Passover: Bringing Israel into your Seder

From the iCenter.org

The Passover Seder is a unique opportunity to have an open discussion with your friends, family and loved ones. Below, please find a few suggestions of how to bring Israel into your Passover conversation.

Next year in Jerusalem

The Passover Seder traditionally ends with the phrase, L'shanah haba'ah beyerushalaim – Next year in Jerusalem! Which begs the question: How can we bring the people, land, and the mocern State of Israel into our Seder this year?

Get the conversation rolling:

1. What does next year in Jerusalem mean to you?  Talk about how modern Israel fits into your identity. Have you ever been to Jerusalem? How often does your family go to Israel? Do you see Israel as more than a tourist destination?  Have you ever thought about living in Israel?

2. When you think of Passover and Israel, what comes to mind? Ask your guests to bring a picture of what Israel means to them to the Seder, and share that meaning around the table. (Think: Israelis shopping for Pesach; A calendar showing only one Seder, as Israelis observe; chametz burning fires in parks; or more conceptual ideas, like Israel as freedom

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For more Passover ideas, check out our Passover Holiday Spotlight Kit

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First-ever Canadian Haggadah has a distinctly north-of-the-border vibe

By Ron Csillag for JTA

In this rendition of the Passover story, the Children of Israel do not play ice hockey or drink kosher l’Pesach maple syrup.

But the first-ever Canadian Haggadah does have a distinctly Canuck vibe.

For one thing the Canadian Haggadah Canadienne is in three languages – English, French and Hebrew. And instead of the standard illustrations of the Israelites building the pyramids or Moses parting the Red Sea, it features archival photographs that trace the history of Canada’s Jewish community, the world’s fourth largest.

The volume offers “a Canadian perspective on our timeless story of freedom – our Jewish history as seen through Canadian eyes,” states its introduction.

Compiled by Rabbi Adam Scheier of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in Montreal and Richard Marceau, general counsel and political adviser at the Ottawa-based Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the hefty (168-page) Haggadah aims “to deepen the Canadian Jewish identity by presenting something that’s uniquely Canadian,” Scheir told JTA. “It’s never been done.”

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How Martin Luther King, Jr. Inspired a Passover Seder

By Tamar Fox for Jewniverse

Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated just eight days before Passover in 1968. Among those grieving his loss were Jews who had joined his nonviolent protest movement, and were dedicated to the causes of civil rights and peace that he championed. Many Jews brought discussions about civil rights to their seder tables that year.

By the next year, Rabbi Arthur Waskow had come up with the Freedom Seder. The inaugural seder, held in a black church in the heart of Washington D.C., and attended by Jews and other civil rights activists, intertwined the story of slavery under Pharaoh with the story of Black America’s struggle for liberation, and the liberation of other peoples as well.

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Time to Start Cleaning for Passover

Passover A to Z

A quick overview of the Passover process

from Chabad.org

A month before Passover:

B. Begin learning about Passover and studying its laws.

C. Begin the house cleaning process. Methodically inspect and rid every part of your home of any traces of chametz. Be on the lookout for crumbs of all sorts, hidden stashes of crunchy chocolate, fermented drinks (nearly all are made with grain), etc. Make a list of all the rooms in your house, and cross off each one as you complete it.
Enforce the pre-Passover house rules: No food may leave the kitchen. After eating, clothes must be brushed off and hands thoroughly washed.

D. Set aside a special space or spaces to stash the chametz you will be selling for the duration of Passover (see next item). This can be a closet, a cabinet in the kitchen, or a room in the basement, as long as it can be locked and inaccessible to you for all of Passover.

E. Arrange for the selling of your chametz. Fill out a form and bring it to your Rabbi, delegating to him the task of selling your chametz before Passover. (You can also sell your chametz online.)

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For other great holiday tips, check out Jvillage Network's Passover Holiday Kit. 

Purim is More Than Just ‘Jewish Halloween’

Why the common comparison sells the Jewish holiday short

By Leah Damski for Tablet Magazine

This past Halloween, a non-Jewish acquaintance at the gym asked me what my children would be dressing up as when they went trick-or-treating. As Orthodox Jews, I explained to her, we don’t celebrate Halloween. The next thing out of my mouth surprised me.

“We have a holiday in the spring called Purim where the kids dress up in costumes and receive candy and other gifts.”

I knew Purim had absolutely no similarities to Halloween beyond the costume tradition, but I felt obligated to appease my gym friend. I wanted her to know that my kids weren’t deprived of the joy and art of costumes and treats.

“They knock on people’s doors asking for candy?” she asked, trying to disguise her shock. “In the spring?”

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Check out Jvillage's Purim Holiday Kit for great ideas about the holiday – crafts, recipes, etc.


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