Apri 11, 2014: Passover Edition

Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA

Passover THE

EXPERIENCE

April 11, 2014 | 11 Nisan 5774 Vol. 94 | No. 30 3 Sections

A2 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Introduction

American Jewish Press Association Award Winner

Nebraska Press National Newspaper Association Association Award winner 2008

This is who we are

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elcome to our Passover issue! After an unpleasantly cold winter, I think we are more than ready for the spring feeling that this season brings. It’s a different kind of freedom, when we open the windows, blow off the dust and peel off our winter layers, but no less welcome.

We chose, for the first time, to not hang our hat on a separate topic, but instead focused on Passover itself. There is plenty to talk about, and I want to thank my Board of Directors for having the unique idea to make this a true Pesach issue. That means Matzah and Seders, Afikomen and Haroset. It also means thinking about slavery, Egyptians and drowning chariots, plagues and Haggadot and separate dishes and what it means to be free -- then and now.

There are many ways in which Pesach can be viewed as an ancient festival that involves people who lived long ago and have very little in common with us. They lived without electricity, television and internet, cars and airplanes and Hollywood movies. They didn’t have gym memberships or fast food, skateboards or sliced cheese, comic books or breakfast cereal, blue jeans or tank tops. All the random trappings of modern life would utterly confuse them. Most of us, in turn, can only imagine what life was like back then.

And yet, each year we clean our kitchens of chametz, and retell the story of Passover as if it happened yesterday. “We were slaves in the Land of Egypt,” we tell ourselves, and for one brief moment we experience the truth in that statement.

Is it, for some of us, merely tradition? Perhaps. But when you go through the motions, year after year, it becomes part of who you are. Although Jews the world over celebrate the same festival and read the same story, we also all have our own customs and habits and create our own very personal memories.

Last year, my family and I celebrated Pesach in the Netherlands. Assuming any Matzah I would bring with me would be reduced to crumbs on the flight there, I waited until I arrived to hunt it down. But when I called the local Israeli Import Center and asked if they had any Passover

Matzah left in their inventory, I was met with stunned silence. The lady on the other end of the phone had no idea what I was talking about. Turns out, the Israeli Import Center only caters to curious Christians. Who knew?

Several years ago, there was a Matzah shortage in Omaha (I’m sure many of you remember) and since we waited until a week before the beginning of Pesach to do our shopping,

the shelves were utterly empty. Something about a grain shortage, I’m not sure I remember. We were contemplating what to do, when we suddenly heard a voice behind us: “You need Matzah?”

It was Ben Shapiro, he had plenty, and he was willing to share. Our Seder was saved, and we think about Ben every year when we shop for Passover. It’s stories like these, good and bad, small details that add to the Passover experience of our family. We tell each other the original story, and then we add our own small details. And that is how it becomes more than a tale about ancient people who have little to do with us: we continue the tradition, and we add to it.

No Passover newspaper is made without a lot of hard work by the Jewish Press staff and volunteers. Months before the holiday gets here, we start thinking about content, design, and deadlines. While the smell of latkes hanging around our building, we are thinking of Seder plates and shank bones.

I want to thank our Creative Director, Richard Busse, who always brings the magic, even when there are distractions like jury duty. I’m grateful to Lori Kooper-Schwarz, who can always be trusted to keep me in line, and keep me sane at the same time. A big thank you to Jessie Wees, our Advertising Executive, who never, ever, gives up. And finally, Barbara Kirkpatrick, our bookkeeper: thank you!

We want to thank all the writers who contributed to this issue: Teddy Weinberger, Ozzie Nogg, Gabby Blair, Lois Friedman, Oliver Pollak, Sibyl Kaplan, David Golbitz, Gloria Jones and Jill Belmont. We also owe a debt of gratitude to our tireless proofreaders: Margaret Kirkeby, Jody Malashock, Deborah Platt, Silvia Roffman, Dottie Rosenblum and Suzanne Singer. Any typos that slipped through are entirely the editor’s responsibility.

We hope you enjoy this edition, and wish you a wonderful Pesach!

Chag Sameach, ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT, Editor

WE HOPE YOU HAVE A MEMORABLE

Passover EXPERIENCE

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | A3

Freedom in the Promised Land

MID-CITY J E W E L RY & L OA N

Happy Passover

by LIZ FELDSTERN Executive Director, Institute for Holocaust Education assover is a holiday that holds layers of meaning, as we might ascertain from its many names. “Hag haAviv� (The Festival of Spring), one of the three names given this holiday in the Torah, points out its place in the calendar and its connection to the season of spring – a time of renewal and rebirth. “Pesach�, the most commonly used Hebrew name for the holiday, refers to the paschal sacrifice and the lamb’s blood each Hebrew family used to mark their doorposts in order to avoid suffering the tenth plague.

The English name for the holiday, Passover, also ties in to the tenth plague and how the Angel of Death passed over the houses of the Hebrews and our firstborn sons were spared.

The third name given to the holiday in the Torah is “Hag haHerut� (The Festival of Freedom). This name, of course, recalls the most central aspect of the Passover story: the transition of our Hebrew ancestors from Egyptian bondage to self-determination in the Sinai desert and eventually in the land of Israel - from slavery to freedom.

This transition was not easy for the Hebrews, after 400 years of subservience. Nor was it for the Jewish people of our modern times who experienced complete degradation and slavery during the Holocaust. When the camps were discovered in 1945, those few who had survived began the long journey back to humanity, an experience perhaps not unlike wandering in the desert for 40 years.

Those who lived through the Holocaust have a unique and profound appreciation for freedom and all that comes with it. Some of our local survivors have agreed to share their insights with the community.

Hag Herut Sameach!

Wishing you a happy and healthy Passover.

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“I know what it is to have nothing.

Absolutely nothing – not even clothes on your back. Others should never have to go through that. We must take care of one another. Really love each other and see the beauty that is all around us. Freedom is being able to help other people, helping those who need it most. Helping other people is what keeps me going.� ~ Survivor who prefers to remain anonymous “How eerily similar it seemed for so many Jews to be thrown together with no place to sleep, contained in a vessel under the control of a foreign nation and steaming inexorably toward an uncertain future.

Yet how wonderfully different. We were here this time by choice. By the grace of G-d, we were once again in control of our lives, our destiny. We were free!� ~ Cantor Leo Fettman, of his ship ride from Germany to Canada, in Shoah: Journey from the Ashes “Passover celebrates liberation and freedom. I have known what it means to be completely enslaved, deprived of my

humanity. Every day I celebrate what it means to be free in America. I hope everyone who observes Passover in this great country keeps the meaning and value of our freedom strong every day of the year.� ~ Sam Fried, Survivor of Auschwitz and co-founder of the Sam and Frances Fried Holocaust Education Fund at UNO “Freedom for me began when my mother reconnected with me after the war. Even though I was still living with a foster family, they afforded me the freedom of normality.

They provided me an environment that allowed me to experience freedom. Later, in New York, I enjoyed the freedom to go to public school, to study the violin, to save money and to be Jewish openly. I had choices and options from which others had been cut off. Above all, I had the opportunity to study, to learn, and to achieve.

Today, when I see how the poor and children are being treated, it is ugly. And so unlike the America that we first experienced.

I never thought that in my lifetime, I would again see such disregard for humanity.� ~ Dr. Tom Jaeger “Freedom is a state of mind which allows one to think for oneself without any outside, corruptive influences. This reasoning is based on how you have been brought up and taught the proper ideals and mores of your culture, which are meant to teach us what is right and wrong and through maturity we are more able to appreciate this distinction. The Jewish culture (and similarly other cultures) provides such a framework for thought and will allow those who are raised in it to form proper ideas which will lead them to proper actions just because it is the right thing to do and so - ultimately benefit humankind.� ~ Dr. Fred Kader

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“Ilse and I have been residents of this country for almost 76 years. We are Americans! Both of us were born in Germany and came to this country as children in 1938... Many Jews who wanted to leave could not obtain an affidavit and ultimately died in the camps. Very few countries welcomed Jews and Germany did not make it easy to leave...

Today, as we look back, we can appreciate the rights we now enjoy. We can vote, own property, observe our religion, and express ourselves. Yes, we do enjoy and appreciate our freedom. Hag Sameach!� ~ Marcel and Ilse Kahn “After the war I went to England, and a couple of days later I found myself walking down the street. I suddenly felt very light. I started humming to myself and skipping. It was as though a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders. For the first time, at the age of 12, I didn’t need to be afraid anymore. It was such a strong sensation that I remember the exact feeling to this day. I don’t take the freedoms that we have here in the US for granted; I think of it all the time.� ~ Bea Karp See Promised Land, page A4

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It’s Pesach, so make sure to kasher your water

by OZZIE NOGG n his coverage of the Middle East peace process, freelance journalist Andy Rowell writes, “As much as the conflict between Israel and Palestine is about religion and access to land, it is also about resources and who controls those resources. A primary one is water. The issue of water remains a central part of the conflict.”

As if that conflict wasn’t thorny enough, the fight over water (at least during Passover) pits Israelis against Israelis. When I read this headline: Jerusalem gets leaven-free holiday water, I assumed it was a spoof by The Onion -- the deadpan satirical news source. But no. The headline topped a 2005 story from San Francisco’s jWeekly.com.

An article describing “fears of chametz” in Israel’s water ran in Haaretz, too. Here’s the paraphrased scoop: In the spirit of the holiday in the Holy Land, Jerusalem’s central water company switched over to kosher-for-Passover tap water. The move came after Jerusalem’s mayor asked the city’s main supplier of water to make sure that only Passover-safe water will run through Jerusalem pipes during the holiday. The water will be directly drilled from the Rosh Ha’ayin area and then sent to Jerusalem, due to concern that water pumped from the Sea of Galilee (a.k.a. Lake Kinneret) may contain traces of leaven thrown into the water by picnickers or fishermen. The leaven-free water will flow into Jerusalem through the weeklong holiday.

This hoo-ha doesn’t affect me, so I’m free to say, “Whatever.” Still, I’m intrigued that a group of people, fearful that stray sandwich crumbs might be floating in the Sea of Galilee, could convince Israel’s water authority to plug the Galilee pipe and pump water from underground aquifers and water reservoirs instead -- even though most rabbis (even from the strictest streams of ultra-Orthodox Judaism) said the whole thing was unnecessary since the slight risk of tap water being chametz can be eliminated by filtering. “No one feels the difference,” said a water authority spokesman.

