How Our Religion Is Kept Alive By The Cooks In Our Families

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                      

      In older days when families were not broken up by war or work, they gathered together for holidays like Passover to celebrate.  This is the norm when all were orthodox before Reform and Conservative were created.   

 G-d was certainly far-thinking when he designed our holidays and had us develop certain foods to feed our families in regards to the holidays we were to celebrate.  People have a natural inclination to want to eat when sitting down together.  We expect something to have at meetings and at holiday events.  Food draws us together, not the subject spoken of, though we know that is the highlight of the calling-together of the tribe.                                               

     A Reform Judaism family Passover Seder feeling their Special Haggadah (book at each plate like a textbook for Passover (Pesach)  played a big part.  And the following is from this Reform member:  These Seders were deeply cherished by my grandparents. My grandfather seemed to define the passing of time during the year not by the 12-month calendar, but by the number of months until his entire family would be together again. For my grandfather, seders were among the highlight of his year. He delighted in the preparation for each seder. Of the many events in advance of the first seder, my grandfather was perhaps most excited that I would be reciting the Four Questions, a responsibility that remained with me for many years until the next child in the family joined our Seder table. I recall rehearsing the Four Questions as a young child at my grandparents' home, reading from my braille Haggadah as my mother helped me to learn the proper recitation. As I worked to master the Four Questions, I remember taking care to do so only in a private room, as my young self did not want to reveal my recitation abilities to others until the first Seder. My grandfather was even more excited than I was for the occasion and checked with me frequently in the days leading up to the first Seder to inquire as to how my learning was progressing. After I recited the Four Questions from my braille Haggadah, my grandfather would boast of this accomplishment for many days thereafter, just as he shared other highlights of his grandchildren's Seder participation with any and all who would listen.

    Communal seder returning in Pittsburgh in 2022 At synagogues and spaces throughout the area, groups plan holiday celebrations;  

We are on the edge of the End of Times, and Passover is still being observed all over this planet---where there is a cook to prepare and invite family members and friends to their seder.  The organization of Chabad does a group seder  for Jews without a family cook that is the leader of their family line.  They must charge a fee for the dinner in order to put this on, which can be a set-back for some of the people in  need of it.  Israel has organizations putting on large seders to meet the needs of those disencumbered family groups gathering together.                                                          

     One Jewish-Robison Home-most likely filled up, Will Medicaid be  part of its future?  

Still and all, there are seniors today in many assisted living homes who are Jewish and alone there without a family.  I foresee this happening in the next generation even more so.  One Jewish such home can be overwhelmed with Jewish seniors that must search elsewhere for assistance in order to continue living, and at holiday time, they may be lucky to be able to get a small box of matzos from a supermarket and that is their Passover remembrance.  

                                      Passover Seder at Kibbutz Ashdot Yaacov, Israel 

When a family runs out of the main chef who organized and feeds the family and has that very large table where all sit, or similar accomodations, all are doomed to slowly fall away from this wonderful custom of our people.  I don't think we women have ever been aware of our importance of continuing customs.  These are days when married couples are sharing duties, and the man of the house might be the head chef and need to be familiar with cooking and baking for all our holidays, or the woman may have to step in and be a help-mate here.  

        1980 Passover at Kibbutz Ein Dor, Israel :  This year our Seders are being held on a significantly smaller scale, but we will come back strong!   Chag sameach!

It makes me wonder how the USA services of Army, Navy, Marines ever took care of Jews in service at these times.  Chabad must be kept very busy helping those people if they can't get back home for the holidays.  

                    Kibbutz Naan does it up for Passover, with 1,300 guests and a show

Harvest dances at Kibbutz Naan's Seder (photo credit: Courtesy Raaya Ben-Avraham)  Organizers are calling it the largest Seder in the world. The meal is hosted at Kibbutz Naan near Rehovot, where some 1,300 people will gather to fress on chopped liver and stuffed chicken while reading from the Haggadah and performing skits and songs. “It’s like a show,” said Raaya Ben Avraham, a kibbutz member who puts together the annual event. “We’ve had our own Haggadah for many years that includes our own songs about the kibbutz, about farming. The kids and teens put on dances and shows. It’s a major event for us.”

The tables are set for the Seder at Kibbutz Naan (Courtesy Raaya Ben-Avraham)

With 1,000 kibbutz members and their family members attending the Seder, the event takes place in the gym, which is the only space large enough to accommodate everyone. It takes about a week to set the place up, said Ben Avraham, and they also make the kitchen kosher for Passover about a week ahead of the holiday.

                                         This is handmade shmurah matzah from Israel ;  Such matzo became popular since 1948, of course, and also very special to serve here in the USA.In the USA, the history of shmurah matzah, or "guarded matzah," is marked by a shift from traditional, handmade, round matzah to mass-produced, square matzah. While machine-made, square matzah became the norm, handmade, round shmurah matzah remained a niche product, particularly prized by more observant Jewish communities.                                        

Before the mid-1800s, shmurah matzah was primarily made by hand, with bakers meticulously following specific procedures, including watching the ingredients and keeping the dough within a strict 18-minute window before baking. Despite the rise of machine-made matzah, shmurah matzah retained its significance for those who adhered to stricter interpretations of halakha, the Jewish religious law. Contemporary Shmurah Matzah:Today, handmade, round shmurah matzah continues to be produced, though it remains a specialized and often more expensive option, reflecting the dedication to traditional practices and the significance of this form of matzah for certain communities.

  In the 1880s, Dov Behr opened the first matzah factory in Cincinnati, marking a shift towards mechanized production. By the turn of the century, Dovber Manischewitz further perfected the mechanization process, making mass-produced, square matzah the standard. 

We have 8 days for Passover, 8 days of eating matzo and not leavened (made with yeast) breads.  We get rid of all our bread in the house by doing a little planning and eating it all up before this time.  The man of the house has been to check our cleaning and make sure not a drop was left in the cupboards by making a game out of the inspection by using a feather and not a dish cloth.  

A special blessing to those who cook our specialties for the holidays and gather up the family as best as you can.  Without you, our practices and belief system is surely not going to make it to the next generations.  That will be the time of the End of Our Days.  

Resource:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-largest-seder-in-the-world/