An Introduction to Passover

Over twenty years ago, I went to my mother-in-law's house to help her pack away the Passover dishes after the annual holiday.

As we closed the last box, she turned to me and said, "Okay, put them in your car. It's your turn, from now on." I proudly toted home the ancient dishes, pots, pans, and miscellaneous Passover stuff. My husband and I sadly noted the end of an era as I stored the boxes with my grandmother's smaller, even more antique collection.

The weeks before 'my first' Seder were nerve wracking. I cowered at the thought of the first Sedar--horrified of making mistakes. The beginning was anything but easy.

Ultimately, initiating our own Seders in conjunction with adult study taught me metamorphosis of house, kitchen culture, food as symbols, personal ritual, and Jewish history. Over time, our family or who are new to Judaism, as well as the next generation that will someday take over making their family Seder for the first time.

The kitchen is a friendly place to talk. During my cooking classes, students openly discussed the fearsome thought of making their own Seder. Passover itself seemed an awesome task. Students of all ages, especially those with young, growing families, were in need of answers to their own Passover questions as well as good guidelines to follow making their own Seder. Everyone wanted to re-create the warmth of nostalgic childhood memories, yet few had any recollection. They coined the phrase 'tradition-deficient' and declared that they had to start entirely on their own.

And yes, Passover and a Seder must be made. It may seem easier today because of many prepared "Kosher for Passover" items, cookbooks, workshops and an Internet overflowing with advice and recipes. Despite the fact that a Passover Seder is the mostly highly observed Jewish home ritual, making your own Seder for the first is a daunting task.

The biggest mistake would be not to make a Seder. Seder means order, and if you approach Passover understanding its orderly configuration and unique gifts, your fears should disappear. Rabbis structured the Seder experience as a family lesson at the table, with devices to effectively engage family members and to make each one personally feel part of the ancient, Exodus event. Passover is different, not difficult. Only the beginning is hard.

Over the years, most Seders spawn their own traditions. Certain symbolic foods cue the Passover story while ethnic foods relate a family's history. For me cooking beyond our Eastern European origins and baking without leaven is an ever-present challenge. As I experiment with other ethnic or new recipes, our children critique, chiding me to keep the same menu. Indeed some dishes are now standard on our Seder menu.

WHAT IS PASSOVER?
Passover commemorates the Israelite Exodus from Egyptian bondage to liberty in the Promised Land. The Torah instructs Jews to remember their history...how because of a great famine, the Jews went down to Egypt...how they were enslaved to build Pharaoh's stone houses...how Moses heard God's voice and asked Pharaoh to let his people go...how Pharaoh increased their hardships, until Ten Plagues came upon Egypt...how the Angel of Death did "pass over" the Hebrews' houses...how the Red Sea parted so the Israelites walked on dry land, carrying troughs of unleavened bread...how the Israelites wandered forty years until coming to the Promised Land.

At Passover, our sages urge Jews to intellectually and emotionally encounter slavery. Annual, for over 3,000 years, at evening on the 14th day in the Hebrew month of Nisan, Jewish families recount the Exodus event to become more than a remote experience of slavery for the sake of memory alone. The concept of personal freedom and the sovereignty of our People are a vigil for all generations to keep.

Passover incorporates even earlier traditions. Once, an annual agricultural festival coincided with the first spring barley harvest. People were instructed to discard the old flour and over-ripe perpetual pot of chometz, leavening (yeast). Annually casting out leaven gives Matzo multiple meanings--from the bread of purity to the bread of affliction and ultimately the bread of freedom.

At another ancient ceremony, Jewish shepherds sacrificed the first-born lamb at a spring Festival of the Paschal Lamb. In ancient Israel, Jews observed Passover as one of three Pilgrimages to Jerusalem when the Kohanim offered sacrifices at the Great Temple to celebrate the spring festival of the new lamb and the new season. Since the Roman destruction of Jerusalem's Great Temple in 70 CE, the Paschal lamb is no longer sacrificed.

Only the Passover Pilgrimage to Jerusalem also required women to undertake the jouney. The Torah decreed, over time the Talmud interpreted and rabbis structured our Passover observances to focus in each Jewish home. At Passover many Jewish women still undertake a type of Passover pilgrimage as they create their families' home celebration. Thus, in Jewish homes around the world, each table becomes an altar.

The order of home preparation is Biblically commanded as well as the order at the Seder table and the meal itself.

New rituals reflect how the Jewish people recapture their Biblical heritage and continue to glean new meanings as they perform rituals from our forefathers and foremothers. Before looking at a single recipe or counting the chairs and invited guests, one should understand and know how to distinguish the Seder meal and days of Passover from all other days.

JOAN IS PASSIONATE ABOUT PASSOVER
The Kekst family seder table has grown each Passover since her mother-in-law packed up the Passover pots, pans and dishes and passed them on to Joan. Thirty-plus guests join the Keksts, their five children, spouses, and eight grandchild annually. Smiling, Joan says, "According to our eldest son, I cook just the right amount - too much! Everybody goes home full of new and traditional Passover flavors as well as a new seder memory to join those of Passovers past."

Joan is a clever cook, too. She understands that everyone recalls the aroma and nostalgia of childhood Passovers with their grandparents. Joan helps both the new and the experienced Passover cook capture and create traditional Passover flavors. Her book "Passover Cookery" contains recipes and a practical approach, with a complete "Countdown to Passover" guide, can bring you toward that special experience for your family and guests to dine at a memorable Passover table.