“Whenever you open the faucet, you have water.”

Now, while Israelis merrily shower and flush their toilets with Kosher l’Pesach water, New Yorkers wrestle with a different halachic problem. Their tap water is considered (by some) to be treif from the get-go. Why? Because copepods - microscopic shrimp -- lurk in the H2o. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, these tiny crustaceans are ubiquitous in ponds, lakes, and reservoirs, but New York City

I

is not required by the EPA to mechanically filter its water.

Upon this discovery, New York Jews who observe kashrut begged the Department of Environmental Protection to have the water purified (call it an aquatic dybbuk exorcism), but were told that extracting the crustacean critters wasn’t possible, because they deliver health benefits to reservoirs by eating mosquito larvae, thereby keeping water sources clear.

(Too much information? I agree.)

Rabbis debated the issue.

The more lenient decided that in some cases, water containing micro-fauna is permitted. Rabbis of a more rigorous bent decreed that tap water in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island should be filtered before drinking. As in all such situations, individuals were advised to consult their own rabbi for guidance, after which many observant Jews bought special filters and new faucet aerators for Pesach.

The Orthodox Union Kosher Hotline states: All unflavored bottled water, seltzer and sparkling water is Kosher for Passover, even without any Kosher supervision. Oh, wow.

This means Israelis and New Yorkers could have avoided their “Is our tap water chamatzdik or not” drey kop had they stocked up on Evian or phoned Claire Brightwater, producer of 100% spring water that bears her last name.

Ms. Brightwater -- who calls herself a psychic, healer and medicine woman -- collects her water from a source near Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Once the water is in the bottles, Brightwater uses quartz crystals, sage, sweet grass and prayer to “program” the water for good health, happiness and prosperity. She then asks “the Great Spirit to help feed the hungry children, keep the waters clean and to protect the twoand four-legged on this planet.” Finally, Brightwater plays CDs of New Age healing chants for twelve hours a day until the cases of water are delivered. “I think there’s a revolution happening,” Brightwater said. “I really believe that spiritual people like myself want to make a change, with all the suffering in the world now. So many people have e-mailed me to tell me they can feel the energy flowing through them when they drink the water,” she said. “I’m astounded.”

Me, too. I’m also astounded to learn that Hoffman’s, a kosher food manufacturer in North London, offers jars of ready-made Kosher for Passover salt water. And that customers buy the stuff.

I’ll tell you one thing. Writing this article made me look at holy water in a wholly new light.

Promised Land Happy Passover

Continued from page A3 “Freedom needs to be nourished, cherished and guarded!

When our family came to America, after escaping the brutal confines of the Communist regimes of the Soviet Union and Poland, we and all the newcomers treasured our newly found freedom and liberty. I immediately became an American patriot and still am to this very day.

Of course, America was a much freer country in 1951. As I watch the government expand its control of every aspect of our lives, I witness liberty shrinking. I am sad to see so many Americans willing to give up their liberty for free stuff. What they don’t understand is when freedom of choice disappears, so will the free stuff.” ~ Milton M. Kleinberg “Freedom means to me freedom from fear-period. I don’t look around anymore on the street to see if someone in Nazi boots is walking behind me.” ~ Lou Leviticus

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“The first generation of Israelite slaves who left Egypt as part of the exodus did not enter the promised land of Israel and into freedom. It was as if their spirits were broken by the depth of the trauma of slavery and these souls were unable to be repaired to the state of freedom necessary to step into the promised land. For some survivors of the Holocaust as well, physical freedom at the end of the war did not mean that their broken and sometimes tormented souls could find healing and freedom even to this day. For me personally as a member of the generation after the Holocaust, Pesach is a time to remember, appreciate and experience small steps into the promised land of physical and spiritual freedom.” ~ Gabrielle Girau Pieck, daughter of Manfred Pieck

“I came to this country without language, money, home or friends. But coming to the United States gave me the opportunity to accomplish what I have today. Today, I thank God first and the wonderful U.S. for giving me the opportunity to have good things. I do appreciate every little bit I have. Doesn’t have to be big – little things. I enjoy being here – being a free person. I wasn’t free for six full years under the Nazis. We raised a wonderful family. I am a grandmother. My children are college graduates and doing well. I only had a sixth grade education in Poland. I am not afraid. I am safe. I can do what I want.” ~ Rachel Rosenberg “Freedom means many things to me. The first freedom came on May 9, 1945 when the Nazis ran and the Russians told us – 500 women – that we were free. We were free to go back to our homes. I did not find anyone – only some friends and Norman who would become my husband. We had freedom to go to the American zone in Germany. We could do anything – no one was watching over your shoulder. Next we had freedom to come to the United States and the freedom to establish ourselves. We had freedom to educate our kids at any school, to worship anywhere, to live our own life.” ~ Esther Silver “Freedom is something that I could only dream about before coming to this country. Some people might take freedom for granted, probably because they always had it.

To me, having freedom means being able to live without fear. And living without fear is the ultimate way of living.” ~ Kitty Williams

April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | A5

Passover at the Kripke Jewish Federation Library

by MARY SUE GROSSMAN The Center for Jewish Life hile we aren’t able to help with your cleaning, shopping and cooking, the Kripke Jewish Federation Library is still a great place to help with your preparations for Passover. From cookbooks to fiction to ideas for your seder and fun for the kids plus a wide variety of haggadot, the library can be your “one stop� literary source for your Passover preparations.

Looking for ways to put a creative twist on your seders?

Make Your Own Passover Seder: A New Approach to Creating a Personal Family Celebration, written by Rabbi Alan Kay and Jo Kay is a creative, step-by-step how-to guide geared for today’s families. The book includes basic information about the components of preparing and hosting a seder, from choosing a haggadah to menu planning.

It then walks readers through the 15 elements of the seder experience. A particularly helpful part of the book is the inclusion of “tip� boxes with shared practical and personal suggestions from real-life seder celebrants. Recipes, songs, stories, a glossary of terms and references to other books are also found.

Another source in planning your seder is Creating Lively Passover Seders: A Practical Keepsake of Engaging Texts and Tales by David Arnov. This guide will help you invigorate your seder, create lively discussions, and make personal connections with the Exodus story today. Creating Lively Passover Seders is an innovative, interactive guide to help encourage fresh perspectives and lively dialogue. It offers thematic discussion topics, text study ideas, activities, and readings that come alive in the traditional group setting of the Passover Seder. Each activity and discussion idea has the aim of understanding and engagement.

Then after those hours and hours of planning and clean-

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ing, at some point you’ll need to put up your feet and relax a bit. Let My RV Go is a great selection to inject a needed bit of humor at the end of those long days. Written by Nicole Nathan, the book follows two families as they escape the snow of Canada in search of the warmth of the southern U.S. to celebrate Pa s s ov e r.

Imagine two families – including several

children -- in two RV’s stuffed with frozen brisket and enough matzah to feed the Panhandle of Florida. Then add in a mysterious box of matzah to be delivered to someone for which they have no address and the adventure is underway. This is an honest, humorous and refreshing account of one woman’s search for meaning in the Pesach celebration.

Help with planning your Passover meals can be at your fingertips with the Passover cookbooks found in the library. Published in 2013, Passover Made Easy: Favorite Triple-Tested Recipes by Leah Schapira includes surprising recipes such as Brisket Eggrolls, Matzaroni and Cheese and Banana French Toast, all Kosher for Passover.

Leah Schapira teamed up with noted food editor Victoria Dwek to help add some “wow� to your Pesach menus. Great culinary tidbits and helping plating tips make this a fun read

as well as easy to use.

Susie Fishbain’s Passover by Design: Picture Perfect Kosher

by Design Recipes for the holiday helps add elegance to your Passover preparations. Featuring a blend of Passover-adjusted favorite Kosher by Design favorites and over 30 new recipes, it also gives helpful and creative presentation ideas. From Chicken Lollipops to Grilled Beef and Radish Salad and TriColor Gefilte Fish, there are sure to be recipes to liven up your regular Passover meals in addition to your seders.

The New York Times Passover Cookbook features over 200 recipes from top chefs and writers including beloved family recipes and innovative cuisine.

Compiled by Linda Amster, it includes contributions from Craig Claiborne, Mimi Sheraton and Wolfgang Puck.

One reviewer described it as allowing you to “finally, put aside those yellowed newspaper clippings this holiday.�

Help your kids get in the Passover mode as well with fun Passover selections in the Kripke Library’s children’s section.

Lotsa Matzah by Tilda Balsley, The Matzah Man by Naomi Howland, Green Plagues and Lamb by Kathleen Long Bostrom, The Matzah Ball Fairy by Carla Heymsfeld and Matzah Ball Soup by Joan Rosenberg are just a few of the selections.

DVD choices include It’s Passover, Grover, The Seder on Planet Matzah Ball and The Animated Haggadah.

And finally, there is the haggadah. As the key element of the seder – yes, even more than the matzah ball soup! – the library has a wide array of haggadot available for you to See Kripke Library, page A6

“Thanks for keeping Mom happy!�

Wishing Your

Passover “Mom moved into Remington Heights in December of 2011. From the day she moved in, the staff has been courteous and respectful, and the card games, birthday parties and daily events keep her active.

Thanks for keeping Mom happy!�

- Bob W. Son of Loretta W., a happy resident of Remington Heights

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A6 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Friedel students prepare for their own learning Seder

by CLAUDIA SHERMAN rated with names and pictures, for each seder participant. “A for Friedel Jewish Academy lot of thought goes into this,” Artzi added. “We cover the n Friday, April 11, Friedel Jewish Academy table with paper and all the students draw on the paper to students will leave their school uniforms at create a tablecloth.” home and will come to school dressed in synaArtzi credited the Friedel PTO for providing supplies and gogue attire. Since the beginning of the food for the seder.

