Passover 5781
Supplement to Jewish News March 22, 2021 jewishnewsva.org | March 8, 2021 | Passover | JEWISH NEWS | 9
Passover The Passover rules: A cheat sheet of holiday practices My Jewish Learning
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assover is among the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays. While the particulars vary significantly from community to community, and even among individual families, there are many Passover customs that are observed in some form by large numbers of Jews. Avoiding leavened bread Passover is the strictest Jewish holiday when it comes to food. For eight days (seven in Israel), Jews traditionally avoid eating food made from leavened grain. Most significantly, this means avoiding any bread or bread products, with some Jews additionally abstaining from any grain product, including beer, pasta, oatmeal and most liquor. Ridding the house of chametz In addition to not eating bread, some Jews completely rid their houses of bread products—known in Hebrew as chametz. Those who strictly observe this custom will clean their house thoroughly to ensure even the crumbs behind the couch are removed. Grain products that are too difficult or expensive to remove will sometimes be kept at home but sold to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday. Fast of the firstborn Some Jews have the practice that the firstborn in every family fasts on the eve of Passover from sunrise to sunset. This fast is the only one in the Jewish calendar that applies only to one segment of the Jewish community and was established to remember how God spared the firstborn sons of Israel while killing the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. Some Jews have the custom of avoiding the fast by holding a festive meal early in the day to mark the completion of some portion of Torah study. The Seder The centerpiece of the Passover holiday is the Seder, a ceremonial feast held at 10 | JEWISH NEWS | Passover | March 22, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
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home on the first night of the holiday (some Jews who live outside Israel hold two seders, one on each of the first two nights). The Seder meal is intended to dramatically retell the story of the liberation of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt and is laden with symbolic foods and rituals, including the eating of the bitter herbs (symbolizing the hardship of slavery) and the dipping of a green vegetable into saltwater (symbolizing the bounty of the spring season). As with nearly all Jewish observances, the Seder is preceded by the lighting of candles and the blessing of wine. Eating matzah Dubbed “the bread of affliction,” matzah is an unleavened cracker, usually made from wheat, that is baked quickly (in under 18 minutes) before the batter has a chance to rise. It is eaten at the Seder and throughout the holiday in remembrance of the haste in which the Jews left Egypt, leaving no time for their bread to rise. Matzah is the consummate symbol of Passover, which is sometimes referred to in Hebrew as chag hamatzot—the holiday of the matzah. Synagogue services Like all Jewish festivals, Passover has a special synagogue service that includes specific Torah readings for the holiday and the chanting of Song of Songs, the poetic work attributed to King Solomon. The memorial service Yizkor is also traditionally held in the synagogue on the final day of the holiday, one of only four times during the year it is recited.
Passover From Seinfeld to WWII Morocco, these new Haggadah options will spice up your Passover Seder Gabe Friedman
(JTA)—The pandemic has altered the experience of the Passover Seder, but one thing hasn’t changed: It’s a golden age for creative Haggadahs. Artists, comedy writers, a range of clergy and more have given the ancient text a modern spin in recent years and disseminated them widely online with the help of self-publishing platforms and aggregation hubs such as Haggadot.com, which also allows users to customize their own. But the sheer number of Haggadahs— and their various topics, which range from political issues to playful humor—can make choosing a fresh one a bit overwhelming. Here are a few new notable examples to try if you’re attempting to give your Seder a makeover, whether it’s held on Zoom or in person.
