on a vegetarian's seder plate
to taking medications or feeding a pet, staff at the
"Operation Pesach" information hotline probably can
help.
Sponsored by the Union for Traditional Judaism
(UTJ) and Morashah, the UTJ rabbinic fellowship, the
toll-free hotline will operate from Monday, March 26,
through Friday, March 30.
"The Passover holiday is often perceived as very
complicated," said Rabbi Ronald D. Price, UTJ execu-
tive vice president. "People run to hotels as far away
as Tahiti to avoid the hassle. Operation Pesach takes
some of the mystery out of the holiday preparation,
and helps people bring Passover into their home for a
hands-on, joyous experience".
Calls will be answered by rabbis, lay leaders and

the editor of the Kosher Nexus, a national kashrut
newsletter and daily blog published by the UTJ. After
hours, recorded messages will be taken and returned.
Last year, the hotline, which was established in 1985,
answered hundreds of calls from individuals in 42
states. The New Jersey-based UTJ is a trans-denomi-
national education and outreach organization that
supports and encourages traditional Jewish practice
among individuals, congregations, institutions, schol-
ars and religious leaders across the spectrum of the
Jewish community.
To contact the hotline, call (888) 628-9241 or send
an e-mail to operationpassover@utj.org .

Singing At The Seder

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or those who recognize
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a beneficial learning tool.
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"Pesach's Greatest Hits:'
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recorded by author and
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educator Rabbi Chayim B.
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Alevsky, includes 14 seder
standards like "Dayenu" and the
"Four Questions."
A brief explanatory introduction precedes each song,
sung by Rabbi Alevsky, with upbeat, fun musical accom-
paniment.
The CD was created after a suggestion by Rivkah
Block, the director of the Chabad Hebrew School in
Plano, Texas.
"I realized that our teachers would not have enough
time to teach the children all about Passover, as well as
familiarize them with the "Mah Nishtana" and other
songs," Block said. "Knowing Rabbi Alevsky's love of
music, I asked him to record the CD for our Hebrew
school students so they can learn and practice the songs
on their own time."
Rabbi Alevsky discovered the CD is helpful for
adults, too.
To listen to a sampling from the CD, view the song list
and lyrics, or order "Pesach's Greatest Hits',' access the
Web site at: www.ToolsforTorah.com or call (203) 887-
6044. Cost is $5.

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