Hebrew month of Nissan (April 1 on the secuAll this preparation, of course, is for “our learning seder,” lar calendar), the youngsters have been preparing for this in the commons area of the school on April 11. “We invite special day as they do every year at Friedel. the clergy of all the synagogues and Friedel alumni,” Artzi In their classrooms, the said. “A lot of alumni (who students have been learnwere on school break) ing about Passover and came last year. They how our ancestors were helped us set the tables, led out of Egypt by Moses arrange the chairs, and and across the Red Sea to serve the food as well as freedom. Each grade has read during the seder. An its own haggadah and alum videotaped the seder, learns according to the and another took pictures. level of that grade followAlong with Artzi, Friedel ing the Tal-am curriculum Jewish studies teacher Sara for Hebrew immersion. ben-Shushan will lead the Haggadot are written seder this year. Clergy who according to the concept, attend are given a role to content, and vocabulary of play in the seder such as each grade level, said saying Kiddush. Each Naama Artzi, Friedel grade plays a different role Preparing for their school “learning” seder which will be on Friday, Jewish studies teacher, or performance during the April 11, Friedel Jewish Academy kindergartner Lillyanna who has led the Friedel seder. For example, the Shtroback, left, listens to fifth grader Rebecca Denenberg and seder for the past six years. kindergartners, being the third grader Julian Witkowski as they study their haggadot.

“The curriculum prepares youngest, sing the Ma the students for the seder and “for life,” according to Artzi. Nishtana (Four Questions). First and second graders will “They’ll know the customs and reasoning” of a seder. “We’re read a story about a parrot that visits a family busily cleangiving them knowledge and common ground to converse ing house as they hunt for hametz. Third and fourth graders with other Jewish people.” perform a play that recalls the exodus in song. “I know they Each grade level focuses on a different aspect of Passover. look forward to it,” remarked Artzi, “because they talk about Fourth graders discuss what represents freedom and what who they want to be in the musical.” The fifth and sixth represents slavery, pointed out Artzi. In the fifth grade class- grade classes sing their own song during the seder. room, students are learning about the differences in General studies teachers participate in the seder with the Passovers of the past such as when the Children of Israel help of the students who help their instructors understand were preparing to leave Egypt compared to other genera- the seder which is conducted in Hebrew. Although space is tions including our own. In sixth grade, the students con- limited, parents of the third and fourth graders are invited to centrate on physical, spiritual, and national slavery as well as see their children perform in the musical. Sixth graders’ parphysical, spiritual and national freedom and how the hag- ents are invited also to see their youngsters participate in gadah represents these concepts. The curriculum extends their final Friedel seder. PTO members are invited too. these themes to the study of Martin Luther King, the Dalai “While they’re eating,” Artzi continued, “the Jewish studLama, the Jews under the British Mandate, and the estab- ies teachers tell Passover stories from their childhoods. lishment of the State of Israel.

Usually it’s an Elijah story. It’s like stand-up comedy for a few Two days prior to the seder, the Friedel students get minutes.” involved in food preparation. Last year they made matzah But the perennial favorites are the musical, the songs, and balls and dessert during their Jewish studies classes. “It’s like the food. The younger students get to open the door for an assembly line,” described Artzi. “They poke the potatoes, Elijah. “But the most favorite part,” Artzi admitted, “is hidput foil on them, cut the carrots.” There’s a name tag, deco- ing the afikoman for the principal to find!”

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Kripke Library Continued from page A5 consider. Published last year, The Bronfman Haggadah is a beautifully illustrated contemporary Haggadah as interpreted by the world-renowne d philanthropist and Jewish leader Edgar M. Bronfman.

Designed to foster Jewish pride, the text continues the traditional commandment to retell the Exodus story of slavery and freedom for future generations.

The Haggadah teaches people of all ages about Judaism with a fresh perspective while helping to define Passover for everyone at the Seder table.

Rahel Musleah and illustrator Louise August combined talents on Why on This Night? A Passover Haggadah for Family Celebration. A creative, yet authentic selection to guide and engage one’s family takes children beyond the Four Questions and the search for the afikoman, encouraging them to enjoy every step of the seder. Through stories, songs, poems, activities, and explanations, children can step back in time to experience the exodus as if they themselves were leaving Egypt -- and at the same time understand the significance of Passover traditions today.

It is lushly illustrated, with the blessings and text of every major section of the haggadah in Hebrew, English translation, and transliteration.

The Haggadah of the Roshei Yeshiva: Book Three provides illuminating Torah thoughts of some of the greatest Torah leaders. Published in 2001, it brings together some of the finest comments of leaders and teachers who changed their world and ours. The names themselves tell the story. They gave strength to the old world and built the new. The Chofetz Chaim and the Netziv of Volozhin.

Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman and Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin. Rabbi Shneur Kotle and Rabbi Gedaliah Schorr. Their interpretations of the Haggadah are distinguished for the warmth, faith, incisiveness and profundity that marked their authors as Torah leaders for well over a century.

Library hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Friday. The Kripke Jewish Federation Library is a program of the Center for Jewish Life as a part of the agency’s mission to maximize involvement of Omaha's Jewish community in imaginative, compelling and meaningful Jewish experiences. For additional information, please call 402.334.6462.

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | A7

Chad Gadya: One little kid or One little dove?

by OZZIE NOGG ere’s another question you might ask at your Seder table.

Who can name the Israeli peace activist who turned Chad Gadya -- One Little Kid -- into a political protest anthem?

The answer is 66-year old Chava Alberstein.

Polish-born Alberstein moved with

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her in the Knesset. Although then-Attorney General Yosef Harish declared the ban an “unjustifiable violation of free expression,” the song has hardly been played since.

Chava Alberstein considers Chad Gadya a warning about the dangers of participating in an endless cycle of retribution, and she’s in good company. David Arnow, PhD. (whose innovative work connects ancient text and contemporary issues to create Passover seders alive with questions that matter) writes: “Fashioned in God’s image, we are the bearers of enormous creative potential -which we can use for good or evil. Witness the dramatically increasing pace of biomedical discovery. Over the coming centuries we will surely be able to vastly extend life expectancy. If, of course, we don’t destroy the planet

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Above: Chad Gadya and right: Dove of Peace Images: ©Ozzie Nogg her family to Israel when she was three. A champion of liberal causes and an activist for human rights, Alberstein -often called Israel’s Joan Baez -- is considered the country’s most popular female folk singer.

But even star status didn’t spare Alberstein the outrage caused when she added a verse to Chad Gadya that challenged the Israeli government’s position on Arab-Israeli unity.

As we know, Passover seders end with the singing of Chad Gadya. This ditty recounts a chain of disasters beginning with one little kid (bought for two zuzim) which is then eaten by a cat, which is bitten by a dog, which is hit by a stick and so on and so on, until the cycle of suffering ends when God smites the all-powerful Angel of Death.

Scholars suggest that the Jewish message underlying Chad Gadya is one of cause and effect: that those who destroy will themselves be destroyed, and that in the end justice will prevail and God will triumph.

On the surface, Chad Gadya is a much older cousin of other cumulative songs, like There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly or The Farmer in the Dell. But our sages consider Chad Gadya an allegory that reflects the persecutions of the Jewish people. It was through this lens that Chava Alberstein flipped the traditional version on its head and used the song as an allegory for the oppression of people other than Jews.

Alberstein’s recording (made during the Palestinian Intifada in 1989) begins with a simple Hebrew rendition of the original Aramaic, to which she adds lyrics that focus on the relationship between oppressor and oppressed, and implicitly criticize Israel’s handling of the Palestinian uprisings: Why are you singing this traditional song?

It’s not yet spring and Passover’s not here.

And what has changed for you? What has changed?

I have changed this year.

On all other nights I ask the four questions, but tonight I have one more: How long will the cycle last?

How long will the cycle of violence last?

Alberstein was immediately boycotted.

Her recording of Chad Gadya was considered so subversive that one music-store owner in Beersheba dumped all her records out on the street. The Israel Broadcasting Authority and local radio stations banned the recording, Alberstein received death threats, and right-wing politicians cursed

or wipe ourselves out by some other means. We can perpetuate the Chad Gadya cycle of death and violence or build a wholly different world.”

Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman is in the same camp. A prominent scholar of Jewish liturgy and co-founder of Synagogue 3000, Hoffman sees in Chad Gadya a warning against lashing out in retribution. He believes the song may be influenced by a paragraph in Pirkei Avot where Rabbi Hillel watches a skull float downstream and ponders how it got there.

“You were drowned because you drowned others. And ultimately, those who drowned you will also drown.” Hillel, of course, also said, “That which is hateful to you do not do unto your neighbor. This is the whole of the Torah, The rest is commentary. Go forth and study.”

In Yiddish slang, the term chad gadya is a euphemism for jail, where prisoners languish.

Perhaps this linguistic irony -- and Chava Alberstein’s example -- inspired the Israeli satirical team, Latma, to create their parody titled Chad Batya (One House). Set to the tune of Chad Gadya, it tells the story of a house in the settlements. Instead of a cat, a dog, a stick, etc., the song features Peace Now, Benjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the U.N., among others.

“There are consequences to our actions,” wrote Maimonides in his commentary on Hillel and the skull.

“If you invent an unjust thing to benefit yourself at the expense of others, that unjust thing will ultimately be used against you. On the positive side, if you introduce something that benefits others, that thing will ultimately come to benefit you as well.”

Alberstein challenges the concept of ‘benign occupation’ and stands firmly by her convictions.

“It took time for people to understand,” she says. “Today people see that the occupation causes us to be violent.”

Alberstein’s opinion seems logical. And supportable. Still, many of us remain conflicted on the subject. But hawk or dove -- or even little kid -- what better time to confront the question of slavery versus freedom than at our seder tables?

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A8 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Family fun with a Passover plague hunt

by GABBY BLAIR unting plagues... doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? Well, you would be surprised just how much fun a little scavenger styled plague hunt can bring to your seder when you have young children to teach and entertain! The idea for this interactive Passover game was initially geared to include our preschool aged children and lends truth to the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention”. You see, when my eldest was 4, he came home from his preschool co-op one spring day and asked if he could join his friends at the town Easter egg hunt. He’d never been exposed to Easter and he had no idea what this meant, aside from the fact that he could find candy hiding in bushes at the park. After thinking over my reply, I explained that Easter was a special holiday for some of his friends, just as Passover is a special holiday for us Jews.

I told him that while we could not go to the Easter egg hunt perhaps, during our upcoming seder, he and his little brother could go on a Passover plague hunt. Naturally, I had to make good on this spur of the moment idea and after a little creative thought and a few preparations, a tradition was born.

That first year, with the kids being so young, we set up

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clues on brightly colored cards and raided the toy bin for props. We even prepared some small prizes ahead of time to keep the kids interested. As a family, we walked through the plagues. This proved to be a fun and creative way to get young children interested in the

Passover story, to learn about the 10 plagues, and to help our boys get out a few wiggles in a purposeful way. The idea can easily be modified to occur before or during a seder and can be as simple or complex as you and your children need.