For those mentally afflicted by the pandemic Bari Mitzmann, a Jewish blogger with a sizable Instagram following, for the second year has spearheaded a joint Haggadah project she calls HaKol B’Seder—in Hebrew it can mean either “everything in the Seder” or “it’s all good.” Her thorough Haggadah and broader guide to the holiday weaves in an array of female voices—ranging from chefs to moms to therapists—who either talk about how a specific part of the Seder resonates with them or provide tips on how to fruitfully get through the Passover season. It’s aimed at those feeling overwhelmed by the COVID pandemic, all of the preparations that a Seder entails, the pressure to intellectualize the holiday’s themes or all of the above. There are “wellness check-ins” throughout—one, for instance, discusses the “mental slavery” of loneliness and
isolation, and of the drudgery of modern life (think cell phones, long work hours, etc.). There’s a guided meditation session accessible through a QR code. Then, there are several recipes and food ingredient checklists to help the busy crowd with meal prep (including a couple of fun cocktail suggestions, like the Nile Sour, which includes cognac and honey). For those who exhaled when Trump left office Dave Cowen has contributed to humor sites such as McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and that flavor of humor— intelligent, knowledgeable about politics and current events—shines through in his latest work, The Biden-Harris Haggadah: Thank G-d! Cowen imagines how various figures, ranging from those in the White House to others such as Dr. Anthony Fauci and Merrick Garland, would narrate a Seder, if
all brought together in one room. “Well, thank G-d it’s over,” former President Barack Obama begins the introduction, speaking about the Trump years. “Last year was tough. Who else needs a drink?!” Fauci says before reciting the blessing for the first cup of wine. “We did it! A Jew is sorta in the White House! Well, in the neighborhood,” Doug Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris’ Jewish husband, says before leading the candle lighting. Cowen had published The Trump Passover Haggadah: ‘People All The Time They Come Up And Tell Me This Is The Best Haggadah They’ve Ever Read, They Do, Believe Me’ in 2018. For the Seinfeld super fan The Seder is definitely not “about nothing,” as the iconic ’90s sitcom Seinfeld is often described. Beyond a retelling of the continued on page 12
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Passover continued from page 11
Exodus story, which Jews have looked to for inspiration for millennia, the holiday meal’s guiding text is loaded with symbolism and ways to connect the biblical tale to contemporary times. As Rabbi Sam Reinstein writes in the introduction to his Seinfeld-themed The Haggadah About Nothing, his goal is to use the series’ characters and storylines as a foil to show how not to experience the holiday. The Seder, he argues, is supposed to help transform its participants, to make them feel change in their lives. Part of the humor—and frustration—that surrounds Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer on the show is that they never change, no matter how clear a moral lesson they are handed. But the real appeal of The Haggadah About Nothing is its constant specific Seinfeld references. Reinstein is creative in finding connections and often cites multiple episodes at once to make his points. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is not
the first Seinfeld Seder guide to hit the market—Cowen published a parody Yada Yada Haggadah in 2019, and Martin Bodek published a Festivus Haggadah last year. For the kids who can’t wait for the food already No matter one’s religious observance, the Seder can feel a bit long when the smells of matzah ball soup and brisket are emanating from the nearby kitchen. Last year, Rabbi Matt Berkowitz and Dr. Ron Moses conceived a slim, fold-up seven-page pamphlet—aptly named The Express Haggadah—not to help families rush through the Seder, but to assist in getting them through the ritual in its entirety. “‘What if the game ended at halftime?’ ‘What if the movie cut-off in the middle?’ Those would be unfinished stories,” a press statement reads. The Express Haggadah enables families to ‘get through it’ before food comas and ‘shpilkes’ cut the seder off in the middle.”
Chag Sameach! Best wishes for a Passover season filled with health, peace, safety, and joy.
12 | JEWISH NEWS | March 22, 2021 | jewishnewsva.org
True to form, nothing is left out, from the core prayers to the Exodus story, which is told in a series of quick blurbs. For the artistically inclined Some Haggadahs of centuries past were illustrated manuscripts, artist Emily Marbach points out in the introduction to her Collage Haggadah, which features her own beautiful pastiche works. “The Middle Ages were a very fruitful time for new Haggadot. The Birds Head (I have made one collage in homage to that version), The Sarajevo and the Golden Haggadot are just a few of the most well known,” she writes. “There are the Mocatta, Prato, Barcelona, Darmstadt, the Hileq and Bileq—I could go on.” Marbach, a London-based collage artist and printmaker, intersperses the pages of prayer and storytelling with dozens of stimulating works, some of them a blend of ancient imagery with a pop art sensibility.
Another artful option that could double as a coffee table book year-round is the Asufa Israeli art collective’s Haggadah, available in Hebrew and English. The group has produced a new version each year since 2013. For the history buff “Next year may we be free men in Palestine,” Nissim Ben Shimon wrote in 1943. As World War II began to swing in favor of the Allies, Ben Shimon, a Moroccan Jew in Rabat, wrote what has been deemed The Hitler Haggadah—a semi-humorous Seder text heavily influenced by the events of the war. Translated this year into English from the local Judeo-Arabic of the time, it offers a running commentary of sorts about the war’s events, cracks Nazi jokes and infuses the Seder prayers with hope for a better future for Europe’s Jews, all from a rare North African perspective.
Passover One early passage starts: “Wicked Hitler enslaved us And the Allied Forces rescued us With a great and mighty outstretched arm…”
Among the poets whose words make the new order are Emma Lazarus, Adrienne Rich and Yehuda Amichai. There’s also art by the painter, sculptor and ceremonial artist Tobi Kahn.
For the Reform Jew The Reform movement in America has published many Haggadahs over the past 130 years, since it first brought to print an English-language version of a Haggadah published in Germany decades earlier. The movement’s latest offering is Mishkan HaSeder, which adds contemporary poetry and social justice commentary to the traditional rabbinic text.
For curious kids (and their grownups) The Kveller Haggadah isn’t brand new, but it’s still fresh. This Haggadah is full of colorful illustrations, a clear explanation of the Seder’s many complicated parts and short essay inserts by modern commentators on Passover’s past and present.
After Passover, there’s nothing more beautiful than fresh bread or bagels coming out of the oven. The restaurant, nestled in Great Neck Village, can seat up to 49 and offers a quick carry-out of bagels, sandwiches and salads. The bagels are authentic; crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Kveller is part of 70 Faces Media, like the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
TIDEWATER JEWISH FOUNDATION: PASSOVER LETTER
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his past year has brought unprecedented challenges to the Tidewater Jewish community. However, the pandemic, and the hardships produced by it, have also brought out the best in our community. While I have only been in Tidewater for less than a year, I have witnessed an extraordinary amount of care, compassion, and philanthropy in this wonderful community. As the president and CEO of the Tidewater Jewish Foundation, I’ve had a front-row seat to the incredible support this community has given to each other. Whether it was donating to the food pantry at Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, helping local congregations with streaming needs, Naomi Limor Sedek. feeding frontline healthcare heroes, or giving money to the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, I have been left in awe of the transformative and communal response of Jewish Tidewater. Just like last year, we are once again celebrating a socially distant Passover during a pandemic. Unlike last year, however, we have cause to celebrate the tremendous successes of our entire community. From establishing safe protocols for our children at Strelitz International Academy to vaccinating staff and residents at Beth Sholom Village, to ensuring the survival of our agencies and congregations as they innovate to continue to serve, the Tidewater Jewish community has continually found ways to help those in need. So, this year, I wish you, your family, and your loved ones a happy, safe, and socially distant Passover. May this year be the last we celebrate so distant from each other as slaves to the pandemic. I look forward to the day we can celebrate freely as a community together once again. As we conclude our Passover Seders every year, may we be next year in Jerusalem. Sincerely, Naomi Limor Sedek President/CEO Tidewater Jewish Foundation
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Passover Vaccinations and tests enable some families to gather for Passover Seders this year Shira Hanau
(JTA)—The Darvick family did Jewish holidays by videoconference long before a pandemic forced them. “We call it Skypanukkah,” Elliot Darvick told The New York Times in December
2011, when the family was featured in an article about celebrating Hanukkah over Skype. So when Zoom Seders suddenly became standard last year, the Darvicks were prepared. But this Passover, the Darvicks will be together again.
