Memories of Passover past

By Pam Schiff
Posted 3/28/18

Starting Friday, March 30, Jews around the world are observing the holiday of Passover.

For eight days, they sacrifice any food that is designated as “chametz.”

Chametz means “leaven,” …

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Memories of Passover past

Posted

Starting Friday, March 30, Jews around the world are observing the holiday of Passover.

For eight days, they sacrifice any food that is designated as “chametz.”

Chametz means “leaven,” so that is any food that is made of grain and water that have been allowed to ferment and “rise.” Bread, cereal, cake, cookies, pizza, pasta, and beer are obvious examples. Unless a food is labeled or packaged specifically ‘Kosher for Passover’, it cannot be assumed to be edible.

There are some people who are so religious they go through their homes with a feather duster to remove any traces of ‘chametz’ in their homes.

Both of my grandmothers would actually switch all their dishes, silverware, pots and pans to “just for Passover” items. My Nana Lillian would buy special Passover dishwashing detergent, and would put masking tape across her dishwasher so as not to mix the two types of dishes. They had to run their ovens at the highest possible temperatures to get them Passover ready.

Growing up, my family, including my mom, dad, older sister, older brother, would pile into out Rambler Ambassador green wood paneled station wagon and drive from Hamden, Connecticut to Providence, to celebrate Seder with my Dad’s family.

“She [my Nana Gert] always had chicken soup with matzo balls, home made gefilte fish [she would stuff the head of the fish as an extra treat] & chopped liver,” said my Dad. “Main course was always baked chicken, matzo kugel and a vegetable Jell-O mold. Maybe brisket. There were other veggies I didn’t eat and homemade apple sauce.”

Dessert was always homemade cookies [mandel bread - Passover style] sponge cake & compote, and then the Afikomen.

For children, the Afikomen is what makes the long service bearable.

At one point during the meal, the leader of the Seder gets up from the table, takes a special piece of matzo with them and hides it for the children to find.

Children will try to find where it, and then they negotiate with the leader for him to buy it back from them. Back in the day, candy or pennies were the standard currency, but nowadays cash and gift cards are king.

My Dad’s cousin, who usually served as the leader, would always buy the Afikomen back from us with silver dollars.

Growing up and not being able to eat bread or cookies or treats was not fun. While many friends offered to trade at lunch, no one wanted a cream cheese and jelly sandwich on matzo.

At Sunday school at our temple, we would have a big school-wide mock Seder and all the students would have to bring in a hardboiled egg for the Seder plate.

I would never turn mine in, because I didn’t want to eat anyone else’s egg. Just the one my Mom made.

We learned about Moses, and the Exodus from Egypt from Pharaoh and the 10 plagues that were visited upon the Egyptians and how they all related to the Seder meal.

The lamb bone symbolizing the blood the Jewish slaves put on their doorposts so the “Angel of death”, would ‘pass over’ their homes. The egg is for spring and rebirth. Haroset is a mixture of apples, wine and nuts to signify the mortar used to make the bricks for building. The salt water represents the tears of the slaves, and a bitter herb is dipped into it.

My Pop-Pop would always insist that the bottle of wine (usually Manishewitz) was to remain on the table.

My father and son prefer mandel (soup nuts) in their soup, unlike my husband who is partial to matzo farfel.

As I set my table every year for Passover using my Seder plate that was a wedding present from my parents’ best friends, and my crystal that was my grandmother’s, and the tablecloth my mother bought for me in Israel, and the silver serving pieces that were my other grandmother’s, I feel all the love the holiday evokes and treasure all the memories and traditions that still exist today in my family.

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