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A WORLD OF 
DIFFERENCE
In the British territory of 
Gibraltar off Spain, brick dust 
is mixed into the charoset, 
according to beliefnet.com. 
Chasidic Jews in Poland pour 
water on the floor to resemble 
crossing the Red Sea, raising 
a glass with each metaphoric 
town they reach. Afghani 
Jews use scallions or leeks 
to represent the Egyptian 
slavedrivers’ whips, and in 
Ethiopia, they destroy earth-
enware dishes to symbolically 
make a break from the past. 
You’ll find the host walk-
ing around the table three 
times with the seder plate 
while tapping a blessing on 
their guest’s heads in Spain, 
Morocco and Turkey. Families 
perform skits in full costumes 
in North Africa, according 
to Myjewishlearning.com. At 
Syrian seders, they turn the 
middle matzah into letters 
that add up to 10 for the Ten 
Plagues, and in Marrakesh, 
foods are made from the wine 
in Elijah’s cup. 
The resettlements during 
the Middle Ages are responsi-
ble for splitting Jewish people 
into different geographic 
and cultural groups. The 
descendants of Northern and 
Eastern Europe now identify 
as Ashkenazi, which is the 
prominent ancestral group 
in the United States. Families 
from the Iberian Peninsula of 
Spain are known as Sephardic 
and live across North Africa, 
Southern and Eastern Europe 
and Western Asia. 
Both groups would adjust 
to new places by utilizing 
found indigenous items for 
religious celebrations. As a 
result, it made changes to 
some symbolic props along 
the way, but the religious 
components remain the same. 
In today’s world, advance-
ments in technology are mak-
ing global communication 

easier, travel more accessible 
and international relocations 
possible. As a result, we are 
connecting more, sharing 
ideas and even marrying 
Jewish people from other 
cultures. 
For example, the 
Department of Homeland 
Security states that more than 
87,000 Israelis became citi-
zens or permanent U.S. resi-
dents between 2006 and 2016. 
But there is movement both 
ways. About 4,000 U.S. Jews 
relocated to Israel in 2021, up 
24% from the previous year, 
according to Haaretz.com. 

MELDING OF TRADITIONS
Closer to home, a friend’s 
daughter recently married 
someone from Spain, where 
the Jewish community is pre-
dominantly Sephardic. The 
new son-in-law’s seder will 
feel the same as home, but the 
foods will be different. Where 
he’s from, they eat kitniyot on 
Passover — since the 13th 
century, the Ashkenazim have 
not. 
Kitniyot includes beans, 
rice lentils, corn, peas, soy-
beans and several seeds, like 
sesame, poppy or mustard. 
Both denominations prohibit 
leavened grains, unless in 
matzah form. 
New global dynamics like 
these are creating the need to 
incorporate our cultural tra-
ditions to successfully blend 
our families. The inclusion of 
kitniyot could be an annual 
issue for culturally diverse 
families on Passover. For 
these reasons, there was rising 
interest to review the histor-
ic rule for Passover by the 
Rabbinical Assembly of the 
Conservative Movement. 
In April 2016, their contro-
versial vote put an end to the 
nearly 1,000-yearlong ban of 
kitniyot for Conservative Jews 
during Passover. The change 
is giving families a chance to 

SEPHARDIC-STYLE CHAROSET WITH 
DRIED FRUIT AND NUTS
Adapted from seriouseats.com
Makes 4½ cups

Ingredients:
1½ cups dry red wine, such as Merlot
1 tsp. orange juice
1 pound raisins
8 oz. packed, pitted Medjool dates, chopped
4 oz. dried apricots, chopped
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cloves
Kosher salt
8 oz. unsalted roasted almonds

Method:
Bring the wine and orange juice to simmer in a large 
sauce pan over medium heat, then stir in fruit, cinna-
mon and cloves. Cook uncovered until fruit is hydrat-
ed and wine is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Season 
with salt to taste and set aside. 
Put the almonds into a food processor and pulse to 
roughly chop. Remove and place into a large mixing 
bowl. Add the fruit mixture to processor and pulse 
until it starts to form a paste, about 3 to 5 one-second 
pulses. Do not over process, leaving some chunks of 
fruit intact.

Transfer the fruit to the bowl with almonds and mix 
well to combine, adding more salt if needed. 

Allow to sit for two hours and up to 12. Charoset will 
improve in flavor over time. Serve warm or at room 
temperature. 