We started off by telling the story about the People of Israel and how they were slaves in Egypt. We spoke about Pharaoh and the warnings that Moses and Aaron gave when they

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pleaded for the Jews to be set free. We began the story with the events leading up to the plagues. We gave the kids the clue for the first plague, on a brightly colored card. It read: Clue 1: “Water turned to blood in the Nile, where does water turn to ice in your home?”

This first clue led them to the freezer where an ice cube tray of frozen grape juice (depicting blood) and the next brightly colored clue card awaited them. The frozen juice cubes were put into their cups to melt for the seder as we spoke about the next plague, as Pharaoh did not give in.

Clue 2: “Ribbit, Ribbit! Frogs like to play in the water, do you?”

We spoke about how frogs usually like to live by water, but that during the plague, slimy, croaking frogs were everywhere, even in peoples homes, frightening everyone including Pharaoh. He begged for the frogs to go, even promising to free the Jewish people, but he lied. As soon as the frogs had vanished, the Jews were still slaves.

The clue led them to sinks, the shower, and finally to the bathtub where they found small rubber squeaky frogs as a prize along with the next clue.

Clue 3: “Itchy lice, not so nice... better check your hat twice!”

This gave us the opportunity to explain what lice was, why it is a problem and practical ways to avoid it - never a bad thing to go over with almost school-age children!

This third clue led them to the coat closet where they dug through the hat bin for the hat (and some wind-up bugs), bearing the 4th clue.

Clue 4: “Lions and tigers and teddy bears...Oh my!”

This fourth plague of wild animals roving the land and destroying what they came upon brought the kids to search amongst their stuffed animals, where the clue was attached to a teddy bear.

Clue 5: “Old Moses had a farm...”

The plague of animal death took them to their Fisher Price toy barn where the sheep, cow and horse were all laying down on top of Clue 6. We explained to them about the difference between the wild animals from the previous plague and the domestic animals that the Egyptians relied on claimed by this plague. Even with all of these plagues, Pharaoh’s heart was still hardened against our people and he would not let them go.

Clue 6: “Painful bumpy boils- think a band aid would help?”

This clue led us to the first aid kit where some character band aids were holding the next clue. We wondered why, even after such painful boo-boos, would Pharaoh not let us be free!?

Clue 7: “Fire(places) and ice don’t usually mix!”

Next to the fire place, where we had the clue tucked in between logs along with a few ping pong balls. We talked about our experiences with hail during thunderstorms and then discussed the damage such a plague could cause. Of course, even still, our people were not allowed to be free.

Clue 8: “Oh No! What’s eating our plants!?!”

We had small rubber grasshoppers in the pot of a house plant with the next clue. We talked about the damage a swarm of (locusts) bugs can do to crops, and why it would be such a bad plague, but even so, we were still slaves.

Clue 9: “Take a walk around the house outside with Dad to experience darkness” The kids and their father walked around our house on Mercer Island, WA in the pitch dark, and it was pretty spooky! Once they made it around the house and back to the front door, we decided that total darkness would have been a very scary plague. As a reward for completing the plague hunt, we had a “big prize” waiting for them on the stoop- a box of Chocolate Matzo! Once we got settled back down at the seder table, we talked a little about the tenth plague, death of the first born, in an age appropriate way, and discussed how this terrible plague resulted in our people’s freedom. We told the story of how the Israelites were pursued and went on with our little family seder.

As the kids have gotten older, the novelty of the hunt has worn off, and the discussions have become a little deeper.

The initial purpose was to draw the kids in and get them interested in our special holiday, and looking back, I feel that we achieved our goal. That first year, the kids were excited to have their little squeaky frogs and chocolate matzo, but more than that, they really knew something about Passover. They knew about Moses, and his staff. They knew the ten plagues, and that even though they were terrible, they resulted in the Israelites’ freedom from Pharaoh. The kids were eager to hear what happened next, and to tell the story to our relatives the next year in Jerusalem.

Wishing your family a fun and happy Passover!

April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | A9

Ruach and fun take center stage during BESTT Seders

The Book of Schmaltz

Read it and eat Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN The Book of Schmaltz by Michael Ruhlman (Little Brown, $25) ois who? the author boldly asks... none other than the Cleveland neighbor who inspired and shared her love and 78 years of experiences and recipes using schmaltz. This ode to the schmaltz recipe in six steps actually including strategies and delicious photographs goes from page 11 to page 21.

HOW TO MAKE SCHMALTZ Skin and fat from 8 chicken thighs (or 2 cups miscellaneous reserved chicken skin and fat) 1/4 cup water 1 Spanish onion, cut into medium dice 1. Cook the chopped chicken fat and skin in a small amount of water to begin the rendering at a gentle temperature.

2. Once the water and the moisture in the fat and skin have cooked off, the fat can rise above 212 degrees F and the browning can begin.

3. When the skin is lightly browned and plenty of fat has been rendered, add the chopped onion.

4. Be careful not to overcook the fat. It should remain clear and yellow, not brown with an overly roasted flavor.

5. The browned skin and onion, called gribenes, are a delicious by-product of making schmaltz.

6. Strain the fat and reserve the gribenes. The schmaltz is ready to use, to refrigerate for up to a week or to freeze. The gribenes should also be refrigerated or frozen.

Yield: 1/2 cup schmaltz and 1/2 cup gribenes.

Ruhlman, cookbook author/blogger, writes this primer to restore schmaltz to its former flavorful favor in two dozen traditional and contemporary recipes illustrated with mouthwatering photographs by his wife, Donna. Many recipes have four pages of photos. Follow along from “much-maligned, all-but-forgotten fat” to guilt- free use of this powerful, cherished flavoring tool.

Historically, Ruhlman relates schmaltz to the Ashkenazi Jews who didn’t have ready access to olive oil and relied on poultry fat for cooking. A cooking page turner with Lois’ See Schmaltz, page A12

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Top: BESTT Principal Eadie Tsabari keeps the school Seders engaging, fun and meaningful. Above from left: BESTT Seder tables are festive, set with flowers, Passover foods, personalized place cards and colorful holiday props; Ari Finkelstein; Michael Raffel, left, and Spencer Gordman don some shades (representing darkness) as the ten plagues are recited; and Beth El’s clergy, Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman, stop in to take part in the holiday celebration.

by JILL BELMONT Beth El Publicity very year at Passover time, Beth El Synagogue’s Talmud Torah students take a break from religious-school classes and participate in a spirited and interactive all-school Seder. Students help to lead the service, responding enthusiastically as Principal Eadie Tsabari peppers them with questions about the exodus from Egypt, and its symbolism, both then and now. Singing, games and chronicling the saga are trademarks of the school celebration, as well as delicious holiday fare and the always-anticipated search for the afikomen.

For Tsabari, there’s no better way to teach children about Passover than the BESTT Seders; the rituals, singing and storytelling are wonderful ways to cement a lasting connection with youngsters and Judaism.

“Before the celebration, we use our t’filah [prayer] time to practice certain parts of the Haggadah, and make sure that each student knows the story of Passover and the traditions that go with it,” Tsabari said. “For the Seder, we set

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a beautiful, engaging table, and add a personal touch by using place cards with the students’ pictures on them.”

The children lead the Seder, assisted by a group of the synagogue’s teens. At the appropriate times during the telling of the exodus, they either wave around – or wear -props that are scattered on the tables, including plastic frogs and snakes, round rubber poppers (boils), and sunglasses.

“The fun factor is always a part of our Seder -- it’s not only educational, but also truly joyous,” Tsabari said.

Students in the second-seventh grades participate in the celebration during their weekday classes; kindergartners and first graders enjoy their own holiday activities during their Sunday class, as do the Torah Tots participants and their parents.

The goal, Tsabari said, is “to instill in the kids just how lucky we are to have this unique and beautiful holiday. The preparation, the excitement, the community building are all part of it. I want the students to bring their own experiences to the table, as well as be grounded in the traditional ways we celebrate as Jews. Hopefully, they will bring something new to the Seder tables in their own homes.”

A10 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Chametz burning ceremonies catch fire

