Hakol - Passover 2024

A different kind of Passover?

By Nurit Galon Partnership2Gether

So much remains the same. After the horrors of October 7 and since, Israel is celebrating its flower season with glorious displays of multicolored and varied wild flowers just about everywhere. Years ago we all used to go to pick the flowers, until it dawned on us that we were actually ruining the amazing natural displays of the future. Today even toddlers will reprimand flower-picking parents!

For the first weeks after the start of the war, the

The

world’s Jewish communities, loyal as ever, hesitated to come to Israel. But soon everything changed, and volunteers started arriving, not just to visit but to participate in the volunteer program. Once again Israel hums with activity, this time preparing foods for all who do not have it, especially those who have been displaced from their homes around the Gaza Strip.

When I think about the Four Questions of the Passover seder, it strikes me that this year has its own more timely question: Where is the modern Moses who will

Lehigh Valley

Jewish

Clergy

lead our kidnapped hostages out of the bondage of Hamas back to their families and homes in Israel?

Israel today is busy preparing for Passover for everyone, including of course the army, who are rightly much appreciated and admired, and all those who live along our northern border, potentially our next battle ground.

So as is usual here in Israel, happy anticipation is mixed with an underlying worry and apprehension. Flags and stickers everywhere proclaim, “Together

we shall triumph.”

And you know what?

Together with the entire Jewish world, we shall indeed overcome!

To all our friends and family in the Lehigh Valley, a happy and safe Passover.

Group presents the 26th Annual Community Passover Seders

Here is a listing of services from Lehigh Valley congregations. Please contact the synagogues directly to learn more. (Editor’s note: RSVP as instructed below. Note the registration deadlines. Synagogues will most likely not be able to accommodate you after those dates.)

Chabad of the Lehigh Valley

PASSOVER SEDER

MONDAY, APRIL 22, at 7:30 p.m.

Don’t pass over a seat at our seder! Enjoy a meaningful, engaging, and interactive seder with gourmet food and a choice of fine wines. All are welcome. Suggested donation is $45 per adult and $36 per child 12 and under. But no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. For information or to RSVP, visit chabadlehighvalley.com/Passover5784 or call 610-351-6511.

Congregation Am Haskalah

SECOND NIGHT COMMUNITY PASSOVER

SEDER

TUESDAY, APRIL 23, at 6:30 p.m. at Seegers Union, Muhlenberg College

We will be led by Student Rabbi Alex Malanych on a night of questions and traditions. Open to anyone looking to immerse themselves in community and spiritual reflection. Scholarships and accommodations are always available. Details and tickets at bit.ly/AHPassover2024 or at AmHaskalahDirector@gmail.com.

Congregation Beth Avraham

TRADITIONAL ORTHODOX

SEDARIM

MONDAY, APRIL 22, at 8 p.m. and TUESDAY, APRIL 23, at 8:30 p.m.

To commemorate their new home, the Congregation of Beth Abraham is hosting two nights of communal seder—open to everyone in the area. The traditional Orthodox sedarim will feature gourmet food (including handmade matzah), delightful presentations, singing, and all-around camaraderie. If you’re looking for a meaningful, welcoming experience for Passover, join Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac Yagod at 1424 Frost Hollow Road in Easton. Donation upon entry is requested, but all are welcome. To attend, RVSP to Rabbi Yagod at rabbiyagod1@gmail.com by April 19.

Congregation Bnai Shalom

SECOND NIGHT COMMUNITY SEDER

TUESDAY, APRIL 23, at 5 p.m.

Led with joy and spirit by Cantor Jill Pakman. All food will be gourmet kosher for Passover. Cost is $45 for adults, $18 for children 6-12, and free for children under 5. Doors open at 4:30. RSVP to 610-2585343.

Congregation Brith Sholom

FIRST NIGHT COMMUNITY SEDER

MONDAY, APRIL 22, at 7 p.m.

