becomingsimcha - Tumblr blog

becomingsimcha · 4 years ago

Text

So You Want to Celebrate Pesach

The instructions in this post is for people who are Jewish (including those who are ethnically so, but not raised Jewishly), converting to Judaism, seriously interested in Jewish conversion, or are Jewish-Adjacent (part of an interfaith family, etc.).

It is not for gentiles who wish to ��deepen their connection to Jesus” or any similar reason uninvolved with genuine interest in becoming a part of the tribe or participating with loved ones, as that is a form of cultural appropriation. Seriously. Stop hosting Xtian Seders, I’m begging you.

Thank you for your understanding. Gentiles CAN, however, learn and reblog!

Past Posts: Jewish Conversion / Rosh Chodesh / Rosh Hashanah / Days of Awe/ Religious Fasting / Yom Kippur / Sukkot / Sh’mini Atzeret & Simchat Torah / Chanukah / Tu B’Shevat / Fighting Antisemitism / Purim / Branches of Judaism / Second Temple Judaism

IT IS OFFICIALLY SPRING! And you know what that means - PESACH! This is the first festival of the Jewish Liturgical Calendar, the festival of the beginning of Harvests, and the Season of our Freedom. So how do you do Pesach?

[Remember - “Ch” in transliterated Hebrew Words is the same as that guttural back of the throat sound in the Scottish word “Loch”]

Learn what Pesach is

Pesach is one of the Shalosh Regalim - the Three Pilgrimage Festivals - and arguably the most famous one of the bunch (probably because it has the most interesting story in the Torah attached to it)

In Temple Times, individuals would bring their harvest to the Temple in Jerusalem, to be sacrificed to HaShem by the High Priest. This happened three times a year: at the beginning of spring, when the growing began; at the end of spring, when the initial crops were finishing up for harvest and the summer crops were beginning; and at the end of summer/beginning of fall, as the last harvests were in full swing

These festivals originated in ancient times for the same reason as every culture’s harvest fest - to celebrate nature, the fact that we have food, and to mark the turn of the year

But, we’re Jews, so we turned them all into holidays that also mark parts of our history

We’ve already learned about the late summer/early autumn one, Sukkot (plus Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah), which, due to it being in autumn, has retained most of its harvest-festival characteristics more than the others

Soon, we’ll learn about the late spring/early summer one, Shavuot (the shortest of the three)

But now, we have the early spring one - Pesach - from the 15th of Nisan through the 21 or 22nd of Nisan

Pesach is known by many names!

The Festival of Pesach, for the sacrifice of a lamb that usually occurred at this time of year during Temple times (and is still carried out by the Samaritan community) (Chag Ha-Pesach)

Passover, for the fact that HaShem passed over the houses of the Jews during the 10th plague in Egypt - where we were enslaved (Mitrayim - the Narrow Place)

This is problematic though because that’s not really what “pesach” means

And like, it’s apocryphal, because pesach didn’t start as a historical feast any more than shavuot or sukkot did

We just ascribed them historical meaning as the jewish religion developed within the jewish people

It’s really about the lamb we sacrificed and the unleavened bread we ate around the time spring began and our crops began to grow

We can debate about the historicity of the exodus until time immemorial (ftr, I’ve read “The Exodus” by Richard Elliot Friedman, and my Official Take is that it happened in Some Form but not literally as written in the Torah. My guess? A small group that would become the Levites in Israelite culture was enslaved in Egypt, got really lucky, and escaped. But that’s just my guess) but the holiday of pesach was originally an agricultural festival that we associated with the historical/mythological event of the Exodus

So Passover came out of a mistranslation of the original Torah text, which then got ascribed meaning with the historical story, but “paschal lamb” or whatever isn’t really about passing over, it’s about the sacrifice made at the start of the growing half of the agricultural year

Probably because the lambs were all born by that point and had been with their mothers for a good chunk of time (lambing season in the levant is like december-january) and one could be taken away from a mother for a sacrifice to celebrate the lambs making it through the winter, etc.

Source for this whole controversial take on the “passing over” thing: my rabbi. So don’t come at me here

The Festival of Unleavened Bread, for the…. unleavened bread that we eat exclusively during this week (Chag Ha-Matzot)

The Festival of Freedom, or Redemption, because we associate Pesach with our liberation from slavery in Egypt (Chag Ha-Cheirut) (also, the Season of our Liberation, for similar reasons)

The Festival of Spring, because it is heavily associated with spring in the Torah (Aviv), takes place as the start of it, and is about spring and the start of the growing season (Chag Ha-Aviv)

Pesach, as described in the Torah, is a seven-day festival, preceded by a burnt offering of a lamb

During Pesach, we remember the Exodus from Egypt

According to the Torah, we were enslaved in Egypt for ~ 400 years

In order to achieve our freedom, Gd (hereafter referred to as HaShem) - through HaShem’s servent, Moshe, through his sister Miriam and brother Aaron - performed a series of 10 plagues to drive the Pharaoh of Egypt into letting the Israelites go

When the final plague finally lead to Pharaoh letting us go, we had to run the hell out of there. Because of this, it’s said we didn’t have time to let our dough rise - we had to eat bread unleavened

Because of this, we are commanded to refrain from leavened bread - chametz - for seven days, at the same time we used to offer the paschal offering

The two had nothing to do with each other in ancient israelite days, but were combined together to form Pesach

The Festival of Pesach, aka the festival of the pesach offering, lasts one day. The festival of unleavened bread lasts seven days.

Hence, we have a seder - our modern replacement for the offering - on the first (or second) night, but refrain from chametz every night

(You can still have seders every night, this isn’t a hard and fast rule, but the vast majority are on the first two nights)

Still, despite the fact that these customs originated prior to ascribing it to the story of the exodus, they are now combined today under the story

Again, the historicity of the exodus story isn’t the point of this post

Obviously, a huge exodus of millions of people from Egypt, migrating through the desert to the Levant, isn’t supported by archaeological evidence

But, again, there are smaller events that are possible (Read The Exodus and then we can have an actual discussion)

And even if nothing did happen, what happened was that we incorporated this into our national culture and self-perception, and used this knowledge - that we were mistreated for being strangers - to formulate our entire moral philosophy and mythology

Moving on now for real

In the story of the exodus, the unleavened bread (Matzah, Matza, Matzoh, Matzo, Matzos, etc.) was - as mentioned - because we were in a hurry

Well, also because yeast is seen as a mystical substance, especially in ancient times when we didn’t really know much about it

The rising of bread is seen as a very magical thing, and so there’s a motif of not letting bread rise in especially holy situations in Judaism

So, we refrain from leaven/chametz on Pesach because it’s the holiest of the harvest fests; we didn’t use leaven in sacrifices in temple times; and the priests were supposed to not eat leaven ever because they were the Holy members of the people of israel

So, for the week of pesach, it’s kind of like we’re always offering our food to HaShem/we are all priests, even more so than the rest of the year

Because the Jewish people are a nation of priests

That’s a whole other conversation tho

Also, it’s said we refrain to remove the “puffiness” from ourselves as well - a spring cleaning of our souls

But the paschal sacrifice?

Okay so before Moshe started trying to get Pharaoh to let the people go and everything the (different? earlier?) Pharaoh killed all of the baby boys of the Israelites because we were becoming too numerous

Side note but Moshe was one of those boys and then he was hidden in the nile and taken in by the Pharaoh’s daughter and that’s why we have Prince of Egypt I mean that’s why we have Moshe moving on now

So, the final plague in the whole trying to let the people go thing, was the murder of firstborn sons of all of the egyptians

For whatever reason, to not kill the firstborn sons of the Israelites, we had to put markers on our doors

This was blood from the paschal sacrifice, painted across the doorposts of the houses of the Israelites so that Gd, or the Angel of Death, or someone would pass over the house

Interestingly enough it seems that this sacrifice was originally Moshe’s plan for getting the Israelites out of Egypt - he says to Pharaoh in the Torah that they’re just going to leave for a few days to worship HaShem and sacrifice to HaShem away from Egypt, but Pharaoh wasn’t even down with that so yeaaah

So that’s the story explanation for both parts of this holiday

We start spring remembering that we are a Free People, but that we got there through bloodshed and suffering, so we have to remember it - we have to honor those lost - etc

Never think jewish people don’t feel guilty about the plagues because yeah we do

we pour out wine during the seder because shit man, people died and that’s no good

We call matzah the bread of affliction because A) it’s the bread of suffering, just remember you can only eat matzah as your one gluten product for a whole week and B) we suffered, they suffered, everyone suffered so that the israelites could be free

We recount this story and remember it during Pesach! Especially now that most of us aren’t Israeli farmers who live by the agricultural season this holiday was originally based on

We are, in fact, commanded to remember the Exodus from Egypt. And this is where the Seder meal comes in

I’ll get more into how it works in a second, but the Seder is essentially Jewish Dinner theatre

It’s a pageant designed to go over the history of the Exodus from Egypt and remember the events with rituals and symbolic foods

Everyone has roles to play and every part of it is carefully choreographed

The seder touches on themes of freedom, social justice, Jewish Identity & history, and Jewish pride

The seder is the major event of the holiday of Pesach, especially since we don’t do the sacrifice anymore

This is especially poignant because the Exodus is like, our national/cultural identity thing. No other event - mythological or otherwise - is so fundamental to the Jewish identity. So the holiday in celebration of that event is paramount in our national consciousness

“Wait!” I hear you say, “Isn’t Pesach eight days?”

Ha haha hahahHahahahah HAHAHAAH

long story buuut back in the day when we didn’t calculate our calendars there was a guy in jerusalem who’s job was announcing when it was a new moon

that guy would then signal across the mediterranean/middle east to say “hey it’s a new month so count fifteen days from now and then it’s the next holiday/wait for the full moon and then it’s the next holiday”

this signal was with fire

people liked to mess with us, introducing ambiguity into the signal

in addition, the farther we spread out, the longer it took for the signal to get to places (phones weren’t a thing) and it was possible people would make mistakes about when the festival would take place

so we added an extra day to a lot of our festivals

However, we now have the magical power of math to help us figure out when festivals are

We know when pesach is. There’s no ambiguity.

So we have two camps: people who celebrate 7 days of Pesach, and people who celebrate 8 days of Pesach

8 day people are individuals who follow traditional/trad-egal Judaism in the diaspora

This is mainly conservative/reconstructionist, orthodox, sephardi/mizrachi jews, again, in every country but Israel

Even though we have a calculated, exact calendar, they still observe the 8 days, as it is the way pesach was observed for the most recent giant chunk of Jewish history

7 Day People fall into multiple groups

People in Israel of all groups (except for some notable exceptions who maintain the 8 day tradition even in Israel)

The Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), because they split off before the Talmud was written and, thus, didn’t get the memo about the eight days thing

Karaite Jews, because they follow only Torah, and not the Talmud, and the Torah says 7 days

Reform Jews (and most Renewal), because we can calculate calendars now why do we need the eighth day let’s go back to the og pesach

I leave which observation you follow - 7 or 8 days - up to you. It depends on which observance pattern speaks to you more, really

Depending on whether you observe 8 or 7 days of Pesach, certain days are considered Yomim Tovim (singular Yom Tov) - Happy Days, or especially holy days of the festival where no work is to be done, much like on Shabbat

One day I’ll write my Shabbat post I swear

For people who celebrate for eight days, the Yomim Tovim are the first two days and the last two days

For people who celebrate for seven, it’s the first and the last

Though there is variability out there - first two and last one, notably

The days in between are called the Chol HaMoed - intermediate days - where work can be done, but the days are still special and celebrated, and the provision against eating chametz is still observed

Then, at the end, the first day after pesach is observed as a holiday in its own right - called Mimouna in Sephardic circles, and Buho in Beta Israel circles, it is a celebration of the return to chametz and the ending of the pesach season

Because Pesach is the holiday which celebrates the biggest event in Jewish collective consciousness, it’s the most celebrated Jewish holiday - even amongst otherwise nonpracticing Jewish people

It’s also the ultimate Jewish holiday because it checks off all the boxes: They tried to kill us, They Failed, Let’s Eat, and Trees (because harvestfest)

The proper greeting for the holiday is Chag Sameach or Chag Pesach Sameach

Begin Preparing Well in Advance

Because this is a holiday that involves giving up something that is usually a fixture in all of our lives, it involves a lot of prep - both in our personal existence, and in the Jewish calendar

Honestly a giant chunk of the special (re: unusual) Shabbats are right before Pesach

The Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh (new month) Nisan (month of Pesach) is Shabbat Parah - Shabbat of the Red Heifer, recounting the purification process for Temple-era Jews prior to Pesach

The Shabbat right after Rosh Chodesh Nisan is Shabbat HaChodesh - Shabbat of the Month, recounting about how Rosh Chodesh Nisan is technically the first day of the first month of the Jewish calendar (more on that in a bit)

And finally, the Shabbat right before Pesach is Shabbat HaGadol - The Great Shabbat - a very spiritual shabbat where we prepare mentally for Pesach. Also a traditionally-observant Jew’s worst nightmare because of Pesach prep

This is also the beginning of the Jewish Liturgical Calendar

This is where we mark the start of Jewish holidays - Pesach is technically the first holiday

Then, in the seventh month, we start the new marking of years - Rosh Hashanah - because, you know, seven, Shabbat, seventh day of the week, seventh month of the year, all of that

It’s like how we have New Year’s for counting years in the xtian calendar but we start the new school year in the fall, etc.

Rosh Chodesh Nisan is then the New Year for Kings - one of the four New Years in the Jewish calendar

There isn’t a lot of observance around this Rosh Chodesh in modern Rabbinic Judaism, but back in the day it was the main new years and it remains as such for many other groups

The Beta Israel observe it as Ba’al Lisan - a new year’s celebration

Feel free to look into more of the traditions around Rosh Chodesh Nisan and how you want to celebrate this new year’s!

The biggest preparation before pesach - undertaken in the month between Purim and Pesach - is getting rid of the chametz

This is any product you wouldn’t eat during pesach - definitely things like bread, pasta, cereal, crackers, etc., but also some other more grey-area things like popcorn and rice - more on that in the next section, but this is a “pick your practice” sort of thing

This preparation takes multiple weeks and is why I’m posting this post as in advance as I can manage

You have to scrub down every inch of your house, especially your kitchen - the stove, the fridge, everything - with a toothpick and a q-tip, and cover all the surfaces that come into contact with food with foil or shelf-liners

Items you wish to use during the holiday that have come into contact with chametz are typically boiled or, if they have cracks/seams that won’t be reached by water, lit up with a torch (or just not used). For pots, the water is boiled first and then discarded.

This also includes microwaves! for microwaves, you clean it well, don’t use it for 24 hours, take out the glass turntable, and boil a cup of water in the microwave for 10 minutes and then refilled, moved to a new spot, and repeated for another 10 minutes.

There are a lot of procedures for kashering (making kosher) your kitchen for Pesach, to remove (according to Jewish law) chametz from the kitchen. Look up online how to do it for your kitchen, if you choose to follow this custom - there are plenty of resources there

Cleaning is usually timed so it’s completed by the morning of the pesach seder (so, Erev Pesach - the day before Pesach, the 14th of Nisan)

Now, naturally, no one really expects you to waste food by throwing out all of your chametz

So, we sell it!

Basically, you ~sell~ all of your chametz to a gentile before Pesach, and they either take it from your home, or you seal it all off in a cabinet far way from all the rest of your kitchen and mark it as the gentile’s

The gentile then pays you money for this chametz, or you agree it’s his, etc., in a very real ceremony

It’s kind of like the stock market. The Chametz Stock Market

You can sell it to a roommate, a friend, whoever - or even dispose/donate all of your chametz in a more concrete “getting rid of” the chametz in your home

The idea here, though, if you keep it in your house, to have it well separated from all the kosher-for-passover food, and kept out of sight and out of mind - it’s not there, it’s not yours, you do not have it

This is a lot of prep and it’s hard for even practiced Jews to get done, so feel free to do it in steps, or decide it’s not for you, etc. There are many ways to be Jewish, and you don’t have to kasher your kitchen and get rid of your chametz to be Jewish. It’s just an ancient, well-followed custom that you might want to adopt!

This is also why Shabbat HaGadol is a nightmare for many - because by now most of your kitchen is ready to go, but you don’t want to have chametz in the house for Shabbat, but you need bread for Shabbat, and you aren’t supposed to eat matzah so close to pesach, so what do

Very few people can get all their Kashering done in a single week (usually less depending on when Shabbat starts!) so like… I recommend going to someone’s house… or going out if you’re okay with that on Shabbat… it really depends on your Shabbat practice…. yeaaaaaaah

Try to have all of the chametz out of your home by mid-morning the day before pesach, if you choose to follow this

Then, when all of the chametz is gone, you have a formal chametz search

You search the house for any chametz that’s left - under couches, in crevices, etc.

Usually you use a broom and a dustpan

Many people have special “chametz brooms” for this purpose that they use once a year, the day before pesach

This chametz is then burned in a formal ceremony, signaling the start of Pesach - with a blessing, Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha’olam Asher Kid’Shanu B’Mitzvotav V’tzivanu al Biur Chametz

This is actually a fun activity for kids!

They love searching the house for the last bits of chametz, which are usually placed in specific places by adults for the kids to find

(If you think this sounds like the Easter Egg Hunt for Xtians, it is, and it’s one of the sources for that custom)

You also have to get all of your pesach food ahead of time

This includes all the matzah you’ll eat during Pesach

It is a mitzvah to eat matzah during Pesach, but it doesn’t have to be all you eat

Still, I recommend getting matzah in big boxes, and to be creative with it

You can also get matzah flour to make cakes and cookies with, matzah meal, matzah farfel which are in little chunks like noodles, and more

You can use these materials to make matzah balls and other types of food

In addition, you can make your own matzah! There are recipes online, but usually you have to wait till after you’ve kashered your kitchen for Pesach, and that’s a lot to take on, so I just recommend buying the stuff

There are plenty of options for kosher-for-passover food! Vegetables and Food are mostly still good, as are eggs, milk + cheese, and meat

Still, most people feel like they need specifically branded kosher-for-passover food, which can be found in grocery stores - especially Jewish grocery stores/stores in Jewish neighborhoods

This can be hard to find, so you have to know your environment and what you can handle

Make sure you organize your Seder plans! It can be hard to find somewhere to go the first or second night of Pesach at last minute, so it’s good to figure that out ahead of time

The day before Pesach is also known as Ta’anit Bechorot - the fast of the first born

Because, remember, we were spared from having our firstborn dying in the pass over event

So there’s a fast observed amongst some firstborn Jews to mark that

If you’re the first kid in your family, feel free to adopt this minor fast. For info about fasting, check the fasting post linked waaay up at the top of this post

If Pesach begins on a Saturday Night, this fast isn’t observed on Shabbat (aka, Saturday during the day), because only one fast can overtake Shabbat (Yom Kippur); instead, it’s observed Friday during the day; the search for chametz is on Thursday; and the seder is prepared as much as possible before Shabbat

Keep in mind when Pesach starts for your observance

Figure out what you want to do to prepare your house for Pesach - even if it’s nothing, decide ahead of time, just so you aren’t scrambling at the end. Make a schedule, and do it one step at a time. It is possible if you keep a clear head and a strict schedule!

If you can’t kasher or get rid of chametz or any of the rest, I recommend just cleaning your house - spring cleaning! - it’ll give you a feeling of preparation for this important holiday, and make the end of cleaning - and the start of Pesach - all the more special

When the holiday begins, light two candles - like you do for Shabbat - or turn on two electric candles, etc. while blessing - Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Haolam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav, V’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel Yom Tov (if it’s on Shabbat, do Shabbat v’Yom Tov). You can also do this at the start of the seder

On the first night, you can also do the Shehecheyanu Blessing - Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Haolam, Shehecheyanu v’kiy’manu v’higiyanu lazman hazeh - to signify the start of a new and important time!

Refrain from Chametz

There are different levels of Chametz-Refraining in Jewish Practice. I leave it up to you what you can do, what you’d find meaningful, and what you think is important

These levels go from 1 (least difficult) to 4 (most difficult)

Level 1: Just keeping chametz out of your life during the Seder Meals. This means not eating leavened products during the seder, but going about your business as normal during the rest of Pesach

Level 2: Kosher for Passover Style. This means refraining from chametz-containing food for the whole holiday (such as bread, sandwiches, etc.) but allowing yourself to eat anything that doesn’t really seem to break that (like cheese, even if it’s not K4P certified, or food at restaurants that aren’t K4P certified)

Level 3: Kosher for Passover. This means eating only foods that are K4P certified by a kosher certification company (there are many; the certification can be found on packaging either on the title label or near the nutrition/ingredients area). This does allow the eating of matzah and matzah products that come into contact with water - like matzo ball soup! - as well as vegetables and fruits that aren’t grains. But, in most situations, it doesn’t allow for eating of food at restaurants.

Level 4: No Gebrochts. This means also avoiding matzah products that have come into contact with liquid after being baked - in case there is flour that would be leavened by the water. This means not eating things like matzo ball soup, charoset (a pasty substance from the seder, more in a bit) on matzah, or even matzah that has wine spilled on it. This is very, very, very uncommon but it’s widely known because it’s a Chabad thing and the Chabadim are very vocal about Jewish education, so it gets more press than it really deserves. This is a very strict policy and it makes Pesach more complicated, and ignores a Jewish law that says Matzah can’t become Chametz after being baked. If you observe this, more power to you, but it’s not any more legitimate than Level 3.

Then, there’s the Kitniyot

Kitniyot is a name for a variety of grain-y (starchy) foods that aren’t wheat - rice, corn, peanuts, legumes/beans, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, soybeans, peas, lentils

Traditionally, Ashkenazic (Eastern European) Jews have refrained from it, on the principle that thesea re often used to make bread or are processed near chametz

Meanwhile, Sephardic & Mizrahi (Everywhere else) Jews do not refrain from it, as it is a vital part of the Sephardic/MENA/etc. diet

In the modern era, many more liberal/progressive/less-traditional groups, such as Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, have allowed the eating of kitniyot, even though these are Ashkenazic movements

Whether or not you decide to eat kitniyot depends on your traditions, what movement you belong to, and what the people around you are doing. Also, as always, what speaks to you. Just make your choice carefully

I recommend planning out your meals ahead of time

There are a lot of ways to get around the prohibition against chametz and to have a varied diet during Pesach

Lots of ways to use matzah, too!

Generally, you’re supposed to not eat matzah until the first night of pesach - after the sun sets, whether at a seder meal or on your own if you don’t have one. Don’t jump the gun!

While matzah is the bread of our affliction, and is essentially the ULTIMATE BLAND CRACKER™, if you restrict it to being a passover food, you can appreciate it more and even enjoy it with some creative recipes

There’s matzah pizza, where you use matzah as crust and bake it in the oven with sauce and cheese

Matzo Brie, which is like bread pudding but with matzah, a very sweet dish often used for breakfast

Matzo Ball soup, of course!

Matzah Sandwiches are a good time

I often dip matzah in saltwater, which kind of turns them into a proper cracker

Matzah rolls made out of matzo meal function like bread rolls!

Honestly you can use matzo meal like flour to make a variety of baked goods if you get creative with it

And you can top them with dips and things like crackers and chips

There is gluten-free matzah if you have to avoid gluten for your diet!!!

And, of course, you do not have to eat only matzah

Salads are still fair game!

Along with gluten-free soups

Honestly I recommend very spring-themed food, like green veggies and eggs, because this is a spring harvest festival!

Remember latkes from pesach? Well they’re kosher for passover too!

Frankly, use potatoes for a lot of stuff - mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, etc. - and you’ll fill up a lot of meals

Eggs are wonderful - omelets, scrambled, whatever, follow your dreams

For desert, there’s a lot of options - K4P chocolate, but also Macaroons - either almond or coconut based, they don’t have any chametz at all!

I hear some people eat meat, and there are a lot of ways to prepare meat without chametz, but I’m honestly not the right person to ask about this because I’m a vegetarian, soooorrryyyyyyyy

Get creative with your food!

Attend (or host!) a Seder

The Seder Meal is the Big Meal for Pesach, the time where we fulfill the Mitzvah of Remembering the Exodus from Egypt, and acting as if we had been through the Exodus

The Seder is lead through a Haggadah - a book with the outline of the seder, texts to read about pesach, songs to sing, symbolism, etc., that everyone attending the meal has and reads from (plural - Haggadot)

Like I said - it’s Dinner Theatre where we all take part. Seder comes from a Hebrew word meaning Order (it’s where the word for the prayerbook - the Siddur - comes from, too.)

Sometimes we lean to the left while we eat, to indicate we aren’t slaves anymore, so we can be as comfortable as we want - but not everyone follows this custom anymore. It depends on your situation.

The seder has a ceremonial plate, with holes for different symbolic foods in it. There is also a matzah platter, with three giant pieces of matzah under a cover; and usually, a cup of wine for Elijah. More on that in a bit.

Sometimes, we wear a white robe during the meal - called a kittel - and you can choose to follow that custom, but you can also just dress up nice too

If you’re attending a seder, just follow everyone’s lead, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and pay attention! Be sure to let the host know of any dietary restrictions

Here is a General Outline of the Seder Meal (for blessings, please follow your Haggadah):

1. Initial blessings over festival candles

2. Blessing over the first cup of wine - Kaddesh - Sanctifying the holiday and the seder meal, & the shehecheyanu (some recite it with step 1) - and filling up the cup for the second cup of wine later

3. Washing of the Hands - Urechatz - without a blessing

4. Eating of a vegetable, dipped twice in salt water - Karpas - where the vegetable (parsley, or spinach, etc.) symbolizes the earthly origins of the Jewish people, and the salt water symbolizes the tears from our slavery in Egypt

5. Breaking of a ceremonial matzah - Yachatz - where part is returned to the pile of matzot on the table, and the other part set aside as an Afikomen (more on this in a bit)

6. The story of the Exodus - the Maggid

The youngest person at the table (or the newest - which might be you!) - asks the Four Questions. These aren’t actually questions at all - there’s one question, which is then answered in a series of four statements stated by that person

Why is this night different from all other nights?

In four ways is this night different:

On all other nights we may eat chametz and matzah, but on this night, only matzah

On all other nights we eat many vegetables, but on this night, only maror

On all other nights we don’t dip even once, but on this night, we dip twice

On all other nights we eat sitting up or reclining, but on this night, we all recline

Then we go over the four different types of children - the Wise Child, the Wicked Child, The Simple Child, and the Child who is Unable to Ask (remember, the mitzvah is to tell our kids about the exodus, so a lot of the seder is about children)

Here, we say the story of the Exodus - there are many ways to recount the story, follow your Haggadah!

We also go over the 10 plagues, placing a drop of wine (POUR ONE OUT FOR THE DEAD EGYPTIANS) on our plate for each plague

Often, we go through the objects on the seder plate, and talk about what they symbolize - the roasted bone/beet for the paschal sacrifice; matzah for the bread we couldn’t let rise; and maror - bitter herbs - that symbolize the bitter life of slavery. There’s also the Charoset - a paste made of nut butter and fruit that symbolizes the cement used to make buildings during slavery; the karpas we had earlier; more vegetables; and a hardboiled egg, to symbolize spring and the circle of life

The Maggid is accompanied by a lot of songs, most notably Dayenu - it would have been enough

We finish this section with the blessing over the second cup of wine, which is then refilled, usually by the person next to you

7. Next, we wash again - Rachtzah - with a blessing, as we are soon going to eat matzah

8. Now, we bless the matzah - Motzi - with the general blessing over grain products for meals that you might be familiar with from shabbat blessings

9. Then, the blessing specific for Matzah, Matzah, is said, and we eat some matzah (at last!)

10. Now, we bless the bitter herbs, usually horseradish or romaine lettuce - Maror - and we often dip it in the charoset

11. Next, the matzah sandwich - Korekh - made of matzah with the last vegetable on the seder plate (usually another bitter herb like romaine lettuce, but it also can be endive or green onions, etc) and the charoset - eaten in place of a sacrificial offering

12. Finally - Dinner! - Shulchan Orekh - the festive meal! There are a lot of traditional foods for this - for ashkenazim, often gefilte fish, matzo ball soup, and brisket; sephardim often have rice and lamb; but it varies from family to family! Some have the third cup of wine, with the blessing, here; others have it later

13. Next, the Afikomen - Tzafun - which is found by the children where it is hidden, or by your friends, which have to be “ransomed” back by the parents/others in order to finish the meal

14. Next, Birkat, the Grace after meals. This is a grace said by many every day of the week, especially on Shabbat.

15. After that, this is where you have to have the Third cup of wine, and the blessing with it.

16. The fourth cup is then poured, along with the Cup for Elijah. Elijah is a Jewish prophet said to herald the coming of the Messiah, supposedly on Pesach. The front door is then opened for a while, so the ghost of Elijah can come in (also… to like… show that blood libel isn’t true)

17. Then, a lot of songs are sung - Hallel - and a final Fourth Cup of Wine is drunken and blessed

17. Finally, there’s Nirtzah - closing, where we say the seder is over, and we hope that the Mosiach - Messiah - comes in the next year - ie, that we’ll celebrate Pesach Next Year in Jerusalem!

I recommend attending a seder before you host one of your own

But, if you’re hosting one for whatever reason, complete newcomer or not, here are my recommendations:

1. Pick out your Haggadah early on, so you’ll know what you need for the seder and how to prepare.

A) You can buy one online (amazon, judaica webstores, etc. - most jewish movements have their own haggadot too)

B) There are free ones you can get, like the Maxwell House Haggadah (I wish I was joking) or you can use free ones online at Sefaria

C) Make your own!!!!!!!! Here is my SHAMELESS plug for Haggadot Dot Com, the best website in all the land

Know your guests - can they read Hebrew? Do they need transliteration? Would it be easier to do everything in your native language? Do they have special interests you share? Would it be helpful to have pictures? - and go from there

Make sure to get - or make - enough copies for everyone!!! Everyone attending should have their own haggadah

2. Use an invitation service like Facebook, your Email, or OneTable Dot Org (if you’re hosting on a Friday night) to set up invitations to your seder (and get reimbursement for groceries, if you need it!) and to know who will be coming. Pay attention to dietary restrictions!

3. Read through your haggadah and become as familiar with it as possible. You don’t want to be stumbling over your words or confused while you lead the seder meal!

4. Practice the songs and melodies ahead of time!!!!!!!!! It’ll help you lead the seder easier. Youtube, JewFaq, and other websites have audio recordings to use as a guide

5. Set the table and organize everything so the stuff you need to lead the seder is well within reach

6. Prepare the actual meal - the stuff you eat for real food, the Shulchan Orekh - ahead of time, and have it ready to be warmed or even served when it’s time to eat the meal. Last year I made the matzah pizza ahead of time, and then made it in the oven while people decompressed from the bulk of the meal. This year I plan on making scrambled eggs because it takes five seconds. But definitely plan ahead of time.

7. Make sure to know your alcohol policy ahead of time - if someone in your group shouldn’t drink, make sure to have grape juice! If they shouldn’t have alcohol at all, don’t have any and only use grape juice!!!

Seders can last anywhere from 30 minutes (if you’re particularly quick about it) to many hours - prep for the time accordingly!

The seder is elaborate, but it’s easily lead and instructed by the Haggadah - the Haggadah makes every part of it clear! So don’t be afraid, you’ll be able to follow along!

Begin Counting the Omer

So I’m going to do a full post on the Omer later (hopefully) (my life is in a mild shambles atm) but during Pesach, starting the second night (so the start of the 16th of Nisan, aka 24 hours after Pesach starts, remember Jewish days start at sundown) we begin Counting the Omer

The agricultural explanation for the Omer is that Pesach marks the start of the Barley harvest, which reaches its peak about seven weeks later - aka, the last of the shalosh regalim, Shavuot

Historically, Shavuot has been turned into a holiday celebrating the giving of the Torah at Sinai

So, we count Omers - offerings of barley grain - every day until Shavuot, where we get the Torah. There are 49 days of Omer counting

There is a lot of symbolism surrounding this time about spiritual growth and Getting Your Soul ready for the Torah, but again, that’s going to be for another post

Instead, here’s a practical guide on how to count the omer - bare bones - so that you can get started on the 16th of Nisan!

We count the night of - so the beginning of the day - and we start at one

So the 16th of Nisan we count One

17th, Two

And so on

You can count the omer towards the end of the evening prayer service (…. one day I’ll write my davening post) or on your own

If you remember to do it night of, you can say the blessing:

Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha’Olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav V’tzivanu al sefirat ha’Omer

Then, you say the appropriate count - on day one, you say “Today is the first day of the omer” or Hayom yom echad la’Omer

When one week has passed, we start including weeks, so for example on the 28th of Nisan: Today is 13 days, which is One week and Six days of the omer, or Hayom sh’losha asar yom, sh’hem shavuah echad v’shisha yamim la’omer

You can count in English, another language, or Hebrew; if you don’t know how to read Hebrew, there are transliterations in siddurim (prayer books) and online

If you don’t remember to do it the night of, but you do it during the day (so the “next” day on the goyische calendar), you can count, but you cannot say the blessing. You can then resume counting as normal that night (so the start of the next Jewish day)

If you forget to count entirely, you can continue to count the remaining days, but you can’t say the blessing anymore.

We continue on this way until Shavuot!!

Study Traditional Texts!

There are a lot of things to study for Pesach!!!

To begin with, Pesach gets one of the five Scrolls - the group of writings in the Tanak that are short but contain fairly powerful messages. Each writing goes with a holiday - Ruth with Shavuot, Lamentations with Tisha B’Av, Ecclesiastes with Sukkot, Esther with Purim, and Song of Songs with Pesach

Song of Songs is a series of (very, very, very erotic) love poems between a betrothed man and his betrothed woman

But you can read it in multiple different ways (including Gay, for the record)

One of the big ways is the idea that the woman is Israel - the people of Israel/Israelites/The Jewish People - and the man is Gd

Since the Jewish People are considered “married” to Gd

Pesach is seen as our betrothal ceremony - Kiddushin - To Gd

We then get married - Nissuin - at Shavuot

So we read and study this love poetry for its connection to the betrothal between Gd and the Jewish People that occurred during Pesach/The Exodus from Egypt

There are, of course, traditional texts from the Torah as well

On the first day of Pesach, we study Exodus 12:21 - 12:51 - a description of the laws of Passover, and the last of the 10 plagues

On the second day, Leviticus 22:26 - 23:44 - a description of Shabbat and the festivals, including Pesach

On the third, Exodus 13:1 - 13:16, which covers right after the 10th plague

On the fourth, Exodus 22:24 - 23:19, which talks about not oppressing the stranger because we were Slaves in Egypt

On the fifth, Exodus 34:1 - 34:26, which describes carving out the ten statements (ten commandments)

On the Sixth, Numbers 9:1 - 28:25, which goes over the proceedings for Passover

On the Seventh, Exodus 13:17 - 15:26 - right after the 10th plague and the journey across the Red Sea

And finally, on the Eighth, Deuteronomy 15:19 - 16:17, covering the Pesach sacrifice and offering again

(Numbers 28:16 - 28:25 is read an extra time on whatever day in Pesach that contains Shabbat)

And Haftarah readings as well!

There are so many of these I’m just going to list them simply

1st day: Joshua 5:2 - 6:1 (Passover outside Jericho)

2nd Day: 11 Kings 23:1 - 23:9, 23:21 - 23:25 (Assembling of the people for the Passover sacrifice)

Shabbat when on an intermediate day: Ezekiel 37:1 - 37:14 (The Living Skeletons)

7th Day: II Samuel 22:1 - 51 (A psalm on the deliverance of the Jewish People by HaShem)

8th Day: Isaiah 10:32 - 12:6 (The Deliverance of the Jewish People after the Exile)

Feel free to follow along day by day, or study all the texts! Follow your dreams!! Be sure to use commentaries :) Sefaria.org is a great resource if you need it

You can also just study Haggadot! There are so many different kinds you can’t possibly use them all in seders, but you can read and study what they choose to put in! Go nuts! Many free ones are on Sefaria, too!

Reflect on Freedom and Social Justice

This is a holiday where we celebrate our freedom and deliverance from slavery

And like, oppression didn’t end when we left Egypt

We are commanded in the Torah to treat the stranger (ie, non-Jew) among us with kindness and love, because We Remember Being Mistreated for Being Strangers in Egypt

Since Pesach is the holiday where we Extra Remember this, it’s the perfect holiday to do some Social Justice

One of the most popular ways is to learn about and work to fight modern day slavery - Human Trafficking

Another popular way is to protest and learn about wage theft, poor working conditions, and unfair labor practices both in our own countries and abroad

One of my favorite ways is to study the history of slavery in my own country and to donate and fight for black rights

But honestly you can really do anything - it’s up to you

But try to make one of your themes of the holiday standing up for the Marginalized and Oppressed

You can even have a Social Justice Seder! Using Haggadot dot com or a pre made haggadah, many allow for incorporating social justice themes into your seder meal - because the fight against oppression didn’t end with the exodus

Protest! Fight! Study! Educate others! And, as always, give your tzedakah to a good cause

Rejoice!!!!!

THIS IS THE SEASON OF OUR REDEMPTION

WE MUST REJOICE AND REVEL IN OUR FREEDOM!

I know it seems hard when you can’t have Bread and everything but REJOICING IS A STATE OF MIND

First of all, there are SO many songs for Pesach!

So many very, very, very catchy songs

Look them up on YouTube and use your Haggadah to find more!

I recommend Dayenu by the Maccabeats because I’m a basic Bitch

There’s also Miriam’s Drum/Miriam Ha Nevia!

Also Passover Funk because… we are all basic bitches in the Jewish people

And Eliyahu HaNavi is a great song! I like the version by Moshav, personally

Second of all, Pesach = The Prince of Egypt Holiday

You know, that amazing movie I’ve been putting gifs from in this post?

Yeah

That goes over the exodus story

Honestly I challenge someone to just stop the seder meal at the Maggid part and watch Prince of Egypt and that’s my Hot Take

It’s such a great movie that non-religious people love it too!

It used to be on Netflix. It is not anymore. I am sad. I honestly don’t know of a replacement way to watch it, and I’m glad I own it on DVD

But I believe in you to find a way!

Please don’t watch the ten commandments or that christian bale movie from a few years ago. So whitewashed.

Have Pesach parties! Invite people over, not just for the Seder! Enjoy yourself, and get out there - pesach is the first harvest festival of the year, the first festival of spring, and just a great time!

Seriously - don’t focus on the fact that you can’t eat. Focus on the fact that YOU ARE FREE!

You Are Not Alone

Pesach is an Extremely Communal Holiday

Don’t celebrate it alone!!!

Try to go to a seder - usually synagogues have community ones on the second night! (Sometimes first)

Get a group together to study the Song of Songs!

Have a group movie night with Prince of Egypt!

Rely on your community! They can help with celebrating and figuring out what to eat :)

Don’t Just Listen To Meeeeee

I am just a simple graduate worker who is mad at her administration for NOT TAKING US SERIOUSLY ahem

I have only my perspective and my experiences to offer; for example, I’ve never fully kashered my kitchen because I live with a goy and I cut my losses, but other people definitely have done the whole thing and definitely have better advice than I do

Listen to everyone - we all have different perspectives and advice for this holiday! It’s one of the most observed Jewish occasions, everyone has at least five opinions about it

Take your time and do what you can - make Pesach yours! It’s your freedom too :)

GOOD LUCK, and CHAG PESACH SAMEACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!חג פסח שמח

935 notes · View notes