Ready for Bedikat Chametz?

– The fridge and freezer are clean.
– The car has been hoovered.
– The pots and pans I’ll need in the next few days are kosher.
– I’ve bought new plates and cutlery for both meat and dairy food.
– The oven self-cleaned this morning.
– The new toothbrush is patiently waiting in the bathroom.
– I only need to get a few more vegetables and fruit tomorrow.
– I have a hairdresser appointment for tomorrow early afternoon.
– The cooking should be over by 6 pm.

I only hope I haven’t forgotten anything.

Tzedakah for Pesach

I have already blogged about Meir Panim yet after reading Treppenwitz’s post – the bread of affliction – and receiving mail from them I thought I would visit their website to check their projects for Pesach.

Passover Seders are hosted by Meir Panim in fifteen cities throughout Israel. The traditional Seder meals will be served in hotels to needy families.

Passover Food Cards will be distributed to thousands of needy families. These prepaid magnetic shopping cards enable them to purchase food and other necessary items for Pesach.

Passover Baskets will be delivered to the homes of those who need it most. These baskets include: matzah, wine, meat, potatoes, eggs, and fruit.

It is not too late to contribute. Donations to American Friends of Meir Panim are secure and tax deductible. You can also donate online or by giving to local branches if you are in Israel, Germany, France, Australia, the UK, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxemburg.

Meir Panim is also on Facebook.

Haveil Havalim & Links for Pesach Food

Imabima has compiled the new edition – or preparing for Pesach edition – of Haveil Havalim, the Jewish Weekly Blog Carnival. Check her blog for a great array of posts.

Trilcat has a wonderful apple cake recipe; it was included in last year’s pre-Pesach edition of kcc.

Numerous recipes on the OU website, check page 1 and page 2.

The Jewish Food Mailing List Recipe Archive has a list of Pesach recipes too.

A reminder: Recipes for Pesach at Leora’s.

First Born Sons

Regarding the death of the Egyptian first born sons, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik has written (or rather delivered) a fine shiur.

He reminds us that, in ancient civilizations, the first born sons had all the rights, even the right of life and death, over other people. This is the kind of system which prevailed in Egypt.

In Judaism things are different; in fact a lot of Torah stories show that the younger son is expected to assume the responsibility we normally associate with the first born. Neither Abraham nor Moshe was a first born and yet God assigned them the role assigned to elder sons in other civilizations.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik believes that by looking at how loving fathers behave with their elder sons we can get a glimpse of how a first born is expected to act. Thus he is the one a father will rely on for help. He also often teaches his younger siblings directly or because they wish to emulate him to grow up.

Israel was not the first nation. There were populous nations and strong kingdoms when Abraham acknowledged there was only one God. Similarly Jacob’s family descended to Egypt numbering only seventy persons, at the time when Joseph was viceroy of Egypt.

In Shemot (4:22) Moses is commanded to tell Pharaoh: “Thus says the Lord: Israel is My first-born son… Let My son go, that he may worship Me.” By refusing to let the children of Israel leave Egypt, Pharaoh prevents them from fulfilling their spiritual role as God’s first born son. He keeps them from teaching other nations about God just as a first born teaches his younger siblings.

This, for Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, is the reason for the tenth plague. This is also the reason for the fast of the first born on erev Pesach: to remind us of or spiritual mission and of the change that Gods law introduced into the world. Being the first-born son of God does not give the children of Israel special privileges. Quite the opposite, a weighty responsibility is placed on Israel to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Shemot 19:6)

Pesach Musings 2

מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת

For you what is the meaning of the tenth plague, Makkat Bchorot, that is to say the death of all Egyptian first born sons?

A Few Questions

From the most trivial to the most serious:

– What is so special about egg curry? For the past few weeks the recipe for Egg Curry has been the most widely read post on this blog.

– Does anybody know a blog or two written by articulate English-speaking teenagers? I’d like my students to have a glimpse into the life of their peers through a few authentic blogs.

– Are there Orthodox haggadot on line?

Whataever question(s) you choose to answer, all suggestions and links are welcome.

Israeli Potato Salad

A potato salad with a difference.

serves 4 people

4 potatoes, steamed and sliced
1 green chili pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
the juice of one lemon
olive oil
cilantro/parsley
salt and pepper
1 or 2 hard-boiled eggs

Slice the chili pepper very thinly. Put the potatoes and chili pepper (and sliced eggs) in a serving bowl. Mix the oil, lemon and garlic and season to taste. Pour the dressing on the other ingredients and the chopped cilantro/parsley.

Pesach Musings 1

After the Purim Quiz, I thought I would post more general questions in the run-up to Pesach. Feel free to share your understanding and practise.

How do you understand the concept of nifsal me’achilat kelev – not even fit to feed a dog – in the context of Pesach?

Nature Notes: Festival of Spring

The festival of Pesach, the Jewish word for Passover, has five different names. One of them is Chag Ha-Aviv, that is to say the Festival of Spring.

The choice of the season is found in the Torah: “Observe the month of Spring and keep the Passover unto the L-rd your G-d, for in the month of Spring the L-rd your G-d brought you out of Egypt by night” (Devarim 16:1).

What spring is to Nature, the Exodus is to the Jewish people. In spring, we witness the awakening of Nature to new life after the long and dark winter months. Similarly, Exodus marks the awakening of the children of Israel to new life after long and dark years in slavery.

The awakening of Nature is already quite tangible in my part of the world with new tender green buds and flowers (narcissi and daffodils) in my garden. Even the quality of the light seems to have changed. I hope that the photo above captures all this.

Has your area changed? How do you feel the awakening of spring?

Michelle of Rambling Woods started a new meme called “Nature Notes.” This is my firs contribution. Have a look at her blog for more “Nature Notes”.

Pre-Pesach Suggested Reading

-For those who missed Monday’s post, The Chief Rabbi’s Haggadah, for its beautiful essays and commentary and emphasis on ethics by Jonathan Sacks.

– The chapter on Pesach in How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg.

– Pesach for the Rest of Us: Making the Passover Seder Your Own by Marge Piercy, the American poet, novelist, and social activist. One I highly recommend it, whether you are a traditional Jew or a less conventional one. Marge Piercy beautifully combines tradition and more contemporary thoughts, highlighting how the different aspects of Pesach are still relevant for us today. Marge Piercy is a writer and she has obviously spent a lot of time investigating Jewish commentaries on Pesach. Thus she manages to convey the wealth contained in each detail of the seder night in a way I could never dream of achieving.

– Festival of Freedom by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, a series of ten essays on Pesach and the Haggadah. Not as difficult a book as his other ones. These essays are quite enlightning and provide profound insights on different aspects of this holiday.

Anything else you’d like to mention?