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The Long
Passover
Eight-Day Celebration Brings
Varied Problems Beginning
With Sedar Preparations
By PHILIP RUBIN
The Seder service, impressive as it is,
only ushers in the great Passover festival.
It gives the theme for the whole week’s
celebration, it samples the particular foods
and drinks that are to be imbibed during
the entire eight days. The dramatic story
related at the Seder, that of the freeing of
the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, is the
leitmotif of the rest of the holiday.
Those of us who remember the long prep
arations for Passover in Europe and among
the Jewish immigrants to this country in
times past might perhaps be inclined to re
gard the two Seder nights as the climax of
the Passover celebration, though by no
means its end. Orthodox Jews always be
gan to take note of this most joyous of all
Jewish festivals almost a month before its
official arrival. Almost immediately after
Purim, in the month of March when in
most places the cold was still severe and
the thick layer of snow along the streets
had not yet begun to melt, Jewish house
wives would commence their spring house
cleaning in honor of the approaching holi
day.
Since none of the “hometzdige” dishes
that were being used all the year around,
excepting the glassware, could be used dur
ing the Passover week, mothers would be
occupied with the problem of buying new
dishes for the holiday. Ordering the Pass-
over foods and drinks was an even bigger
problem. How much matzoths, matzo-meal
and wine and mead would the family really
need for the eight days? Should better or
somewhat inferior grades of matzoths and
wine be bought? Poor people had to watch
their pennies in those days, though on the
other hand they did want to enjoy the fes
tival as much as possible.
Then there was the problem of buying
new clothes for the children. That was a
big item of expense and had to be care
fully considered. As a child 1 would always
be decked out in a new blue serge suit on
the eve of the holiday, as would my play
mates. By the time the holiday arrived the
streets of our town would become muddy
from the thawing of the snow and so my
new suit would become mud-spattered
a thing which would cause much heart
ache to my poor parents who had stinted
themselves to make me look respectable.
Finally came the night before the festival
when the ceremony of searching the “ho-
metz,” unleavened bread, took place and
the burning of the "hornet" next morning
when it was “sold” to the rabbi who in turn
was supposed to “sell" it to a Gentile. After
twelve o’clock noon on that day no more
“hometz” could be eaten, but neither could
any matzo be taken until the arrival of the
Seder late in the evening. About all a hun
gry boy could get during that long stretch
was a dish of potatoes.
The ritual of the Sedorim was then more
rigorously adhered to than it is today
among most American Jews, excepting the
strictly Orthodox. Even small boys were
expected to recite the Haggada from begin
ning to end, besides “asking the Four Ques
tions.” But it was fun to find the "afiko-
men," the piece of matzo that had been hid
den away, and a pleasure to open the door
for the entrance of Elijah the Prophet and
to sing “Had Gadva.”
During the first two mornings of the holi
day days when work is not permitted one
went with one’s father to “school” where
on the first day, the “Shir Hashirim,” The
Song of Solomon, was recited. The holiday
dinners on those first two days were nearly
as good as the Seder suppers. There was the
same chicken, the same matzoball soup, the
same wine (though only one instead of four
cups could be drunk) and in addition such
a delicacy as “taiglach” or some other tasty
dessert that Mother had prepared.
On the afternoons of those first two days
boys would roll nuts, instead of the usual
marbles. Holiday visits among neighbors
and friends would only take place on late
afternoons of the second day, since during
the afternoon of the first day the women
would be busy cooking for the second Seder
night.
There followed the four intermediate
days of the Passover festival which are
called “hoi ha’moed,” days which are not
quite holidays — since one is permitted to
work — but are not quite ordinary week
days either. During those four days, as dur
ing the rest of the festival, one was excused
from going to “haider” Hebrew school, and
if Passover happened to coincide with the
Christian Easter Week there was no public
school either. Children might then go off to
the nearby woods or meadowlands to see
what trees and flowers were already in
bloom if they weren’t playing tag or ball
or some other game that interested them.
The last two days of Passover might be
called a sort of anti-climax to the celebra
tion. Again they are true holidays when
work is not permitted, when the dinners
and suppers are festive and a little wine
is drunk, when children roll nuts instead of
marbles, that is, if there are any nuts left
at home bv this time after so many of them
had been consumed. But the women-folk
are tired after their long and arduous labor
at cooking and washing dishes and they
would rather rest in bed or on a sofa than
go visiting or receiving visitors. And on the
last morning of the festival women, too,
must go to synagogue to recite “vizkor,”
the prayer for the dead, to be reminded
of the loved ones they had lost.
Then on the last day or two one begins
to develop a great craving for “hometz,"
for the ordinary unleavened bread one has
been eating all year round and the other
foods one is not permitted to touch during
the Passover week. Oh, for a piece of good,
nourishing bread, instead of the crumbly
cracker called “matzo!” Even on the eve
ning when the holiday is officially ended
one cannot yet obtain any bread from a
Jewish baker, since none had been baked
during the day, and must wait for the pre
cious article until next morning.
And so the long Passover, unlike some
other Jewish festivals, whose start — or
whose climax, if you wish — is not quite
as joyous and thrilling, would end in wear
iness, in a “glad-that-it’s over” feeling. But
when another year would come around the
thrill of anticipation would be there again,
and again the holiday would be ushered in
in that blaze of glory known as the Seder.
(Copyright 1954, JTA, Inc.)
(10)
The Southern Israelite