holiday 101 You've been celebrating Pesach ever since you were the youngest person at the seder. You successfully delivered the Four Questions to the adulation of your family. Now that you are teenager, you may still have some questions about Passover that have not yet been answered. Here are some facts that will lift the cloth from your eyes and wrap it around the afikomen. did you know? Test your Passover knowledge against these facts. by Spencer Kent 1.Matzah has a required shape and can only be square. FALSE. In 1875, a mat- zah-baking machine was invented in England. The machine made square matzot. Until modem times, matzah was Square matzot are the norm these days. usually round instead of square. Exodus 12:39 required the eating of ugot matzah. The word ugot means "cakes," but it can also mean "round." The reason why matzah is now usually square is because it is easier to mass-produce and package. 2. During the Middle Ages, Jews used the afikomen as a good luck charm. TRUE. Jews often would hang part of the afikomen in their homes in order to ward off demons. During long sea voyages, they would often bring part of the afikoman with them, thinking that it would prevent violent storms. To this day, the tradition is still customary to North Afri- can Jews. 3. Passover has five different names. TRUE, 1. Chag HaMatzot (The festival of Unleavened Bread) 2. Chag HaPesach (The Festival of Paschal Offering) 3. Chag HaAviv (The Festival of Spring) 4. Z'man Cheiruteinu (Season of Our Liberation) 5. Pesach (Pass- over) 1. Why do we eat unleavened bread on this night when all other nights we eat either leavened bread or matzah? 2. Why do we eat only bitter herbs on this night when all other nights we eat all kinds of vegetables? 3. I'Vhy do we clip our vegetables twice on this night when we do not dip our vegetables even once all other nights? 4. Why do we eat our meals reclining on this night when on all other nights we eat our meals sitting or reclining? The fifth question that we no longer ask: Why is it that on all other nights we eat meat either roasted, marinated or cooked, but on this night it is entirely roasted? 5. More Jews celebrate Chanukah than Passover. FALSE, Pesach is the most celebrated holiday by the Jewish people. Ap- proximately 80 percent of Jews worldwide celebrate Pesach. 6. The Coca Cola bottling company of New York halts production during Pesach. FALSE. During Passover, it makes Coke that is ko- sher for Passover. Sugar is used instead of corn syrup because corn is not consid- ered kosher for Passover. 7.Jews drink four cups of wine at the seder. T The four cups at the Passover Coke uses sugar, not corn syrup. seder represent the four expressions of redemption — bring, deliver, redeem and take. The first cup is called the cup of sanctification; the second, the cup of judgment; the third, the cup of redemp- tion; and the fourth, the cup of the kingdom. A fifth cup was later added by rabbis, called the cup of Elijah. 4. There were originally five questions, but we only use four. The current four questions are: Spencer Kent, 18, is a senior at Birmingham Groves High School. the spiritual path by Danielle DePriest Passover lesson For most of us, the miracles and escape from oppres- Passover story. As Pharaoh's soldiers heeded his calls to miracle of the parting of the Red Sea offers a valuable les- sion and slavery that fills the pages of our Haggadahs on chase after the Jewish slaves, who Pharaoh himself had son. Despite the fact that the Egyptians had enslaved our Passover receive only a scant piece of our attention as we so recently freed, we find ourselves on the banks of one of people, God still chastises the angels for singing as they daydream of the pasta we'll enjoy as we break Pesach. The Passover's greatest miracles. drown in the sea. It becomes even clearer though the lens of story of our ancestors' struggle under Pharaoh becomes What is referred to in the Torah as "a mighty wind" Passover that our people would not be where we are today little more than background noise emanating from the head divides the sea in two, creating two walls of water the Jews had we focused our energies on celebrating the downfalls of the table as we chat with cousins or see who can endure pass through and the Egyptians are drowned in. Surely, there of our enemies. Created in the image of God, each of us is much more to this miracle than what lies at the surface. holds a moral responsibility to our friends and enemies alike the most horseradish on one piece of matzah. How can we be expected to find something meaningful in According to a Midrash on this story, as the angels begin not to celebrate our downfalls but rather to to praise God for his miraculous liberation of the Jews from treat each other with the same respect God so far beyond any stretch of our imaginations? The parting danger, God retorts with frustration to their praises: "My demanded from the angels in the Passover of an entire sea at just the right moment — "Come on!" creatures are drowning and you're singing songs!" the same story, year after year, that describes phenomena However, it is from this splitting of the Red Sea that we can Amidst the wars between nations and competition learn one of the most valuable lessons offered though the between neighbors we find in our daily lives, the Passover B2 teen2teen April • 2008 story. Danielle DePriest, 17, is a senior at the Fran- kel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield.