Category: Passover (page 1 of 1)

Each year Jewish people from around the globe gather to celebrate Passover. As millions of people spend eight days eating unleavened bread, or Matzah, others might be confused as to what the festival even is. What is Passover truly about? Why do Jewish people celebrate it? And why has it become the quintessential Jewish celebration? These are all questions that may arise when talking about the holiday, and the answers are fascinating to say the least.

Passover is the Jewish festival celebrating the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt. According to the Torah, which is the Jewish bible, after Jacob and his twelve sons came down to Egypt in search of food, they were forced into slavery by Pharaoh. After 200 years of slavery, Moses, the Jewish leader, commanded Pharaoh to let the Jewish people out of Egypt. Pharaoh was extremely stubborn however, and refused to let the Jewish people leave. According to the Torah, Moses brought down 10 plagues upon the Egyptians, including turning the Nile River into blood, the pestilence of livestock, and the death of all firstborn children. After these plagues, Pharaoh finally allowed the Jewish people to leave. As the Jewish people prepared to finally leave the bonds of servitude, there was a feeling of fear amongst them that Pharaoh might change his mind and keep the Jewish people enslaved. This caused them to rush out of Egypt with great haste. However, since they worked so fast to flee their captors, their bread had no time to properly rise. They had to bake the bread when it was completely unleavened, which led to a hard, crunchy, flat-bread. This bread is called Matzah, and is referred to as “the poor man’s bread,” because the Jewish people were enslaved when they made it, and its only components are flour and water.

A plate of Matzahs, “The Poor Man’s Bread.”

As has been tradition in the Jewish faith for centuries, each year Jewish people from all across the globe celebrate their freedom from servitude, and these celebrations can differ wildly, but they are interconnected through a common theme, freedom. “Zman Cherutainu,” or “the time of freedom,” is how the Jewish people refer to Passover in their prayer books. And on the first two of the eight nights of Passover, the Jewish people celebrate that freedom in the form of a Seder (an event which includes telling the Exodus story, eating the festival meal, and a whole host of other activities). Perhaps no event is more quintessentially Jewish than a Passover Seder. Even the most unaffiliated Jews, who don’t even go to synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, celebrate a Passover Seder. It is the one time of year that every Jewish person comes together to celebrate their heritage and culture.

A Passover Seder at the White House

Although some people celebrate the Seder in a cultural sense, there is a scriptural mandate for one to have a Seder, and many Jewish people view the Seder as a religious event. The Torah mandates two specific acts must be performed on the Seder night. The first is the telling of the story of the Exodus to one’s children, and the second is to eat Matzah (Simmons, 2003). However, the Seder isn’t that simple. Seders generally begin after sunset and can go until long after midnight due to several different procedures that must be performed. These include a whole range of activities, from eating the bitter herbs (Maror in Hebrew), to drinking four cups of wine (or grape juice if one prefers), to the songs of praise that are sung to God, and top that all off with an entire festive meal and the story of the Exodus. With all of these events occurring in one night, it becomes easy to see why Seders can take such a long time to complete.

The bitter herbs of Passover, Maror, are generally made of ground horseradish.

In addition to the Seder night celebrations, there are also certain restrictions that Jewish law lays out for Passover. Perhaps the most important law is the restriction against eating any leavened food, or Chametz, on Passover. This restriction is an extremely serious one, so religious Jewish people are extra careful not to eat Chametz. But, what exactly is Chametz? And what makes a food Chametz? Simply put, Chametz is any food made out of wheat, barley, rye, oats, or spelt, that has been mixed with water and allowed to ferment (Shurpin). Chametz includes virtually all breads, pastas, cakes, and cookies, made from the five grains listed above. The laws of Chametz can be quite boring and technical, but there are a few interesting things regarding Chametz, especially the commercialization of non-Chametz food on Passover. We will get into this topic soon, and discuss how the holiday of Passover is observed by different groups of Jewish people, as well as how it has become commercialized.

The Seders of old were not too elegant. In the old country most Jewish people had issues with acquiring food that was Kosher for Passover. This led to a less than enjoyable eight days of Passover, as it was extremely difficult to find food that was devoid of any leavened products. Jewish law dictates that food needs to be watched by a Rabbi in order to be certified Kosher. On Passover this becomes even more difficult because not only does food need to be certified Kosher but also needs to not have any leavened product, or Chametz in it. As we have already discussed, the laws of Chametz are some of the most serious in Judaism, and as a result Jewish people will only eat food on Passover if they are certain there is no Chametz in it. This was very difficult in the old country, as without technology it was difficult to create baked foods without flour. However, things have gotten better over the years. Now, Jewish people have access to a whole array of Kosher for Passover pastas, cookies, and even bread…yes, Kosher for Passover bread!

Kosher for Passover noodles.

This new availability of different food types has led to a mass commercialization of Passover foods. Prices on Kosher Passover food is marked up an absurd amount, from the supermarket to restaurants that opt to “turn over” for Passover. Turning over means that for eight days, entire Kosher restaurants clear out all non-Passover food in their inventory and sell only Kosher for Passover foods. Since this requires a lot of work,  restaurants open on Passover mark-up prices an absurd amount. For example, a 16 inch pizza that costs maybe one or two dollars to make will be sold for thirty dollars. That’s not a typo. Given Kosher pizza is generally more expensive than its non-Kosher counterpart, but even for Kosher pizza, this is a markup of about 50%. And remember, this pizza isn’t even made with dough, but rather potato starch (pizza dough made from potato starch is not Chametz). So stores can charge more, for a lesser quality item, and people will pay for it, because it’s Passover and for some reason they can’t wait 8 days for their next slice.

An array of Kosher for Passover foods, including pizza, cupcakes, and sandwiches.

Now if you think that thirty dollars for a pizza is a bit absurd, allow me to introduce you to the concept of Passover programs. A Passover program is one in which an entire hotel’s kitchen is made Kosher for Passover, and Seders and other activities are held on the hotel’s grounds over the course of the eight-day holiday. Prices can start at as high as $11,000 per head. Once again, that is not a typo. Some people will spend more than a quarter-million dollars so that their entire family can participate in these extremely luxurious programs. And at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point, CA, $11,000 is just the entry fee. Participants can pay $3,800 for a recording session with Ariana Grande, or $2,200 for a meet-and-greet with Kylie and Kendall Jenner (Lewak, 2015). David Sable, one of the attendees of the over-the-top program said, “It’s the best of the Catskills, but elegantly on steroids.” I can’t help but agree with you David, that describes it perfectly.

Football players, Vontaze Burfict and Mark Sanchez with guests at the St. Regis over Passover.

As we’ve already discussed in our overview of the holiday, Passover is not only a holiday of freedom but also one of unity in the Jewish community. The Passover Seder is universal in Judaism, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t tensions that come to the surface between different groups of Jewish people regarding the Seder celebration. Given, these differences aren’t your typical run-of-the-mill holiday tensions. Generally, when people think about holiday tensions, they imagine sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner, only to find themselves 30 minutes later in a fierce political debate. No, these tensions are different, and they generally don’t involve people who are eating the Seder together. These disagreements arise because there are different types of Seders that are celebrated, and some Seders are more well received by the Jewish community than others.

There are a few different types of Seders that we can talk about. First, we have traditional Passover Seders. These are Seders that are held in the traditional sense as mandated by the Torah.  The primary tool of these Seders is the traditional Haggadah (The book that is used on the Seder night to tell the Passover story). However, there are plenty of different types of Seders other than the traditional styles. Some have been accepted amongst the Jewish people and others have been met with scorn and disdain from Jews around the world.

A traditional Passover Haggadah cover.