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By the time the holiday begins later this month, both Debra Darvick, 64, and her husband, Martin, 73, will have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as will one of their children. Those vaccinations are making the couple feel comfortable getting together with their kids and grandkids from Chicago and New York at their home in Birmingham, Michigan. “We’ve Zoomed with Olivia a lot. I haven’t felt totally bereft,” Debra Darvick says of her oldest granddaughter, whom the Darvicks had hoped to visit every month or so but mostly saw over Zoom. “But I know what we’ve missed.” While Purim 2020 may have been the first Jewish holiday to be altered by the then-novel coronavirus, Passover was likely the one in which the most North American Jews felt the impact. As the most widely observed Jewish holiday ritual in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center’s 2013 study of American Jewry, Passover Seders mark a moment where large family get-togethers double as an opportunity to pass down traditions from one generation to the next. For many households last year, those gatherings were replaced by small Seders among members of the same households or conducted over Zoom. But this year, with some 54 million Americans having received at least a first dose of the vaccine as of March 4 and with the rate of vaccinations averaging approximately 2 million doses a day, some families are considering ways to celebrate in person. New guidance from the Centers for Disease Control indicate that those who are vaccinated can likely gather in small groups with others who have taken the COVID shot without taking on major risk. “Interactions of people who are fully vaccinated with other people who are fully vaccinated (or immune due to previous infection) likely come with a very low risk for everybody involved,” Florian Krammer, a vaccinologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, wrote in a recent Twitter thread about how vaccinated people should think about changing their behaviors.
Still, to balance the risks with the benefits of gathering, many have come up with their own plans to gather as safely as possible. For some families, those plans include a strict schedule of quarantining and testing before gathering. For others, vaccinations or recent COVID infections and positive antibody tests mean they feel safe getting together. For Lesley Herrmann, 74, who lives in Manhattan with her husband, this year’s Seder may include as many as 10 people. The Herrmanns have already been vaccinated, as have many of their relatives with whom they normally share a Seder. Others in her family who may attend have recovered from COVID and still have antibodies. For Herrmann, who says Passover is her favorite holiday, this year will still be smaller than the usual 15 - 20-person Seder she usually hosts. But it will be a major improvement over last year, when she and her husband stayed home and did the Seder by themselves with family joining over Zoom. “We made haroset and chicken soup, but it was sad,” Lesley Herrmann says. “I’m thinking this year will be a lot more cheerful.” For Joel and Fran Grossman, 66 and 70, Passover this year marks a few significant milestones. To see their son for the first time since the pandemic started and their daughter for the first time since last summer, the couple will fly from Los Angeles to New York and spend the Seders with their children in Brooklyn. The couple wouldn’t have considered making the trip before receiving the second dose of the coronavirus vaccine last month and are still taking precautions — like buying upgraded seats to ensure adequate distancing and holding the Seders outdoors. They say it’s worth it for the opportunity to see their children again after such a long separation. “Every single mundane task I have to do, maybe normally I’d say what a pain in the butt,” Fran Grossman says. “Now I’m saying I’m the luckiest person to be able to afford a safe ticket, to be able to have been vaccinated.”
Passover She adds: “I’m feeling such gratitude for being able to be in the place and time to be able to do this.” For Adina Avery-Grossman, 59, of Teaneck, New Jersey, planning the Seders is usually a multi-week project replete with spreadsheets to manage her menus and grocery lists. This year, a vestige of those huge spreadsheets lives on in the color-coded calendar she’s prepared to keep track of the quarantine and testing schedule her family will undergo to assemble this year. “We had a meeting and we went over this, and first we called the doctor,” AveryGrossman says of her plan. The plan requires the guests to limit their activity starting about two weeks before Passover, be tested about a week before the Seder and then stay home while awaiting test results until arriving at the Seder. Adding to Avery-Grossman’s peace of mind is that some of her Seder participants will already be vaccinated. “We told everybody, if it’s not really
conducive to you, we’ll pick it up next year,” she says, noting that the plan requires strict adherence to the rules. “But everyone wanted to be together.” Avery-Grossman usually hosts some two-dozen guests, suggesting this year’s gathering of seven could seem like a sadly small group. But that’s two more than last year, when she spent Passover with her husband, daughter, son and daughter-in-law. “Adding two more people, it feels like we’re beginning to make that journey from slavery to freedom. The strictures are opening up again,” she said. Of course, the vaccine rollout continues to be sluggish in parts of the country. While President Joe Biden has announced that the United States will have enough vaccines for all of the country’s adults by May, the manufacture and distribution have proven erratic. For many, this Passover will look much like it did last year: alone but perhaps for the company of faces on a computer screen.
Although Rachel Arnold’s parents, who live in Rhode Island, have been vaccinated, she does not want to take any risks by visiting them because she goes into an office regularly for her job. Arnold says she hopes to make this year feel special by looking at her Seder preparations as a fun cooking project. “I’m going to do a roast chicken and tzimmes. I’m also going to make the chopped liver, and I’m thinking about making matzah ball soup,” she says. But the cooking project doesn’t make it any less upsetting that she’ll be spending another Seder alone. “When my parents and I talked about it last year, we thought we’ll do it again next year,” Arnold says. “I haven’t seen my parents for a year and it’s really sad.” But still, after a year of relentless tragedies, the themes of the Seder this year feel especially resonant for many, particularly with the light at the end of the tunnel provided by the vaccines.
“COVID has been constriction and it has been a plague,” Debra Darvick says. “So yeah, some of the questions will be what do we hope to do in this coming year? What has this year of constriction meant?” Avery-Grossman, too, is thinking about what she may hold onto from these pandemic Passovers into future years. While she enjoyed the big, boisterous Seders she hosted in years past, she’s not sure she will rush back to that, having enjoyed the smaller Seder with just a few family members. “Maybe we’ll do one big Seder and one really intimate Seder,” she says. But Lisa Goldman, an editor living in Montreal, after two Passovers alone, is hoping for a triumphant return to her pre-pandemic Passover Seders in 2022, with family and friends together at her apartment for the big event. “I’ll probably have to get an extra table,” she says. “I’ll make the biggest brisket in history.”
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Passover Masa Tiganitas is Sephardi matzah brei—but much better Rachel Ringler
(The Nosher)—Leave it to Sephardic Jews to make even a pedestrian dish—the ubiquitous matzah brei, a mash-up of fried matzah and egg—into something sublime. In his landmark book, The Sephardic Kitchen, Rabbi Robert Sternberg introduced many of us to the flavors and pleasures of Sephardic Jewish cuisine. Masa Tiganitas
Sephardi matzah brei INGREDIENTS: 4–6 pieces of matzah whole milk for soaking the matzah 4 large eggs, well beaten
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt Vegetable oil for sauteing Arrope* or honey Chopped, lightly toasted walnuts
is a Passover recipe of the Greek Jews—tiganites is the Greek word for pancakes, and, according to Sephardic cook and author Jennifer Abadi, tiganitas is related to the word for “fried.” Masa Tiganitas is also a dish enjoyed by Italian Jews during Passover. In Sternberg’s version, matzah squares are soaked in milk, dipped in a combination of egg and yogurt and then fried in oil. As opposed to matzah brei, or bumelos de masa, the matzah in Sternberg’s recipe is not crushed. They are left whole, dunked, and fried before being sweetened with a drizzle of honey or arrope (a syrup made of grapes) and topped with a sprinkling of walnuts. Think fried matzah meets baklava. I am in love. This recipe has been reprinted with permission from The Sephardic Kitchen.
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DIRECTIONS: 1. Place the whole matzah into a wide, deep, mixing bowl or a square baking pan that can accommodate them all without breaking them. Pour the milk over them to cover. Soak the matzah pieces in the milk until they soften enough so that they can be cut but are not so soft that they will disintegrate. 2. While the matzah pieces are soaking, beat the eggs in a mixing bowl together with the ¼ cup yogurt. When the matzah pieces are soft enough, gently remove them, one at a time, and lay them on paper towels. Cut each matzah into four quarters. Stack the squares on top of one another on paper towels or on a plate. 3. Pour enough oil into a 12-inch skillet to come up the sides ¼ inch. Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it is sizzling but not smoking. 4. Dip 1 square of matzah from each stack into the beaten egg. Allow the excess to drip back into the mixing bowl. Place the square in the skillet. A 12-inch skillet will hold 2–3 squares while they are frying. 5. Fry the tiganitas until golden brown on both sides. Keep the tiganitas warm in a 250-degree oven until all are ready.
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6. Place the tiganitas onto serving plates. Serve with Arrope or honey poured over the tiganitas and sprinkle with chopped walnuts. Serves 4.