Join Rabbi Michael Singer and your Brith Sholom friends and extended family as we retell the story of the exodus from slavery to freedom. Ron Sunshine and Feather Frasier of Sunshine Café will prepare the meals. A vegetarian plate is available if you request that in advance. Cost is $43 per adult member, including nonmember relatives; $48 per adult nonmember; $20 per child 6-13; and free for children 5 and under. Donations are being accepted to help Brith Sholom family attend. RSVP with payment no later than April 15 to Congregation Brith Sholom, 1190 West Macada Road, Bethlehem, PA 18107. For questions call 610-866-8009.

Congregation Keneseth Israel

11TH ANNUAL SUPER SHABBAT SEDER

FRIDAY, APRIL 26, at 5:45 p.m.

Featuring Rabbi Shoshanah Tornberg, student Rabbi Alex Malanych, and traditional foods prepared by Chef Eric Rappaport. Eat, drink, sing, learn together in community as we tell the age-old tale of our escape from Egypt. Cost is $54 for adult nonmembers, $45 for adult members, $36 for child nonmembers, $30 for child members, and free for children under 6. BYOB to share with your table. RSVP no later than April 19 at kilv.org/event/11th-annual-supershabbat-seder.html. No walk-ins or late registrations. For questions, call Vikki at 802-380-2788 or Martina at 610-966-3226.

(Israel Defense Forces photo)

The exodus and our ongoing quest for spiritual liberation

In the embrace of the upcoming Passover festival, we find ourselves reflecting on the profound spiritual journey of our ancestors—the exodus from Egypt. Passover, at its core, is a celebration of freedom, a timeless narrative that speaks to the yearning for liberation in the human spirit.

In the midst of our joyous Passover preparations, as I sit writing this, our hearts are still heavy with the awareness of the current struggles faced by our brothers and sisters in Israel. The nation grapples with an existential war against Hamas, and the shadows of uncertainty loom large. Yet, in the essence of Passover, we discover a guiding light that transcends the darkness of the present. The exodus story resonates not merely as a historical event but as a living, breathing testament to the human spirit’s capacity to overcome bondage. The Israelites’ journey from enslavement to freedom mirrors our own quest for spiritual emancipation. The shackles that bound us, whether physical or metaphorical, can be broken through faith, resilience, and the unwavering belief in the possibility of a brighter tomorrow.

ly an escape from oppression but a call to a higher purpose. It is a sacred responsibility, a journey guided by principles of justice, compassion, and divine wisdom.

Amid the turmoil, we are reminded that the pursuit of freedom is not a solitary endeavor but a communal one. Passover teaches us the power of unity, encouraging us to stand together in the face of adversity. Our prayers and support become powerful instruments of change, echoing the collective heartbeat of a community bound by a shared spiritual legacy.

As we partake in the seder, let us not only recount the story of the exodus but embody its lessons. The bitter herbs remind us of the hardships faced, the unleavened bread symbolizes the haste

of our departure, and the sweet charoset signifies the hope that permeates even the most challenging moments.

May this Passover be a spiritual journey for us all—a journey toward inner liberation, communal solidarity, and a vision of a world where the pursuit of freedom is guided by the light of divine wisdom. In the midst of challenges, let our spirits soar with the wings of faith, and may the message of Passover inspire us to cultivate a world where freedom is not just a destination but a sacred and enduring journey of the soul.

Wishing you a Passover infused with spiritual revelation and the sweet taste of true freedom.

JFS takes Passover to retirement communities

Jewish Family Service volunteer Howard Nathanson will again take Passover programs to retirement communities across the Lehigh Valley. Nathanson, shown among these photos of last year’s programs, will visit Legend of Allentown, Mora-

vian Hall Square, Luther Crest, Phoebe, Traditions of Hanover, Kirkland Village, the Vero, Country Meadows Bethlehem, and Country Meadows Allentown. Each program is educational and celebratory and includes a holiday treat.

In contemplating the present challenges faced by Israel and Jews all over the world, we are called to draw strength from the teachings of Passover. Freedom, as illuminated by the exodus, is not mere-

I firmly believe that support for Israel should be a firmly believe that support for Israel should be a non-partisan issue I look forward to continuing to non-partisan issue I look forward to to serve our community in Congress serve our community in I’ll keep working in I ll keep working in a bipartisan manner to a bipartisan manner to improve the lives of everyone the lives of everyone in the Lehigh Valley in the Lehigh Valley That includes addressing the That includes addressing the challenges burdening challenges burdening our manufacturers and our manufacturers and employers and the unique issues facing our and the unique issues facing our healthcare providers and hospitals Have a fantastic providers and hospitals. Have a fantastic and meaningful Passover! and meaningful Passover!

By Rabbi Yaacov Halperin Chabad Lubavitch of the Lehigh Valley

JDS preps for Pesach—seder, Elijah, afikomen hunt

By Ariel Solomon Jewish Day School Director of Hebrew and Judaics

Spring is here and that means it’s Pesach (Passover) season! This is a great time of year to clean and organize our homes and our mindsets. The story of Pesach is our journey of becoming a Jewish nation as we transformed from slaves in Egypt to free people.

One of the mitzvot (commandments) we fulfill during

the holiday is Ve’Higadeta Le’Bincha (Tell Your Child). We’re commanded to convey the tale of how we became a nation. As Jewish people we share a collective memory that is passed down from generation to generation, and by telling our story to our children, we weave them into the narrative.

Yigal Alon, former Israel Defense Forces general and member of the Knesset, said, “A nation that doesn’t respect its past will have a dull present and an uncertain future.” By sharing our story we hope to guarantee a better world for our descendants.

At the Jewish Day School, we are hard at work preparing for Pesach. Early childhood will enjoy a Pesach fair and visit many activity stations. They’ll learn how

PASSOVER SCAVENGER HUNT

to look for any leftover chametz, make matzah and charoset, build a pyramid. They’ll learn inspiring songs about the holiday. The younger day school classes will work on various art projects, including a seder plate, a cup for Elijah, a cover for the afikomen, and more.

Our older students are learning and practicing the different parts of the Haggadah during their Hebrew and Judaics classes in preparation for their roles at the annual JDS Model Seder. They can then use their seder skills at home and impress the whole family.

At school, the afikomen will disappear and the students will go searching

high and low. We will have a special appearance from the one and only Elijah the prophet and end the seder with everyone singing “Echad Mi Yodea” and “Chad Gadya.” Weeks of practice will be rewarded with a spectacular seder and a wonderful holiday.

Wishing you all a Pesach Sameach!

HAPPY PASSOVER

Comprehensive Pediatric Care since 1959

Oscar

Richard

Amy Francis, PA-C

Sarah Petruno, PA-C

Dawn Stang, B.S., IBCLC

401 N. 17th St., Ste 307, Allentown 612 Elm St., Bethlehem 610-434-2162 www.lehighvalleypeds.com

Join us for crafts, snacks and of course, a PJ Library story. RSVP appreciated.

Sunday, April 14, 2024

3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Congregation Keneseth Israel

2227 West Chew Street, Allentown, PA 18104

RSVP by scanning the QR Code or by visiting the link below.

https://jewishlehighvalley.regfox.com/pj-passover-page

Courtesy

answers to 10 common questions kids ask, along with easy answers for grownups to refer to on the spot, along with Passover Printables and a special “Who Knows about Passover” card game.

Matzos boxes in supermarkets across North America or on streitsmatzos.com.

As Jews all over the world prepare to continue the 3,300-year tradition of commemorating their liberation from slavery in Egypt, PJ Library, one of the leading resources for Jewish families across North America, offers up dozens of ways to help celebrate, whether you need a refresher on a few customs, just want to learn more about the history of the holiday, or are celebrating Passover for the very first time.

Visit PJ Library’s Passover Hub at pjlibrary.org/ passover to find kid-friendly ways to tell the Passover story along with downloadable activities to keep children engaged during their family’s seder, the traditional Passover meal. While there you can also find seasonal recipes, book lists, and a step-by-step video playlist where kids can learn (or refresh) some serious seder skills.

All these resources are sure to make your Passover as meaningful and familyfocused as possible. Some highlights include a Passover FAQ for Kids that offers

And what would a Jewish holiday be without food, an important component of nearly every celebration. This year, PJ Library invites families to taste the freedom of Passover with Matzah Mania offering a trio of fun and easy matzah recipes, including a homemade recipe for the unleavened bread that’s holy roll-y DIY fun in less than 18 minutes, a matzah grazing board, and more. Other recipes sure to be enjoyed by the whole family, including a delectable fire-roasted tomato soup with cheddar matzah crisps and matzah bruschetta, which is a snap to make and works as a great snack, lunch, or side.

Throughout the 2024 holiday, PJ Library, which the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley helps make possible locally, has partnered with Streit’s and will be featured on its iconic matzo boxes. For many, enjoying PJ Library books is as baked into family tradition as eating Streit’s Matzos on Passover. For others who’ve gone without the free stories and activities PJ Library sends every month for zero dough (leavened or otherwise), they can now be led out of the desert thanks to the opportunity to sign up for a subscription on every box of Streit’s Matzos. So, in addition to searching for the afikomen this year, families can now search for the PJ Library logo on Streit’s

For centuries, families have used a Passover guidebook called the Haggadah to tell the story of the holiday and pass down the traditions and lessons of the story to their children, relatives, and friends (the Hebrew word haggadah literally means “telling”). One of the leading sources for family-friendly Haggadahs across the United States and beyond—nearly 50,000 families have said this was their first Haggadah, and PJ Library has shipped nearly 1 million Haggadahs to over 200,000 families over the past six years—PJ Library will once again offer anyone celebrating the holiday a downloadable PDF version of “In Every Generation: A PJ Library Family Haggadah. Aside from the traditional prayers and readings, this interactive guide to the Passover seder offers specially curated videos of songs and blessing and explanations that help make the holiday a fun, engaging, and familyfriendly experience. For those interested in purchasing paperback versions, both the regular PJ Library Family Haggadah ($7.99) and a large-print edition ($10.99)

are available for sale on the PJ Library storefront on Amazon.

Finally, PJ Library curates age-specific books for its subscribers from birth through age 8—high-quality books that foster a deeper connection to Jewish life—and sends them to homes free of charge. Last year around Passover, children ages 3 to 4 received a delightful spin on a classic Yiddish folktale “In Our Teeny Tiny Matzah House,” written by Bill Wurtzel and illustrated by Claire Wurtzel, in which Kitzel the cat can’t hear himself meow because his house is too noisy. But it’s about to become noisier because Passover is about to begin!

holiday until they have an unfortunate mishap with the community matzah baking oven. If families don’t want to miss out on getting books each month, including for future holidays, they can sign up today.

And, kids ages 6 to 7 were sent “A Persian Passover,” set in 1950s Iran, written by Etan Basseri and illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh, which finds Ezra and Roza looking forward to celebrating the

Over its 18 years, PJ Library has provided 50 million books to kids ages 0-12 worldwide. It is a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation who partners with local Jewish organizations to fund and make it available in their community. Learn more and sign up at pjlibrary.org.

WISHING

®

13. Apt kosher tuna brand

14. Organization that might get your Judaism burning

16. Senator Scott

17. Locates what’s hidden four times in this puzzle

19. Glimpse

21. Rock singer Snider

22. Collection of maps

23. Waze lines: Abbr.

25. Show with a record 200+

Emmy noms

26. Transparent, as fabrics

28. You might ask a Rav one

32. Israeli kiosk in many malls

33. Ndamukong ___, 2010

N.F.L. Defensive Rookie of the Year

34. Polluter-busting org.

35. Annual Nissan event...or what one can literally do in this grid

39. Ewe’s “yo”?

40. “Phooey!”

41. Ill-natured

42. More 4-Across

45. Young lady, with sass

46. Third of July?

47. ___-CREF

48. Top pick in the 1992 NBA draft

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

As the American-Israeli poet Marty Herskovitz thought about the upcoming Passover holiday, the prospect of singing “Dayenu” at the first seder since his country was attacked didn’t sit right with him.

The classic Passover song, whose title means “It would have been enough,” expresses gratitude about how much God has done for the Jewish people. But Herskovitz, the son of a Holocaust survivor who has lived in Israel since 1986, thought the words would ring hollow at a time when so many Jews are at risk.

on October 7. It will provide rabbis and their communities with other ways to adapt the ancient tradition to the current moment.

Among the passages included is an addition to the seminal Four Questions recited during the seder, which ask, “Why is this night different from all other nights?”

The added text aims to reflect the feelings of seder attendees this year.

“On all other nights, we think that we have answers. Tonight, we all just stay silent,” says the passage, which is in Hebrew. “On all other nights, we remember, sing and cry…. On this night, we only cry.”

ish story. Rabbi Menachem Creditor, the scholar-inresidence at UJA-Federation of New York, is working on a Haggadah supplement with the Academy of Jewish Religion, a pluralistic rabbinic school in Yonkers, New York.

“To talk about liberation when our family is not yet whole again is very hard, and our own tears will mix with the maror,” Creditor said, using the Hebrew word for the seder plate’s bitter herbs. “We won’t need the Haggadah’s usual explanation of what bitterness feels like.”

51. When repeated, a confection

52. Thing in a folder

56. Crossword alternative… which this grid doubles as 59. “30 Rock” creator

60. Lessen, as stress

61. Lech ___ (var.)

62. Air safety org.

63. Pronoun for Mother Nature

64. Big name in Israeli music

65. Prada competitor, initially Down

1. Brady got most of his rings with them, for short

2. “Let me give you ___, pal”

3. Office note, briefly

4. Protector of the Jews, for short

5. One looking for the Ark

6. Seymour Skinner’s mother on “The Simpsons”

7. All’s rival

8. Ambulance inits.

9. With a sharp tongue

10. Cambodian currency

11.

Amazon. Parts of the final product will also be available for free on the seminary’s website.

The Passover initiatives in both Israel and the United States add to a long tradition of Haggadah iterations and supplements that layer present-day issues onto the ancient text, from those centered around Soviet Jewry to more recent examples like additions about the Ukraine war and the pandemic.

helped plan the seminary’s conference in Israel.

Cohen, who lives on Kibbutz Ketura near the southern port city of Eilat, where the population swelled with war evacuees, said the text offers an important opportunity for the kind of emotional reckoning that is desperately needed in a battered Israel and Jewish world.

“We don’t necessarily think of holidays as a time for processing trauma, but because Passover is the first major holiday since (October 7) and because it’s a holiday that the story of which talks about national trauma and redemption,” Cohen said, “one of the questions is, ‘What is redemption in our day, and are we feeling redeemed, are we feeling free?’’’ Across

“We have to take the text and find a way to make it relevant and not just say the words that seem so impossible to say,” Herskovitz said. “…We can’t say ‘Dayenu.’ It can’t be, you know, ‘Praise God for this situation.’ So we have to find new texts.”

It’s a mission that has long animated Herskovitz, who used the financial reward from a legal settlement after his then teenaged son was injured in a terrorist attack in 2001 to create a fund to support education initiatives in Israel. This year, at Herskovitz’s urging, Israel’s Conservative Schechter Rabbinical Seminary Schechter convened dozens of rabbis and Jewish community leaders from across Israel last month to reimagine the Haggadah, the core text of the Passover seder.

The result of their work will be a supplement for Israeli families to use during their seders at the beginning the first major holiday since Hamas attacked Israel

The initiative is one of several underway to adapt the Passover holiday for a different crisis in the Jew-

Creditor put out a call for submissions—prayers, essays, artwork, and other reflections—and received dozens of responses that will be edited into a resource AJR will self-publish and sell on

“The Haggadah is something that developed and, and as modern Jews who are dealing with issues of the same themes that have come up again and again in our history, we need to figure out how to make those themes accessible, relevant, real and useful,” said Rabbi Sara Cohen, a Schechter alumna who

BOOK REVIEWS

Kids aid baby Moses on the Nile

“Afikomen,” Tziporah Cohen, illustrated by Yaara Eshet, Groundwood Books, 2023, 32 pages.

By Sean Boyle Congregation Keneseth Israel

Award-winning author

Tziporah Cohen’s latest picture book, “Afikomen,” illustrated by Yaara Eshet, is a “wordless” picture book whose story is split between a modern-day family’s seder and biblical Egypt.

The story begins with a family sitting down at the seder table and a piece of matzo being placed in the afikomen bag, which the family dog quickly snatches and hides under the tablecloth. The three children follow the dog and find themselves transported to ancient Egypt along the Nile. They watch the infant Moses’ mother and sister Miriam place him a reed basket and set him afloat on the river.

As they follow along from the opposite river bank, Miriam recruits the children to help Moses as the basket faces several challenges before finally reaching the pharaoh’s daughter safely. Afterward, the children say goodbye and return to the seder, where they fall asleep and their parents wonder how sand got in the afikomen bag.

A definition of “afikomen”

is included at the front of the book, and an author’s note at the end describes Passover and the story of Moses being found by the pharaoh’s daughter. There are also explanations of several different afikomen traditions.

Although this is a wordless book, there are Hebrew and Aramaic words to give clues to where the family is in the seder.

Cohen originally developed the idea for the book in her master of fine arts course in which they were assigned to create wordless picture books, but it wasn’t until Eshet did the illustrations 10 years later that she fully conceptualized the work. Eshet says that normally the words are the bridge between the author and the illustrator, but with a wordless picture book the illustrator has only the author’s script to pull from. Eshet chose graphic novel panels as the layout for the illustrations, in homage to the visual storytelling in tombs and on papyri in ancient Egypt.

Cohen is a great advocate for wordless picture books—they are universally

accessible and allow children to actively participate in the storytelling. She relates the latter to how Jews are asked at the seder to retell the Passover story out loud each year.

“Afikomen” received a 2024 Sydney Taylor Honor Book Award, a silver medal in the Picture Book category. The book is highly recommended for ages 3-120—designed for 3- to 6-year-olds, it can be enjoyed by adults and will be informative to Jews and non-Jews as well.

Sean Boyle is Congregation Keneseth Israel’s librarian and also serves as vice president, president-elect, of the Association of Jewish Libraries.

By Shira Yacker Special to Hakol

Ingredients:

2 pounds skin-on chicken thighs

3 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided

1 large onion, sliced

2 ribs celery, cut up

1 carrot, cut up

1 tablespoon potato starch

4 cups chicken broth

1 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

Passover noodles or matzo balls

Technique:

Season thighs to taste. Heat 2 1/2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet and brown the thighs, skin side down. Turn over and cook 5 minutes longer. Transfer to a plate.

In the same skillet, sauté the onion, celery, and carrot, stirring. Add the rest of the oil with potato starch, stirring on low for a few minutes. Slowly add the broth, increase heat, and bring to a boil, stirring, for 60-70 seconds. Stir in the remaining seasonings. Scrape the bottom of the skillet and re-add the chicken.

Cover and cook on the lowest heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over noodles or matzo balls.

Happy Passover

From the board and staff of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh

Chag sameach

We’re here to help you gather with a full Kosher for Passover selection.