Let’s talk about the first type, the Seders that have been accepted with open arms by the Jewish community. Interfaith Seders are a style of Seder in which either a Rabbi or a learned Jewish person leads the Seder, and people from all backgrounds, Jewish or otherwise, are welcome to join in. The idea behind the interfaith Seder is that people from all backgrounds are invited to attend. These styles of Seder generally occur in interfaith households, where one parent is Jewish and the other is not, and the family wants to include their non-Jewish relatives in the Passover Seder. The source for the interfaith Seder comes directly from the Haggadah. Before beginning the story of leaving Egypt a passage is read from the Haggadah. “All those who are hungry, let them enter and eat. All who are in need, let them come celebrate the Passover” (Zimmerman). These words have been interpreted as meaning that even those who aren’t Jewish are welcome to attend the Seder.

Most progressive Jewish people have been fairly welcoming to the idea of an interfaith Seder, however, in more religious communities, the idea is extremely foreign. Speaking from personal experience, I grew up in a household where I was never even told about interfaith Seders. However, I was able to talk to a friend who attended an interfaith Seder at his university, and it really brought to light the importance of interfaith Seders. I learned that interfaith Seders are integral to the Jewish experience, as they provide a way to hold a Seder in which everyone is accepted. “Let’s say there’s a guy who has a non-Jewish girlfriend, or vice versa, what is he supposed to do for his Seder. Is he or she allowed to bring their significant other?” As my friend Hillel explained to me, this problem occurs throughout college campuses across America, and interfaith Seders are a means to solve that problem. Another issue that he brought up was education. He explained that interfaith Seders are a way to teach people about the Jewish faith, and educate someone who otherwise wouldn’t understand Jewish tradition.

An interfaith Seder

There’s a specific type of interfaith Seder that has become popular over the years, but perhaps it’s even less common than interfaith Seders. I am talking about jointly held Seders between members of the Jewish community and Black community. This style of Seder, dubbed a “Freedom Seder,” dates back to April 1968. In the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., riots had broken out in Washington, and when Arthur Waskow, a Jewish man, saw the military ride through Washington DC, he told himself, “This is Pharaoh’s army” (Zauzmer, 2018). The following year, Waskow wrote his own version of the Haggadah which incorporated both thoughts from the traditional book, as well as ideas of Black liberation. More than 800 people, both Jewish and Christian alike came together to celebrate the first Freedom Seder in 1969, and they chanted praises not only to the prophet Elijah, but also to Dr. King and even Gandhi. The Freedom Seder was a tremendous accomplishment in the history of Black-Jewish relationships, and just last year many participants of the original 1969 Seder came together for the fiftieth Freedom Seder, which was held in Silver Spring Methodist Church. The event marked an important crossroads on the path to freedom for disgruntled minorities, both racial and religious, and the event has strengthened the bond between both communities.

Now that we’ve covered Seders that are accepted within the Jewish community, let’s transition to a more controversial topic. Messianic Christian Seders, or simply Christian Seders, are the final type of offshoot Seder that has come about in the past few years, and unlike interfaith and freedom Seders, Christian Seders have been met with much backlash from the Jewish community. In short, Christian Seders are those that are led by Messianic Jews (Jews for Jesus) and are based on the idea that the Last Supper was a Seder (Smardz, 2006). These Seders generally push a Christian agenda which many Jews find appropriative and downright offensive, especially because the idea that the Last Supper was a Seder has been debunked. Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg asserts that the Last Supper could in fact not have been a Seder, as during the time of Jesus, the traditional Passover Seder as we know today didn’t even exist (Ruttenberg, 2018). Some have noted that for centuries Christians would deny the fact that Jesus was Jewish, and spread false rumors about Jewish bakers using Christian blood into Matzahs (Anti-Defamation League). These rumors led to mass persecutions and pogroms against Jewish people, and Jews nowadays find it extremely inappropriate that Christians would make a shift from religious persecution to appropriation. For this reason, Ruttenberg suggests that Christians who wish to celebrate Passover attend interfaith Seders hosted by Jewish friends.

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg at the Western Wall.

The Seder is the quintessential form Jewish culture. It involves ideas that are central to the religion as a whole, such as inclusion, freedom, and helping others. However, the Seder can be a source of serious conflict between different groups of people. But they can also be a source of unity. Interfaith and Freedom Seders alike bring together different groups of people for a great cause and continue to inspire Jews who have taken on a refreshing twist to a centuries old tradition.