by OZZIE NOGG observed in many housee begin with a holds. But today, communal story, not from the chametz burnings are Hagaddah but increasingly the vogue. From from the New York Times: the New York Times on April “The Fire Department is 8, 2009, we learn, “There was reportedly responding to an exceptional degree of numerous calls about rubbish ardor at the site of the old fires in Williamsburg and Rockland Drive-In, its giant Borough Park, because it's white screen hovering ghosttime for the pre-Passover tralike over the vacant land next dition of burning all leavened to the Kosher Castle restaubread products. A few years rant, cars jamming Route 59, ago, the FDNY reminded flecks of snow falling from those burning chametz to be the sky, at the annual Monsey careful because in 2004, five chametz burning. ‘No plastic Burning chametz on the lower east side in New York. people were seriously burned bags, no aluminum foil, no when a man poured paint thinner on a ceremonial fire in children,’ Nathan Rothschild, Monsey’s fire commissioner, Borough Park, Brooklyn. The next year, something worse joked as people approached a giant trash bin with loaves of occurred during the holiday when three boys were killed rye bread, melba toast, potato chip bags, crackers, cookies, when a blaze sparked by a kitchen burner ignited wood pan- boxes of cereal, spaghetti and other food to be burned before eling behind the stove and spread through their the Passover holiday begins. ‘It’s free entertainment,’ one Williamsburg home.” participant said with a shrug. People started coming before This narrative is a far cry, thank goodness, from the the site opened at 6:30 a.m., and kept piling in until well chametz burning ritual we observed in my childhood home. after the scheduled closing. They came in old Buicks and The Katz family scenario went like this: new S.U.V.’s, mostly men and their children while the On the night before Passover began, Momma, my little women were home cooking the seder meal. The final count brother and I covered our eyes while Poppa took ten small was close to 10,000 attendees, with no reported injuries.” pieces of bread (to represent the Ten Commandments, he As if potential harm from chametz burning isn’t enough, explained) and hid them around our house. He deposited doctors in New York say Passover never passes without a said bread on window sills, near Momma’s sewing machine, surge in emergency room traffic. “There’s an uptick in total under the piano bench, behind the mantle clock. Poppa then patient volume during Passover,” one physician said. “We handed me a goose feather and a white linen napkin, lit a can- see a bit of everything. Dizziness from cleaning fumes, slips dle, turned out the lights, and set me off in search of the hid- from highly buffed floors or wet bathroom tiles, knife den chametz -- guided by the glow of the flame, which he car- wounds from cutting food, burns from stovetops, and even ried. To me, this was a magical treasure hunt. “You’re getting fingers chopped up in blenders.” hot,” Poppa would say when I neared a hiding place. Or, “No. In their effort to prevent injuries, New York Fire No. You’re cold,” if I wandered far afield. With the feather, I Department officials disseminated safety tips to people in swept each piece of discovered chametz into the napkin. And heavily Jewish neighborhoods. Fire officials stressed the use when all ten pieces were accounted for, we tossed the feather of metal barricades or metal cans to prevent stray embers, into the napkin with the crumbs, tied the works in a knot, and distributed pamphlets that recounted past tragedies. A Poppa recited the ‘nullification’ of the chametz, and then he message included with the materials said, “The Sabbath and set the whole ball of wax outside until morning. After break- Jewish holidays are a time of family gatherings, celebrated fast, Poppa chanted a Hebrew prayer that testified to our hav- with special foods, songs and customs. A time for traditioning removed the chametz, and then -- oh, the drama -- he set al cooking and candle rituals. However, without safety prethe bundle on fire. As the smoke rose towards heaven, Poppa cautions, these religious observances may increase the risk reminded us that we should also rid ourselves of personal for fires and injuries. Celebrate your heritage safely.” chametz -- the pride and ego that, like yeast, can often inflate Holy smokes, Batman. For millennia we Jews have recoga person. An indelible memory. An important lesson. nized the need to seek safety from danger in all its many Passover Prep 101 teaches that searching for chametz and guises. Blood libels. The Inquisition. Expulsions. The removing it from our homes commemorates our ancestors’ Holocaust. Antisemitic skinheads. And now we’re told that exodus from Egypt, when they fled so quickly they had no Pesach could also be a threat? Dayenu, already. My shtetltime for their bread to rise. Hence, matzo. The flat, unleav- born, Yiddish-speaking Bubbie often said, “Schwer zu sein ened bread of affliction eaten during the eight days of the ein yid (it’s hard to be a Jew),” but I’m sure she was referring festival. I’m sure this ‘search and destroy’ ceremony is still to the perils of pogroms, not the preparations for Pesach.

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Remembering Seders past

by GLORIA SHUKERT JONES fondly recall the Seders at the home of my grandparents, Jacob and Mirel Shukert, when I was a small child. This was an event eagerly anticipated, as the family gathered to celebrate Pesach. My bubbe always kept a spotless house, redolent with room sachets and cooking aromas. She would greet us the door, with hugs, kisses and the usual, “Hello, darlings”, which in her Yiddish accent sounded more like, “Hello dollies”.

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We would first head to Zayde’s library, where he would be poring over his Bible and many books written in Hebrew. Zayde was very devout and would daven and recite blessings throughout the day. Only a formal education precluded his becoming a rabbi; however, he was a shochet, a ritual slaughterer of animals designated for kosher consumption.

Zayde frequently burned incense, probably to rid his library of the smell of cigarette smoke. He was a smoker back in the days when it was considered stylish and long before health issues of smoking came into public awareness. Nevertheless, Bubbe hated the smell of smoke, so in deference to her, Zayde did his best to disguise it. He would also partake of Sen-Sens, little packets containing tiny black squares of licorice that were supposed to sweeten the breath. On some occasions, he would give each of us grandchildren our own individual packet of this long-forgotten treat. He would caution us not to chew the little squares, but just to hold them in our mouth, one at a time, until they dissolved.

After hugs and greetings from our grandfather, we would assemble around the table, beautifully set with fine linens, china, crystal and silver, used only on Passover. In the center was a bottle of Manischewitz wine, a tray of matzos, and the seder plate with the symbolic roasted egg, a stalk of celery, parsley, shank bone, charosis and See Seders past, page A11

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | A11

A creative Seder

by DEBBIE MASSARANO Director of Lifelong Learning at Temple Israel hen my children were young, I realized that there was no way they were going to sit through an hour and half Seder.

So, we came up with creative ideas that were originally for entertaining the kids.

As the years passed

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and t h e y grew older we continued to include creative ways of making our way through the seder. Often, we will divvy up the seder responsibilities ahead of time. I will send out an email giving each family their “assignment.” Each family is responsible for a section of the Seder and can do with it just about whatever they want to get the learning across. Here are some of our favorites: • Every year we have multi colored origami paper on the table for people to make origami frogs. That way, when we got to the plagues there were “frogs here, frogs there, frogs jumping everywhere”. We still continue to do this. As a result, every one

is busy and engaged. You can find the directions at www.origami-fun.com/ origami-jumping-frog.html.

• Magid is always fun at our Seder. We have done it in many different ways. Sometimes we have sent the kids off while we are setting up to create a play for us. Sometimes one family will prepare the magid ahead of time.

Often, they have included a “CNN Egypt” version with a news report of the happenings of the Exodus. Other times it has been a “report from the Pyramids”.

It is always creative, funny and entertaining.

• Our favorite activity for the Four Children is to distribute pictures of a variety of famous people and figure out which of the Four Children categories they fit in. I distinctly remember the heated conversation about whether George W. Bush was the Wise Child or the Evil Child. There were plenty of arguments on both sides. The pictures have become more sophisticated as we have aged. For the younger children you can use Disney characters.

• Another favorite is to play charades to the plagues. Participants pick a plague from the hat and have to silently act it out.

• If you ask my children to name the year they remember most vividly, it would be the one in which we removed all the furniture in the living room and tented it. We hung sheets and table cloths from the middle of the ceiling to the walls. We kept the folding tables collapsed and put them on the floor. We ate seated on the floor, reclining on every pillow we could find in the house. It was tremendously fun and incredibly memorable.

Passover is also called “Z’man Simchateinu”, the time of our joy. I encourage you to find way to liven up your Seder so it is indeed a time of joy, laughter and creativity.

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Seders past Continued fron page A10 bitter herbs. There was always a little bowl of salted water in the center of the plate, my grandparents called “saltz vasser”, in which to dip the vegetables. Bubbe made her own horseradish, and believe me, if you had sinus trouble before tasting it, you wouldn’t, afterward.

We were familiar with the story of Passover from Sunday School, but Zayde told it in Hebrew, which none of us kids understood. Then he went through the Haggadah, and asked the four questions: “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The adults would answer in Hebrew. The fun part was hiding the Afikoman, and there was always a place set for the Prophet Elijah, whom I pictured at the time, as the invisible man. One of us kids would open the door momentarily, to let him in. Though I couldn’t see him, I could feel his benevolent presence.

Then before the meal began, we all got to take a sip of wine. I remember how I hated the taste of it, but it made me feel very grown up. By this time, we were ravenously hungry, and Bubbe brought out the food. There was gefilte fish, matzo-ball soup, either roast chicken or brisket, matzo meal kugel, mashed potatoes, tzimmis, and Passover sponge cake with fruit compote for dessert. During the meal, conversation centered around family matters, business and World War II. In the 1940’s, food, fuel and other commodities were rationed because of the war. We made certain we ate everything on our plates so the children in Europe and Asia wouldn’t starve.

I never quite figured out at that time, how our cleaning our plates would assuage their hunger. But what the adults said was law, and we never asked them to elaborate.

After the meal, the women and girls would

help Bubbe wash dishes, while the men gathered in Zayde’s library. By this time, we all were pretty tired, having sat through the long Seder service and heavy meal.

Since my parents, grandparents, and most of my aunts and uncles are no longer living, Passover seders are not quite the same. I try my best to recreate what I fondly remember, but the savoir-faire and flavor of yesteryear are missing. However, each generation tries to preserve old traditions. For me, it is letting my grandkids open the door for the “invisible” prophet, and to hear them laugh when I turn to the empty chair at dinner, and say, “Elijah, will you pass the tzimmis, please?”

Note: The preceding was the very first article I wrote for the Press. back in 2005. Nine years have gone by quickly. My parents, grandparents and only sibling have passed away, as well as my aunts and uncles. My cousins have all moved to different states, and I lost my husband almost two years ago. My two daughters have been a huge source of solace to me. One lives about a mile from me, and the other (the artist) lives in Vancouver, Washington. The grandchildren are grown and married, and I now have two greatgrandsons.

Being at the head of the helm, so to speak, should entitle me to have my own seders as I did when my kids were small and I was younger. But circumstances have changed and I now go to the community seders at the Blumkin Home or accept invitations from friends. My kids do their own seders with their friends, and though their versions are modernized, with perhaps more emphasis on the food rather than the Haggodah, at least the observance is there. The important thing to remember is the reason centuries of seders have been celebrated. And will continue thus, (hopefully, next year in Jerusalem!)

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by OZZIE NOGG close to twenty years,” said Julee Katzman, Jewish Federation f the thought of preparing for Passover and the seders of Omaha Associate Director. “He first arrived as a young makes you tired even before you crack one single egg, man recently out of college, and he’s continued his Omaha put yourself in chef Mike Aparo’s clogs and feel lucky. connection. In addition to Aparo, Director of Food kashering the Blumkin Services at the Rose Blumkin Home kitchen for Pesach, Jewish Home, needs to plan his Joe also comes in every day menus and order supplies before to supervise the food Valentine’s Day. And the grocery list is preparation during the holreally, really long: iday. He’s a very sweet guy.

500 lbs. of brisket We’ve all become very fond 800 lbs. of chicken of him and look forward to 400 lbs. of sweet potatoes for tsimmis spending the holiday 400 lbs. Idaho potatoes to mash together.” Joe finds time 200 lbs. of matzah for stuffing during the intermediate 200 lbs. of fresh veggies days of Passover to visit 100 lbs. of fish for gefilte loaf the zoo, go to museums, 50 lbs. of nuts, raisins, etc., for charoset and “just kick back and Latke Rueben Eggs? Countless... enjoy myself. My visits to “This represents only what we need to Omaha are very happy and fun.” have on hand for the Blumkin Home seder, Mike Aparo has been at the Blumkin our Community seder and our Passover-ToHome for seven years. “I was hired right Go orders,” Aparo explained. “We make after Passover, so I had a year to learn how probably 1,000 matzah balls and forty sheet the system worked.” Aparo understood cakes for the seders alone. For the week of right off the bat that preparations for Passover, I can’t count how much matzah, Passover need to be done in a hurry, so he eggs, meat and chicken we go through.” calls the process: The Exodus. “The night Five years ago, when Omaha faced a before Passover starts, every one of our matzah shortage, people came to Aparo to dietary aides in each kitchenette has to bail them out. “I’d bought plenty, so I was remove everything from the fridges and cabMike Aparo happy to act as a supplier.” inets, all the way down to the salt and pepper Unlike the rest of us, Aparo can’t run to the local super shakers. These items go to a storeroom downmarket for supplies. “In January, I consult my three-ring stairs, get covered, and are put in an area that’s roped off with binder with about five pounds worth of Passover recipes and a big sign that says: STAY OUT. Then, the staff has to restock menus,” he said. “Then I look through a stack of kosher-for- the kitchenettes with Passover food, even tea bags. They Passover food catalogues and order staples from Kosher grumble a little, and are happy it only happens once a year.”

Mart Foods in Cherry Hills, NJ. A couple weeks before (The Israelites grumbled at points during the Exodus, too, so Passover, the truck arrives at the Home’s back door, and we the staff ’s reaction is understandable.) off-load five or six pallets of Passover non-perishables.

“We take our Blumkin Home seder, our Community seder That’s nearly half a semi. Then we put everything in our spe- and our individual Seder-Meals-To-Go very seriously,” cial storage room that we created just for Passover. The job Aparo said. “We advertise Passover-To-Go one month in takes an entire day, if not longer, and the VAAD supervises advance, and people expect an excellent product. We get the entire operation.” extremely busy, preparing the Blumkin Home seders and Enter Joe Roth, aka Chicago Joe, who works for the VAAD organizing things so customers can pick up their to-go and flies in from Chicago a couple days before Passover to orders on time. Our guys have this down to a science.” kasher the Blumkin Home kitchens. With Joe comes his trusty Mike recalls the compliments he received after the first blowtorch. “First, I do the Blumkin Home meat kitchen,” Joe seder he put on at the Blumkin Home. “People kept coming said during a recent phone conversation. “I blowtorch all the up to me and saying how much they enjoyed the meal. Guess metal surfaces -- the stove tops, grills, the dishwashers, even they didn’t get the memo that Passover food can taste good.” the stationary can openers.” Joe also turns the ovens on to the Cases in point. The Star Deli Friday lunch during Passover highest setting for between 45 minutes and an hour, after will offer Matzah Brei as well as the ever popular Latke which the ovens are considered kosher for Passover use. “The Rueben. “In this culinary creation, crispy potato latkes are pots and pans get the required bath in boiling water,” Joe said. used instead of bread,” Aparo said. “We pile corned beef, And then he repeats the process in the RBJH dairy kitchen. sauerkraut, Thousand Island dressing and parve (fake) cheese According to Mike Aparo, “The Home has separate meat and between the latkes. Even better than manna from heaven.” dairy dishes strictly for Passover, so that’s not an issue. By the To contact Mike Aparo, call 402.334.6522. There might still time Joe is finished blowtorching and boiling, everything we be time to place a Passover-to-Go order. Feel free to visit the prepare and serve has to be kosher for Passover, so the Star Deli web page -- http://www.rbjh.com/index. php/starResidents start eating Passover food even before the Seder.” catering/home, and you can LIKE the Star Deli on their “Chicago Joe has been coming to Omaha over Pesach for Facebook page -- https://www.facebook.com/star. deli.rbjh.

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Schmaltz

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Continued from page A9 family cooking recipes, techniques and stories with Ruhlman’s observations and additions as options.

There is Kishke (Did you know that you can pulverize six squares of matzo in a food processor to substitute for the 1 1/2 cups of matzo meal in this or any other recipe?), Egg and Gribenes Spread, four pages describing Lois’ Traditional Chopped Liver, Helzel, Cholent, Vichyssoise with Gribenes and Chives, and Four-Star Matzo Ball Soup (another recipe for Classic Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls aka Mr. Fluffies). Many options: whether to use Joan Nathan’s seltzer water or baking powder? Matzo balls like “sinkers” or shot puts? With or without gribenes?)

Finally, there’s Schmaltz-Roasted Potatoes with Onion and Rosemary, and this recipe that Ruhlman compares to a giant latke “every bit as tasty, twice as easy” he likes to cook and serve in a 12-in cast-iron skillet.

POTATO KUGEL 1 large Spanish onion 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and submerged

in cold water 1/2 cup schmaltz 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt 1 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs, beaten 2 tbsp. matzo meal Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grate the onion on the medium holes of a box grater. With your hands, squeeze out as much liquid as possible and put the onion in a large bowl. Grate the potatoes. After each potato, put the shreds in a kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then toss it with the onion to prevent it from turning brown.

Grease a large skillet or baking dish with a little schmaltz.

Add the remaining schmaltz to the potato mixture and toss well.

Add the salt and pepper to the eggs and beat them some more to distribute the seasoning. Add the eggs to the potatoes and onion and toss to thoroughly mix everything. Add the matzo meal and mix to incorporate. Transfer the mixture to the skillet or baking dish and smooth out the surface to make it level.

Bake the kugel until it’s cooked through and golden brown and crisp on top, about 1 hour. This can be completed a half hour before you want to serve it and then reheated in the oven for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve 6 to 8.

Lois Friedman can be reached at ReadItAndEat@ yahoo.com

April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | A13

How Uncle Harry sold bread on Pesach

by OZZIE NOGG y Uncle Harry owned and operated the European Bakery in downtown Duluth. You’d enter that little brick building and come out with crusty pumpernickel, shiny challah, the best bagel ever and fresh-from-the-oven Bismarks oozing with raspberry jelly. Uncle Harry -- sweet and warm as his yeasty products -- was always lightly dusted with flour, much like a freshly-talcumed baby. Those were the days, by golly.

You might think that during Passover, Uncle Harry, the Russian-Jewish immigrant baker, would be in a jam, right? Have to close his shop and lose an entire week’s business, right? Wrong. Each Passover, Uncle Harry piled Aunt Bella and my cousins Aaron and Jim into his 1940 Dodge, drove to Fargo and spent Pesach with our family -with a clear conscience and no loss of income. All because immediately before Passover, Uncle Harry ‘sold’ the European Bakery (lock, stock and bagel, as it were) to one of his non-Jewish employees who acted as ‘owner’ for the week and kept cranking out product. For an explanation of the legal intricacies in this sale, call your rabbi. For our purposes, the following Kindergarten version will have to suffice: Since it’s forbidden to have chametz in the house, or even own chametz during Passover, our ancestors would go through the meager provisions in their cupboards and either eat all the chametzdik food, give it to the animals or burn it before the festival started. Today, what with Costco bulk buying, if we commit to a total embargo on chametz we’re faced with having to consume all the bread, cake, crackers, pasta, cereal, soda, beer and booze in our possession

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before the holiday starts. Could be difficult.

To the rescue came the rabbis, who created a contract that allows us to ‘sell’ our chametz to a non-Jew -- through a ceremony and monetary transaction -- and then buy it back when Passover ends. The contract is short, but long on legalese: (I, the undersigned; full power and right; in accordance with the details of the Bill of Sale, etc.), so a rabbi should be entrusted with the sale’s execution, to act as an agent both to sell the chametz to the non-Jew and also to buy it back. The space in your house where this ‘sold’ chametz is stashed should be locked or taped shut, lest someone in the family reach for a box of Cheerios through force of habit.

We Jews love a debate, so there are differing opinions as to whether chametz selling is on the level. Some say yes, and suggest the transaction is like many modern business

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deals, in which no money changes hands, no product is actually seen, or the product doesn’t even exist. (Sort of like the futures market, I guess.) Others argue that the ‘sale’ is a sham/scam, especially when the transfer of chametz can now be done by filling out on-line forms and donating to the organization that offers the service.

One of my Google searches re: chametz buying/selling, turned up this question from a doubting Thomas. “Have any of you met the non-Jew who buys your chametz, or the local community’s chametz? I’m telling you, it’s a myth.”

Interesting point. To which I offer four myth-busters.

• Since 1997, Jaaber Hussein, a MuslimArab Israeli who works in food management at a Jerusalem hotel, has purchased all the country’s chametz as part of an agreement with Israel’s chief rabbis. Hussein plunks

down a deposit of approximately $27,000 for chametz worth an estimated $150 billion dollars. He relishes the role, one that puts his picture on the front pages of Israeli newspapers. “I see this as a way to help people with whom I work and live,” Hussein said.

(Cynics claim this agreement is the only Arab-Jewish accord sure to be meticulously observed by both sides.)

• James F. Gennaro, a former New York City Council member representing the borough of Queens, dubs himself (during Passover), “The yeast man. I'm like Mr. Fermentation.” For a down-payment of thirty bucks, Gennaro buys chametz from the Jewish population in Pelham Parkway, Jamaica Park, Hollis Hills and New Hyde Park. Local rabbis bring Gennaro lists of chametz held by their congregants -- everything from shares in a granola bar manufacturing company to pet parrots, which (as grain eaters) cannot be owned by a Jew during Passover, according to some interpretations of the law. “I’m honored to take part in the selling of the chametz,” Gennaro says, “which has become a tradition between me and the rabbis of my district and surrounding areas. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed the small role I play in helping my constituents mark another season of peace, love and freedom. I wish a Happy Passover to all who celebrate.”

• Closer to home is Rabbi Jonathan Gross of Beth Israel Synagogue who (long story short) went to Berkshire Hathaway’s Omaha office in 2012 and ‘sold’ Warren Buffett chametz -- a bottle of single-malt Scotch, home-baked challah, a bag of Cheetos (Buffett’s favorite snack) and the rights to the food in three large drums. Buffett paid $2 for the lot, which he then donated to a local food bank.

See Bread, page A14

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A14 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Bib’hilu Yatsanu Mi’Mitzrayim: In haste, we left Egypt

by GABBY BLAIR very Passover that I am fortunate enough to spend with my immediate and extended family in Israel, there is one specific part of the seder that I look forward to with great anticipation.

It is a blessing infused with joy that brings happiness to our seder table. It is called Bib’hilu. Bib’hilu is a beautiful and ancient custom of Morrocan Jews that is notably and regretfully absent from the seders I have attended here in the States.

There is nothing quiet, formal, or boring about a Moroccan seder. With its unique foods, customs, and the family packed, at least 50 deep, around the table, a Moroccan seder feels like a celebration My father receiving the blessing rather than the retelling of Passover 2013. the Exodus. My father at the head, wearing his white d’jellabah like his father before him, leading us not just through the Haggadah, but through the desert with our

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ancestors as they fled Egypt. Everyone who is able to read a passage, must do so as we go around the table. Young, old, male or female. We all take turns reading in Hebrew, French, Arabic or English. The excitement builds on the tumultuous journey leading up to our people’s famed Exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land where we are all blessed to be sitting. This is the type of seder that I want my kids to grow up remembering and to pass down to their children.

It begins like any seder. We sit and do kiddish.

We wash our hands and dip the karpas. The freshly made round Shmura matzo with the charred edges is divided. A piece of the Matzo is hidden away as the afikomen for the children to seek out later and a piece is hidden under the tablecloth for the remainder of Pesach. The seder plate is laden with the covered Matzo atop of it and draped with silk scarves, and in my family, it is now, finally, time for Bib’hilu. It starts as the seder plate is carried around the table by my father as we all begin to chant louder and louder the sing-song blessing: “Bib’hilu Bib’hilu Yatsanu Mi’Mitzrayim.”

So, what is Bib’hilu? What is the purpose of it?

What does it mean and how is it done? I was told, when I asked about the meaning of the verse, that of Bib’hilu it is translated as “in a hurry, with haste we left Egypt.” As my father begins the trek around the table in a clockwise direction, the seder plate and scarves are waved over each participant’s head as the rest of us sing in unison. Anticipation builds as your turn approaches and for

Bread

The Seder: Who knew?

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT o here we are, ready to celebrate Passover with a small or large Seder, depending on what you have planned for your family (or what your family has planned for you, we don’t all have a say in those matters). For those of you who need some additional talking points during the Seder meal, we compiled some facts about what’s ahead of us.

Some of these you may be familiar with, some may be new.

When we still had a Temple, the Seder was centered around the offering of a lamb or goat, according to Gil Marks, an expert on Jewish food. In the spring, fresh lambs and baby goats were of course in ample supply. Lucky for us: the central Pesach symbol eventually became the Matzah, which is much easier to come by. Imagine going to Costco and asking for a live baby sheep, which you will then slaughter in your backyard.

The word ‘Seder’ means ‘order,’ both in Hebrew and Aramaic.

Two thousand years ago, when the post-Temple Seder was developed, Roman and Hellenistic influences were every-

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the few moments, while you are under that seder plate, which feels almost like a tiny personal chuppah, the blessings flowing into you are tangible. Who knows why? Maybe it is because you have a whole house full of family and loved ones directing a blessing to you enthusiastically, all at once.

Rabbi Daniel Bouskila. in his 2005 article “The Blessing of Bib’hilu: A Sephardic Ritual Calls Attention To G-d’s Place At The Seder Table”, tells it like this: “The Mystical/ Kabbalistic Sephardic arrangement (of ritual items on the seder plate) transforms the seder plate into a sacred representation of G-d, which means that when the seder plate is waved above your head during Bib’hilu, you are blessed by the spiritual strength of the Shekhina.”

Bouskila goes on to explain that “for the rest of the evening, the physical presence of the seder plate on the table represents the presence of the Shekhina in your midst.”

Whatever the reason, our table and the room seems to be infused with strength, peace, and enthusiasm, which is only amplified after fifty-plus Bib’hilu’s.

Bib’hilu sets the stage for the rest of the seder and transports each and every one of us back to our own personal Egypt, in a way that is almost indescribable. No one is in a hurry to leave the table. No one is ready to break the bond the blessing has connected us with. Chant ties all of us to the past and it reminds each and every one of us around the table of our hasty escape from oppression in Egypt. It also serves to remind us of the blessings we have in our lives today, enriched with freedom and sweetness and the help we have received from G-d.

Chag Kasher Sameach!

where. The Greco-Roman “symposium” was an upper-class banquet, starting with a series of questions, during which participants would eat from a reclining position. Sound familiar?

During the early medieval period, Jews in Europe placed essential Seder items in a basket. Eventually, craftsmen designed an actual platter; in the 16th century, Italian Jews and Sephardim began making artistic Seder plates from brass, porcelain and wood -- a custom that was soon adopted by Ashkenazi Jews.

The orange is a relatively new addition to the Seder plate.

Some mistakenly believe it refers to this story about professor Susannah Heschel: some man supposedly told her: “A woman belongs on the bimah as much as an orange belongs on a Seder plate.” Heschel herself has denied that story, but the orange has nonetheless taken on the symbolism of women’s rights. That was never Heschel’s intent.

Alexandra Silver writes: “Reflecting on when she [Heschel] added the orange to her Seder plate in the 1980s, she says it was to be eaten ‘as See Seder, page A15

Continued from page A13 • And my final response to, “Have any of you met the non-Jew who buys your chametz, or the local community’s chametz?" Oh, you betcha. When Beth El Synagogue was located on 49th and Farnam, my Poppa the rabbi acted as agent for congregants who wanted to sell their chametz. He drew up the required contracts and transferred the chametz (including ours) to Mr. Art Burnap, Beth El’s custodian at the time. I’m not privy to the financial arrangements, but I can assure you that when Pesach ended, Mr. Burnap returned Poppa’s Dewars and they both had a shot.

During the years that Uncle Harry spent Pesach with us in Fargo, he and Poppa would break open the Scotch when the festival was over, too. They also rushed to our basement, unlocked the special chametz cabinet, and made short shrift of my mother’s Mandelbrot, which she had ‘sold’ to a non-Jewish neighbor. At this season, when families gather to tell the Passover story to their kids, I’m lucky to have these memories to share.

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | A15

Two Passover recommendations

Journal entry from Israel TEDDY WEINBERGER 1. We all have our favorite Passover Seder melodies. If we are guests at a Seder where they sing a different melody to that passage of the Haggadah, then it just doesn’t feel right.

Sometimes even within one family there can be competing “must sing” versions to the same passage. Often the solution is to sing both versions. Something incredible, however, has happened to one traditional song of the Haggadah: a competing contemporary melody has succeeded in making it into many homes without having to settle for equal billing with the traditional melody. The new melody has totally displaced the old. I am speaking of the passage: “Vehi She’amdah.”

In 2009, American-born Israeli singer and songwriter Yonatan Razel, created a new melody to “Vehi She’amdah” (“And it was this that has stood for our parents and for us”), and he then teamed up with American hassidic singer Yaakov Shwekey. It became a smash hit not only for Passover and not only for religious communities but all across Israel. What makes Razel’s rendition so wonderful?

As a way of answering this question, we can first consider why the traditional (Ashkenazic) melody held sway for so long. The old melody sounds remarkably close to a work song, which is what we are expecting in this part of the Haggadah (the next passage speaks about how the Egyptians “persecuted us and put us under hard labor”).

Thanks to the old melody, you can almost see the slaves groaning under their load of heavy bricks.

Comes along Yonatan Razel’s song and suddenly we realize that the words of this passage don’t jive with a slave’s work song. In this song, we have a kind of broad take on Jewish history smack in the middle of the Haggadah’s narrative.

Razel’s melody, which begins with a feeling of star-struck wonder, gives beautiful voice to the riddle behind “and this has stood.” Just what is “this”? What precisely has stood in our favor despite all our enemies? Answer: I’m not telling. It’s a Mystery--and a good discussion starter for your Seder.

It is the second part of Razel’s song, so climactic and so powerful, that sends the old melody to the history bins.

Rather than a recapitulation of the beginning melody (as in the traditional version), Razel’s ending feels like some kind of resolution to the problem of theodicy (how evil can exist if God is all-powerful and all-good). God is present in the face of all of our enemies. God saves, and as evidence we are still here to sing about it. The melody is so magical that (as in some of the recorded versions) many people repeat the song as a niggun, without the words--something no one was ever tempted to do with the old melody. If you have not adapted this song yet for your Passover Seder, Rabbi Google will be more than happy to introduce you to it.

2. At the end of Passover last year, my son Elie, asked me: “Did you grow spiritually during the holiday?” And I was taken aback. Because in the middle of the many details of Passover it’s easy to lose sight of this question. After all, Passover is a most demanding holiday. There is much cleaning to do in the days leading up to the holiday, the Seder is a major production, and the week of Passover cooking on Passover implements with Passover food can be quite challenging. Amidst everything, it is good to remember Elie’s question. I am a religious Jew, and I believe that all the holiday’s laws and details are indeed designed for some kind of spiritual benefit, some kind of deepening or uplift. If I go through the entire Passover holiday without thinking about my relationship with the Divine, then I have missed something. So this holiday I’m going to try to remember Elie’s comment beforehand and not after the fact, and I encourage you all to do the same. Happy Passover.

Teddy Weinberger made aliyah in 1997 with his wife, former Omahan Sarah Ross, and their five children. Their oldest three, Nathan, Rebecca and Ruthie, are veterans of the Israel Defense Forces; Weinberger can be reached at weinross@net vision.net.il.

Seder Continued from page A14 a gesture of solidarity with Jewish lesbians and gay men, and others who are marginalized within the Jewish community,’ including widows. The seeds, symbolizing homophobia, were to be spat out.”

The word “Haggadah” means: “a telling.”

All the foods on the Seder plate can be associated with both slavery and freedom.

For instance, red wine reminds us of the blood that was spilled in slavery, as well as the blood on the doorposts that made the final plague skip Jewish homes. Salt water, symbolizes the tears shed by the Jews in slavery, as well as the salt water of the Sea of Reeds. Matzah was eaten during slavery, but also during the flight out of Egypt on the way to freedom, because there was no time for the preparation of proper bread.

During the middle ages, many Jews used white instead of red wine, because of the blood libel, which was used by many non-Jews to accuse us of mixing Christian blood in with the food preparations. As if.

According to the 2001 National Jewish Population Survey, 67% of Jews routinely hold or attend a Passover Seder, while only 46% belong to a synagogue. Those numbers are not exactly up to date; according to the 2013 PEW study, It’s 70% and 53%. There continues to be a gap, but the gap is getting smaller, and the numbers have increased.

Surely, in spite of the widespread panic after PEW released its numbers, that is reason for optimism?

