Pivotal Jewish holiday involves 'eating the story'
By John Quinlan, Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, April 18, 2008
Rabbi Hillel Greene of Congregation Beth Shalom holds a Passover Seder dish in front of the Ark at the Sioux City synagogue. (Sioux City Journal photo by Tim Hynds)
SIOUX CITY -- The Passover story from Exodus about the Jews' liberation from slavery in Egypt is "a pivotal story in our heritage," said Rabbi Hillel Greene of Congregation Beth Shalom.
And a big part of the holiday involves the seder meal during which the celebrants basically eat the story, he noted.
This year, Passover, or Pesach, begins Saturday with the critically important first seder meals Saturday and Sunday. Congregation Beth Shalom in Sioux City will host a community seder meal at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The other seder meals will be conducted in the community's Jewish homes -- the last important seder meal is held on the eighth and final day of the Passover holidays, he said, noting that the seder meals and the dietary restriction on leavened bread continue throughout the holidays.
Contrary to popular belief, the Passover holidays do not involve fasting.
Greene said Passover always begins on the 15th of Nisan, which is one of the Jewish months. One of Judaism's most important holidays, it is one of the three pilgrimage holidays, the others being Sukkot and Shavu'ot. These are holidays on which the Jews of ancient times went to Jerusalem and took special tidings or sacrifices to the temple.
"It is a spring holiday and it is a harvest holiday," he said. "So there's the two elements to the Passover story. One is the element of the harvest. And the other element is the historical basis for the holiday in which the Jews received their freedom from Pharaoh and moved out of Egypt and into Cana, the wilderness. It's a holiday of freedom -- religious sovereignty and religious freedom."
There are many names for the holidays, such as ha-Hasis, the holiday of gathering because it is an agricultural holiday. Then there are Chag Dror, the holiday of freedom, and Chag ha-Matzoe, the holiday of spring.
On those days when the Jews are forbidden by law from eating bread, meaning leaven and anything with yeast, they eat matzah, which is kind of a yeastless cracker, Greene said. "We clean our houses of anything leaven and anything that has to do with flour or yeast before the holiday begins. Talk about spring cleaning! It's a major spring cleaning," he said.
The first two days of Passover and the last two days, called yontifs, are particularly important, bookending the intermediate days during which people traditionally still eat matzah and go to work but maybe don't work as much, the rabbi said. On the yontifs, Jews traditionally refrain from work, go to services and strive for peaceful, calm days.
"That means quality time with your families and definitely having seders," he said. "The seder is the actual meal that we go through this story of this Passover "
It touches on the Exodus, the flight from Egypt, the sign of the plagues, including the death of the firstborn, and the journey into the desert. The text of the seder is written in a book called the Haggadah, which explains some of the practices and symbols of the holiday.
Portions of the ritualistic seder meal represent different elements of the story, Greene said.
"So the seder meal is actually eating the story," he quipped. "And everybody remembers the story. We're reading the story and we're saying prayers."
He mentioned the charoset, a sweet, dark-colored lumpy paste in which the matzah can be dipped, as representing the mortar of cement that was used by slaves to build the buildings of Egypt.
"And there's the maror, which is the horseradish, and it's very bitter, and that represents the bitterness of the life that the slaves had," he said. "And there's the parsley that represents spring, and we dip it in the water, which represents the tears of the slaves. We eat the matzah, which is the bread of humility, which they ate on the way out (of Egypt). They didn't have time for the dough to rise."
Four cups of wine are served during the seder, symbols of joy. Then, at various times, there are different layers of matzah taken out. One of the matzahs is called the afikomen, which means "dessert" in Greek. The afikomen is hidden in the room somewhere for the children to find. The children then bargain how much they can get for this piece of matzah before the seder continues, Greene said, noting that this is a fun way to get the children involved.
"It's a holiday, after all, of joy," he said.
"But the major thrust of the reading of the Haggadah is the understanding of our history, which is a history of persecution, of discrimination over the centuries, not just this particular time. This represents one of the times, and so we commemorate the liberation of our people."
And a big part of the holiday involves the seder meal during which the celebrants basically eat the story, he noted.
This year, Passover, or Pesach, begins Saturday with the critically important first seder meals Saturday and Sunday. Congregation Beth Shalom in Sioux City will host a community seder meal at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. The other seder meals will be conducted in the community's Jewish homes -- the last important seder meal is held on the eighth and final day of the Passover holidays, he said, noting that the seder meals and the dietary restriction on leavened bread continue throughout the holidays.
Contrary to popular belief, the Passover holidays do not involve fasting.
Greene said Passover always begins on the 15th of Nisan, which is one of the Jewish months. One of Judaism's most important holidays, it is one of the three pilgrimage holidays, the others being Sukkot and Shavu'ot. These are holidays on which the Jews of ancient times went to Jerusalem and took special tidings or sacrifices to the temple.
"It is a spring holiday and it is a harvest holiday," he said. "So there's the two elements to the Passover story. One is the element of the harvest. And the other element is the historical basis for the holiday in which the Jews received their freedom from Pharaoh and moved out of Egypt and into Cana, the wilderness. It's a holiday of freedom -- religious sovereignty and religious freedom."
There are many names for the holidays, such as ha-Hasis, the holiday of gathering because it is an agricultural holiday. Then there are Chag Dror, the holiday of freedom, and Chag ha-Matzoe, the holiday of spring.
On those days when the Jews are forbidden by law from eating bread, meaning leaven and anything with yeast, they eat matzah, which is kind of a yeastless cracker, Greene said. "We clean our houses of anything leaven and anything that has to do with flour or yeast before the holiday begins. Talk about spring cleaning! It's a major spring cleaning," he said.
The first two days of Passover and the last two days, called yontifs, are particularly important, bookending the intermediate days during which people traditionally still eat matzah and go to work but maybe don't work as much, the rabbi said. On the yontifs, Jews traditionally refrain from work, go to services and strive for peaceful, calm days.
"That means quality time with your families and definitely having seders," he said. "The seder is the actual meal that we go through this story of this Passover "
It touches on the Exodus, the flight from Egypt, the sign of the plagues, including the death of the firstborn, and the journey into the desert. The text of the seder is written in a book called the Haggadah, which explains some of the practices and symbols of the holiday.
Portions of the ritualistic seder meal represent different elements of the story, Greene said.
"So the seder meal is actually eating the story," he quipped. "And everybody remembers the story. We're reading the story and we're saying prayers."
He mentioned the charoset, a sweet, dark-colored lumpy paste in which the matzah can be dipped, as representing the mortar of cement that was used by slaves to build the buildings of Egypt.
"And there's the maror, which is the horseradish, and it's very bitter, and that represents the bitterness of the life that the slaves had," he said. "And there's the parsley that represents spring, and we dip it in the water, which represents the tears of the slaves. We eat the matzah, which is the bread of humility, which they ate on the way out (of Egypt). They didn't have time for the dough to rise."
Four cups of wine are served during the seder, symbols of joy. Then, at various times, there are different layers of matzah taken out. One of the matzahs is called the afikomen, which means "dessert" in Greek. The afikomen is hidden in the room somewhere for the children to find. The children then bargain how much they can get for this piece of matzah before the seder continues, Greene said, noting that this is a fun way to get the children involved.
"It's a holiday, after all, of joy," he said.
"But the major thrust of the reading of the Haggadah is the understanding of our history, which is a history of persecution, of discrimination over the centuries, not just this particular time. This represents one of the times, and so we commemorate the liberation of our people."
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traci wrote on Apr 18, 2008 10:17 PM: