PASSOVER
New book helps take the stress out of Passover preparation By Mala Blomquist
M
eira Spivak wants to help you not to be stressed about preparing for Passover – for real! Meira is the Oregon NCSY director, an international speaker and also a trained facilitator of the S.I.T method of creativity and innovation. She is a mother of eleven children and has used her first-hand knowledge of cooking, cleaning and child-raising to help other parents navigate Pesach preparations. She released a book at the end of January titled, How to Make Pesach in 5 Days, based on the class she has been teaching for many years of the same name. “I feel like people get over stressed about Passover prep,” says Meira. “People are cleaning their moldings – what are you doing? There’s no leavened bread on your molding.” She’s all for cleaning, but she believes that people get stressed when there is so much to do, and they are spending their time on things that are not important – and not part of the preparation. Meira also mentions that she intentionally used the word Pesach in the title and not Passover. “If somebody only makes one seder for Passover, it probably doesn’t take them five days,” she says. “This (book) is really for the people having multiple guests for many meals. You know, it’s overwhelming if you’re not organized about it.” The 70-page guide contains an easy-to-follow fiveday blueprint – along with sample menus, shopping lists, and heirloom recipes – to help you move quickly 28 MARCH/APRIL 2021 | ARIZONA JEWISH LIFE
