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Passover from page 37
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kitchen. It was so wonderful to see."
And they didn't just clean the
house — but also everything in and
around it. "We would go through photo
albums and piles of old letters to make
sure there was no chametz (leaven)
— and even wash the walls," she said.
"It was all very special:'
The Kaniks continue many of
those traditions. This year, Dorit's
mother Aviva Zohar is visiting from
Jerusalem. She's helping with Passover
preparations and with her new grand-
child.
Aviva shared her memories of
Kurdish traditions. Translating her
mother's Hebrew, Dorit said, "My
mother remembers how all the girls
and women wore white Mediterranean
dresses to the seder and covered their
hair with special white cloth. They all
sat cross-legged on the floor."
Cooking together, Dorit and her
mother prepare traditional Kurdish
dishes for Passover. "She taught me to
cook in a kitchen where she and her
sister spoke Aramaic, the language
spoken by the Jews in Kurdistan:' Dorit
said.
"For Kurdish Jews, Aramaic is the
`secret' language of adults, much like
Yiddish is for Ashkenazi Jews;' Akiva
Kanik explained.
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The Jews of Kurdistan
• Kurdish Jews lived in parts of Iran, northern Iraq, Armenia, Syria and
eastern Turkey.
• Once known as Assyria and Babylon, Kurdistan may have had Jews
present since biblical times.
• Jewish Kurdish shrines include the tombs of biblical prophets and
caves said to have been visited by Elijah.
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March 29 • 2007
Among the 2,000 Sephardi Jews who
call Detroit home, many are members
of Keter Torah Synagogue in West
Bloomfield. Rabbi Michael Cohen sees
a wide variety of traditions among
his members, who come from such
countries as Algeria, France, Egypt and
Holland.
"There really are few differences
between Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardi
Jews; the areas that are different tend
to be the ones that stand out the most,
like the clothing and foods:' he said.
Most Sephardi Jews eat rice, corn
and legumes on Passover, while
Ashkenazim do not. Additionally, food
variations come from items common
to the places their ancestors lived.
Among the traditional dishes made
in the Kanik home are lamb, rice and
grape leaves stuffed with vegetables,
onion, tomato and cilantro.
"We also have kube, which is very
much uniquely Kurdish," Akiva said.
"It is a variation of kibbe. And we
include a side of greens to cleanse the
mouth after dinner."
Dorit said, "We use a lot of cumin
and garlic and turmeric:' which are
traditional Kurdish spices.
She remembers her mother and
grandmother grinding foods, such as
walnuts for the charoset (a seder food
symbolizing mortar) in a hawan. "This
is an instrument in most Sephardi
homes — like a bucket with a handle,
made of very heavy iron:' Dorit said.
On the Kanik's seder table will
be a large, metal tray brought from
Kurdistan by Dorit's ancestors. The
boys will wear colorful, woven,
Bucharian kippot.
Akiva is happy to combine his wife's
traditions with his own, describing
the result as "a blended variation on a
theme."
"We share and we mix a number of
things, like using both Ashkenazi and
Sephardi melodies during the seder.
I also blend the Ashkenazi tradition
of wearing a white kittel with the
Morrocan djellaba (a loose-fitting
hooded robe) by wearing a white djel-
laba to the seder!"
As far as food goes, his wife is a very
versatile cook, taking on some of his
standard American, Jewish favorites.
"She can make a brisket:' he said.
"And she will sometimes make the
very non-Sephardi gefilte fish, but she
tends to make it spicy."
Wanting to participate in her cus-
toms, he said, "One year we might even
put our doors on the floor and make
our own large, Kurdish-style seder
table!' fl
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