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SD - r - _uta
HOLIDAY 101
Different Seder from page B3
Getting Ready
Nancy and Dan do not live in a castle,
"but we'll make do;' Nancy says with con-
fidence. "We'll bring in tables and chairs
and figure things out."
What matters is that everyone has a
place and feels comfortable about contrib-
uting to the seder discussions — from
the oldest adult to the youngest child.
(Though the youngest is 1, so he'll prob-
ably be doing a bit more babbling than
educated questioning; but the Cohens
happily welcome everyone.)
The Cohens' children, who attend Eagle
Elementary School in the Farmington
School District and Sunday school at
Temple Israel, are curious, educated and
excited about the holiday, Nancy says,
which means they'll have a lot to say dur-
ing the seder.
"Our seder is kid-friendly but complete;'
Nancy says. "We go around in a circle and
everyone has a part"
The Cohens will use a seder plate that
belonged to Dan's grandmother Pearl; the
dishes will be "gorgeous china that we
received from my bubbie as a wedding gift."
The food will be traditional fare. Nancy
says she "loves to cook" and will serve
matzah-ball soup, kugel and meat. Dessert
is a family favorite that Nancy's mother
has always made: apricot bars.
"I absolutely love them:' Nancy says.
"This recipe is so yummy. It's SO delicious
— great for breakfast or dessert.
"But actually, I'm the only one in my
family who really enjoys it, so I always end
up eating the whole thing." ❑
Nancy Cohen's Apricot Bars
1/2 pound softened butter or margarine
2 egg yolks
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
2 cups sifted matzah cake meal
2 tsp. grated lemon rind
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine all to form pastry. It will be
clumpy.
Place 3/4 of dough into a greased 9x13"
pan, covering the bottom and sides. Set
in a 325-degree oven for 20 minutes.
Refrigerate remaining dough.
Meanwhile, combine:
1/4-1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped nuts
And open one jar apricot preserves
(other jams also may be used).
Remove crust from oven and imme-
diately spread with apricot jam. Top
with lemon-nut mixture.
Crumble remaining dough on top
of dessert and return to oven for 30
minutes.
B4
April 9 • 2009
Pesach-At-A-Glance
Leapin' lizards and other vermin, it's Passover!
Elizabeth Applebaum
Special to the Jewish News
S
■
o Why Do We Celebrate? Because the
Torah, in Exodus 12:14-19, commands the
Jewish people to commemorate our lib-
eration from Egyptian slavery.
In Hebrew, the holiday is known as Pesach, which
means "skip over" or "pass over." It refers to the 10th
and final plague that God brought upon Egypt, where
He killed the first-born Egyptians but passed over the
Jewish households (Exodus 12:21-30).
The holiday also is known as Chag HaMatzot, or
Festival of Matzahs (Exodus 23:15, Leviticus 23:6,
Deuteronomy 16:16). In the Passover liturgy, found
in Jewish prayer books, the holiday is identified as
Z'man Cheiruteinu, "Time of Our Liberation."
• When Do We Celebrate? On the Jewish calendar,
Pesach is 14-22 Nisan, which means that the first
seder was held on Wednesday, April 8. The eight-day
holiday is observed throughout the
world; but in Israel, Pesach
is seven days. The first
t
two and last two days of
r:31
Pesach are full holidays
.
when work is not permit-
ted. The intervening days
are semi-holidays when
work is allowed.
• What's the Story Behind This
Holiday? The main focus of Pesach is the
Jewish liberation from slavery to the Egyptians 3,000
years ago. But it's also the story of the founding of
the Jewish nation.
• How Do We Celebrate? Special prayers are recited
at all services for the entire holiday. In observance of
the Torah commandment, "You shall tell your child"
(Exodus 13:8), we gather with family and friends to
hold a commemorative meal called a seder ("order").
The seder menu includes foods intended to arouse
curiosity from and stimulate discussion among all
gathered.
The subjects can range from Jewish identity to our
relationship with God, from the actual events of the
Exodus from Egypt to our life in Egypt prior to libera-
tion, miracles, the idea of a promised land and so on.
The story of the Exodus is told in the Haggadah, with
literally thousands of versions extant.
• What Are the Rules of the Holiday? Pesach has
many rules, most of which focus on eating. We con-
sume no foods that are leavened or contain leavening
(such as yeast). This includes bread and pasta, cake
and cookies and other items made from dough or
batter, plus foods and drinks 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.
• What Is the Omer? Pesach includes an ancillary
observance, the Counting of the Omer, a daily count
of the 49 days and seven weeks between Pesach and
Shavuot. (Read about the Omer in Leviticus 23:15-16).
Begin counting on the second night of Pesach; there-
after, count as part of the daily evening service. The
count itself is preceded by a blessing, then announce
the relevant day and week of the Omer. The count
should be recited while standing.
The first part of the Omer period is characterized
as semi-mournful. Observant Jews do not get hair-
cuts, have or attend marriages, or play musical instru-
ments. The Talmud explains that during this period,
a plague decimated the disciples of Rabbi Akiva
because they did not treat each other with respect.
The Omer also became a period of mourning after
1096 and 1146 when Jews in the Rhineland were killed
by the Crusaders. Moreover, the Chmielnicki massa-
cres in the Ukraine and Poland (1648-49) took place
during this period.
The 33rd day of the Omer is Lag b'Omer (lag is the
acronym formed from the Hebrew letters lamed and
gimel, which signify 33), when mourning is suspended.
This is the time to get a haircut or have a wedding.
Among Jews who do not cut their sons' hair until the
boys reach 3 years old, Lag b'Omer is the day chosen
for the first haircut. This year, Lag b'Omer occurs on
May 12.
• What New Ways Can We Celebrate? This year,
why not create your own plagues? You can make rock-
candy hail or green frogs from felt. Make a child's
mask so he can be a wild animal and give everyone
sunglasses for darkness.
Play hide-the-frogs. Before the seder, place frog
stickers throughout the house and award a prize to
every child who finds one.
Make a family Pesach memory book. Take photos of
your seder table and all the guests, and save a recipe
from a dish that you served, or copy the entire menu
or write down a great moment from the evening. Do
the same year after year; no one will ever tire of read-
ing the memories.
Haggadot of every persuasion, for every taste, are
available at bookstores and libraries. Try out a new
one!
Ask all your guests to come up with a question
relevant to the holiday – anything from "What's your
favorite Pesach memory?" to "What does 'freedom'
mean to you?" – then set one question under each
plate at the table. During the seder, each person
answers the question under his plate. (Just make cer-
tain guests do not receive their own question).
We are told we must truly feel ourselves as slaves
leaving Egypt. Ask each guest to contribute a detail
of what he imagines life was like. Describe the heat of
the desert, the pain of the hard work in Egypt, or the
horrifying sounds of the approaching locusts.
Pesach is the story of the founding of the Jewish
people, an extremely diverse group these days. What
are ways in which your family could rededicate itself to
the idea of Am Yisrael, the entire people of Israel? Eli
Elizabeth Applebaum is a marketing specialist at the Jewish
Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit.