PESACH (PASSOVER)

When the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt,  God sent a leader, Moses, to persuade Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, to free them. When Pharaoh refused, God sent 10 plagues to the land.  After the 10th plague, Pharaoh agreed to let the Hebrews leave. They left so quickly that they had no time to properly bake their bread for the trip.  The flat, crisp bread they did bake, we call matzah. Our family preparation includes buying Pesach foods and ridding our homes of all bread, cakes, and other chametz (leaven).  The seder is a special meal that begins the holiday with prayer, food and song.  Each person has a Haggadah, a special Pesach prayer book, from which to read the service.  There is a seder plate with maror (bitter herbs), zeroah (a roasted shank bone), karpas (a vegetable), beitzah (a roasted egg), and charoset (a mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon and wine. There is also wine and a plate of three matzot.  The youngest child asks the Mah Nishtanah (Four Questions).  At the seder, each participant should celebrate as if he or she just became free.  We recline while eating the matzah and drinking the wine.

 Pesach Reflections from Our Clergy:
The Genius of Passover

The Exodus story in the Pesach Haggadah begins, "We were slaves in the Land of Egypt." The formula begins with "we" instead of "they" in order to encourage each of us to imagine that "we" were liberated from bondage in Egypt. We recreate the story in song, story, and food to further engage each of individually. Everyone is included: from the youngest who might chant the Four Questions to the oldest who might bless the candles as they are lit. Everyone is included: from the generation that crossed the Red Sea to the generations that are seated around our Seder table. All of us can share the hope and promise of liberation.

The formula using "we" suggests something else as well. This formula urges each of us to consider ways in which we might be "enslaved" today. We are invited to ask ourselves to consider the ways in which we have lived during the year since last Pesach bound by our prejudices, subservient to our possessions, and enslaved by our passions. In this way, our ancestors’ story of slavery stands in for the most exaggerated and public version of our own private addictions or compulsions. Our personal exodus to freedom must include an inner voyage, in the same way that our people’s exodus was accomplished by a journey through the wilderness.

The genius of the Pesach celebration is that by holding the Seder with our family we experience both the hope of liberation and the means to accomplish it. This is true whether our Seder family is one of blood relatives or the extended families of close friends and neighbors. Just as our ancestors leaving Egypt were united across the generations, we can unite our families across the generations. Just as our ancestors leaving Egypt transcended class and power divisions, our families transcend those same divisions. We are united in common liberation across and beyond the generations.

Eating, singing, and talking with family at our Seder are a most human experience. Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, in his book The Jewish Way, teaches that the symbol of enjoying a Seder with family affirms that our transformation to freedom can be accomplished by human action on a human scale. After all, what could be more human than eating, singing, and talking with our families? Extending ourselves to include others in our Seder is a most natural way to extend the lessons of Pesach. Only by creating the kind of community represented by family – a community of caring and nourishing, of sharing and protecting – and extending it outward will we be able to bring about the full liberation of all humanity.

Our prayer for each of you and for this most sacred congregation during this Pesach season is that each of us might experience this hope and promise and be inspired to unite the spirit of our families.

RECIPES:

Fairmount Temple's wonderful cookbook, Tastes of Judaism: Recipes, Rituals & Reflections, includes 23 pages of recipes, menus and crafts for Passover. Among the 45 recipes, you'll find Fruited Passover Kugel, Leek-Feta Patties, Dried Cherry and Pear Haroset, and Matzah Balls.  To order your copy of the cookbook, call 216-464-1330 or click here for an order form.

Traditional Ashkenazi Charoses 10 apples, medium to large, cored but not peeled 1 1/4 pounds walnuts, coarsely ground 5 teaspoons cinnamon 10 teaspoons sugar 1 1/4 cups sweet red wine Coarsely chop apples. Combine wiht remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Store in a refrigerator until ready to use. 10+ cups	"My mother got this recipe from a Boston cousin and always made a lot. My brother and I ate it at every meal and, if we weren't caught, between meals too!"
Leek-Feta Patties 1 large leek, cut lengthwise 3/4 cup boiling water 1 teaspoon salt 2 sheets of matzah, broken into pieces 3 eggs, beaten 5 ounces Feta cheese 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 clove garlic, crushed Oil Discard dark green leek leaves and rinse thoroughly. Dice, then parboil 10 minutes in salted water. Remove from heat, Add matzah. Mix well; let stand 5 minutes. Drain out water; mash leek and matzah together. Add next 4 ingredients. Mix well. Heat oil in pan and drop in one tablespoonful at a time. Fry until golden on both sides. Drain and serve warm or cold. 10 to 12 patties	Use egg substitute in any of these recipes.
Chocolate Almond Meringues 6 counces semi-sweet chocolate, melted 3 egg whites 1/2 cup sugar 3/4 cup almonds, slivered Salt Heat oven to 350°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment. Melt chocolate. Begin to beat egg whites, adding a pinch of salt, then adding sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and beating until all sugar has been added and whites are glossy and stiff. Gently fold in melted chocolate, then fold in almonds. Drop by generous teaspoonful onto cookie sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Cool several minutes on parchment before removing to cooling rack. 30+ cookies

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