We celebrated the beginning of Passover 2019 with the Seder Friday evening. The Seder is the joyful family dinner and worship service which is held in Jewish homes on Passover.
Our son and daughter-in-law were with us from LA, and our son and daughter-in-law from San Francisco were visiting my sister on the east coast and were able to be at her Seder table with my brother and his family! Although we missed them, we were happy to share them with our family. After all, family is what holidays are all about.
Passover is a very ancient festival celebrating the freedom won by the Hebrew slaves from the Egyptian Pharoah.
The Seder is the one religious service which takes place at the dining table with family, friends, and guests.
The word Seder means “order”. At the Seder we read from a text called the Haggadah ( Hebrew word meaning “telling”).
Through a series of rituals involving food and wine the story of the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt is retold.
The Haggadah, includes not only the order of ancient ceremonial events, and the story of the Exodus, but a running commentary of prayer and legend, and interpretation.
By extension, today this dream of a world in which all will be free and live in peace inspires the Seder ceremony.
The Seder Plate which you see above is a special platter positioned at the head of the table where the leader of the ceremony sits.
On the platter are:
Bitter Herbs, the horseradish, symbolic of the bitterness of slavery.
The Shank Bone, the shank of a lamb, as a reminder of the Paschal lamb
A Roasted Egg, symbolic of the festival offering which accompanied the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb in the Temple.
Haroset, a food made of apples, nuts, cinnamon, and wine, mixed together to look like the mortar which the Hebrew slaves used in their servitude.
Parsley, a token of gratitude to God for the products of the earth.
Romaine lettuce, although the leaves are not bitter, the stem, when left to grow in the ground, turns hard and bitter, symbolic of the enslavement in Egypt.
A dish of salt water, into which the parsley will be dipped, representing the tears of the Israelite slaves.
Following the ceremony comes what all are waiting for…the meal! This is a sumptuous feast including many traditional dishes such as Chopped Liver,
Gefilte Fish,
Matzoh Ball Soup,
(this year my daughter-in-law helped make the matzoh balls!)
Roast Chicken
or Brisket,
During Passover traditionally flour is forbidden due to the fact there was no time for the bread to rise when the slaves were fleeing Egypt.
As a result matzoh replaces bread. Matzoh meal, matzoh cake meal (a finer ground matzoh meal), potato starch, almond flour, and other substitutes for flour are used in cooking and baking during this holiday.
So traditional desserts are flourless items such as flourless chocolate cakes, cheesecakes, sponge cake rolls, sponge cakes, meringues, and various flavored macaroons. As the years go by there are more and more creative and delicious recipes appearing. Here are some I have made over the years…