The name “Pesach” comes from the Hebrew root Pei Samech Chet, meaning ‘to exempt’ or ‘to spare.’

In 2021, Pesach will begin on a Saturday night immediately following Havdalah, so we have seven years to get ready. It complicates things a little: the Fast of the Firstborn, for instance, will have to be observed on

Thursday night instead of the night before Pesach, and adjustments need to be made so that preparations for the Seder don’t interfere with preparations for Shabbat. The idea is that Passover, although important, should not take anything away from Shabbat.

The formal search for chametz is called “B’dikat Chametz.” Although we’re supposed to use a candle and a feather, many people nowadays use a flashlight and a dustpan. The burning of leftover chametz is called ‘Biyur Chametz.’

Sources: www.Emunah.org, Time Magazine, www.cha bad.org, www.jewfaq.org, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | B1

The Mimouna: A legacy of the Moroccan Jews

by GABBY BLAIR While growing up, I had the opportunity to attend many here is a richness and beauty in the diversity of traditional mimouna celebrations at the homes of various the Jewish people that comes from the geogra- family members. I was taught that during the mimouna, the phy of our diaspora. As each successive wave of gates of heaven are open wider than usual thanks to the immigrants to Israel arrives, they bring with mitzvot of Passover, thus allowing the blessings for prosperthem infusions of ity, good fortune and abundifferent customs, foods, landance from Hashem to rain guages and lore enhancing down upon us. There is much the dynamic of Israeli culture. speculation about the origin A beautiful example of this is of the word mimouna. It is the mimouna. Originally a thought to be derived from a custom of Moroccan Jews as a dialectic Arabic word for way to mark the end of good fortune or good luck or Passover, the mimouna is now possibly from the Hebrew widely celebrated as a nationword emuna, which means al holiday by many nonfaith; in this case faith that we Moroccan Israelis. According shall be redeemed after to the Jewish Agency for Passover. Along with luck and Israel (JAFI) over sixty cities, faith, other central themes of with a quarter of a million the mimouna are life, hospipeople in Jerusalem’s Sacher tality, harmony, fertility and Park alone, join together to the sweetness of freedom. picnic, barbecue and enjoy These terms explain the festivities commemorating meanings behind much of the the end of the holiday. curious symbolism one may When speaking to older find at a traditional Moroccan Moroccan family members mimouna celebration. about their memories of When hosting a mimouna, mimouna from their youth in Our family’s table prepared for mimouna with fruit, tea, milk the family home is set up with Fez, I heard stories of how the and lettuce. long tables laden with many Muslim merchants would set up wares in the souq as dusk fruits, candies, preserves and desserts. One special tradifell, ready to supply the Jews with flour, yeast, milk and but- tional confection, zaben, is made with egg whites, nuts and ter as Passover drew to a close. My father and his siblings sugar by our safta and served by the spoonful from a large would run to bring back ingredients for their mother who decorative crystal bowl. The foods tonight are symbols of would then begin making simple bread, starting with the freedom’s sweetness; our freedom from slavery, our freedom traditional crepe like pancake known as muffleta, which was to again eat what one wishes and the sweetness of the world eaten with homemade jam or honey. There are also many to come. These are served with Moroccan mint tea, Arak- an published stories of Muslim neighbors bringing baskets of anise liquor and chametz alcohol, such as whiskey. We use cookies, fruit, flour and the chametz that had been sold to special platters and dishes since some of the items are them at the beginning of the holiday back to their Jewish chametz, like the Muffleta, which is made immediately after neighbors at nightfall. These testimonies highlight the now the chag ends. Also adorning the table are traditional decounusual harmony between the Jews and their Muslim neigh- rations such as vases of wheat, symbolizing bounty and a See Moroccan Jews, page B2 bors in the Mellahs of Morocco.

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I AM part of a Federation family proud to call Jewish Omaha home.

At our Seder table we retell our people’s story of triumph over adversity and we are reminded to cherish the religious freedom made possible by those who came before us.

When it comes to taking care of the Jewish people, there’s nothing like

THE FEDERATION Happy Passover!

JAY NODDLE, PRESIDENT MIKE SILVERMAN, CEO

CARL RIEKES, PRESIDENT HOWARD EPSTEIN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

MOROCCAN MUFFLETA Ingredients: 2 pounds flour 1 tbsp. salt 1 tbsp. sugar 1 tbsp. yeast water as needed Vegetable oil for frying Mix all dry ingredients, while slowly adding water.

Knead, knead, knead until the dough is soft and no longer sticks to your hands, then let it rest for about ten minutes.

Cut the dough in pingpong ball sized pieces, and put them in an oily tray. Rest them for another 15 minutes.

Heat a large skillet, and stretch each small ball of dough until it is about 8 inches wide. Place the stretched pancake shaped dough in the pan (the oil already on it should be enough, but you can add a small amount to the skillet if you think it’s necessary).

When the mufleta is brown on one side, place it upside down, and place the next one on top. After one minute, turn the stack upside down, and put the third one on top.

Keep repeating the process until you have a stack of 10.

Start over, and do the same with the rest of the dough.

Makes about 20 pieces.

B2 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Passover Tourism: Next year at home, in Jerusalem, Whistler or Costa Rica?

by OLIVER. B. POLLAK irlines and the auto club tell us that Thanksgiving and Christmas have the most people in the air and on the road. They don’t keep statistics on Passover travel.

Passover, a remembrance of our liberation, reunites those who enjoy freedom. It is celebrated at home with family and friends, in synagogues, at the JCC, clubhouses and rented halls, on military bases, restaurants, on ships and at resorts.

Tourist destination seders are lavishly advertized in Jewish magazines and on the web. The vacations, ranging from three-day cruises to luxurious ten-day vacations, start from around $2,000 to over $6,000 per person, airfare not included.

Some seders stick out in our memories.

The longest meal stretching into the wee hours, the most number of guests, special wines, largest number of potluck food contributors, high level of discussion, the most children, the largest spread from youngest to oldest, the absence of children, food and equipment flops, and questionable conduct – no food fights please. New equipment, Seder plates, Hagaddahs, recipes, gluten free matza and weight gain. A shipboard or Moroccan seder would clearly stand out.

Passover in the Midwest ushers in spring.

Cold and snow are almost a fleeting sleeting memory. Farmers plan their planting.

Snowbirds and real birds, Sand Hill Cranes and geese return.

There is an alternative to home and local

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Seder celebrations – Passover tourism. New York Jews once traveled to Grossingers or Kutshers in the Catskills.

Today air travel, disposable income, the love of Passover, and the vacationing spirit have combined with the tourist industry to create destination Seders. They are as close as 55 miles from New York City or as far as thousands of miles away.

The choices are fabulous. In Florida, the Ritz Carlton; in Naples, the Fontainebleau; in Miami, a Waldorf Astoria resort in Boca Raton, and a PGA national resort in Palm Beach, offer warmth, sun, sport and spiritual awakening.

Passover programs are accompanied by scholars-in-residence, authors, professors,

lecturers, rabbis, cantors, and high quality caterers.

The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess starts at $4,400 per person, The Fairmont Mayakoba in Mexico starts at $4,300, Turnberry Isle, Miami at $4,200.

Several California hotels have Passover programs. The Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix is in its 15th consecutive year.

The Ritz Carlton in Cancun, Mexico, promotes its amenities with statements like “Avoid the 11th plague: restless children,” “Don’t be a slave to monotony” and “Depart on a spiritual journey.” Their five rabbis from the East Coast and Israel include Shmuley Boteach.

And if you are into skiing the Four Seasons Resort in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, Pesach Hill, beckons you as does the rabbi in residence, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

The program in Costa Rica at the Hyatt Andas Peninsula Papagayo Beach and Spa Resort offers an Arnold Palmer 18 hole course, zip line, rock climbing, butterfly farms, volcanoes, sport fishing, scuba diving, sailing “and more,” including the possibility of eco tourism.

San Remo (Italy) on the French Riviera offers Passover getaways at the Castellaro Golf Resort and Spa, as well as four other Italian cities and Sicily.

Cecil Rhodes’s grandiosity failed to accomplish Cape to Cairo British dominance, but you can celebrate luxury Seders See Tourism, page B4

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Moroccan Jews Continued from page B1 return to the consumption of grains. A whole fish or, sometimes live fish in a bowl, reminding us of our escape through the Red Sea and to ward off the ayin hara (evil eye). Bowls of white flour are studded with coins, eggs and fava bean pods to represent purity, fertility, prosperity and good fortune. There are pitchers of milk, reminding us of the miracle of life as it is our first food, along with large leaves of fresh green lettuce, representing the renewal of growth. The milk and lettuce are used throughout the evening as ritual items by my father, who administers the Birkat Ha’Kohanim to everyone in attendance. Tonight, this blessing is completed while having lettuce leaves (renewal/growth) dipped in milk (life) brushed across one’s forehead and cheeks while the brachot are being sung.

On this night, the door to your home is left open wide as a gesture of hospitality so that guests may enter any time.

Neighbors, friends and family travel from one mimouna to the next, enjoying each other’s blessings and company, during an evening of hope and lighthearted fun as the sounds of music, prayer and laughter fill the air late into the night. As quoted from the JAFI website, “The Mimouna is a beautiful and fitting gift from North African Jewry. This is a festival of unity, of brotherhood and hospitality. The people of Israel are blessed to have the Mimouna which unites them and brings them closer together. This is what is special about the Mimouna.”

Wishing you a kosher Passover and a year full of prosperity, good fortune and health. Next year, in Jerusalem!

April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | B3

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ach Passover, we tell the story of our stand against tyranny and persecution, our exodus from Egypt and our covenant with G-d as the Jewish people.

As the Haggadah illustrates our fight for religious freedom and our hopes for a future in Israel, it becomes a story of leadership and community-building. That is why the story so easily resonates with communal professionals and lay leaders. It is our story still.

Last June, as we do every June, the Jewish Federation of Omaha recognizes our lay leaders and community volunteers who play such an important role in our community.

Each of them is committed, passionate and finds meaning and purpose in the job of addressing Jewish needs here at home and abroad.

They volunteer an enormous amount of time and energy on our behalf. The Federation transitioned to smaller Boards just a couple of years ago and it is apparent that this change has made lay leaders more engaged and involved in operations, agencies and campus services. They share a clear and common vision for our Jewish community. If you are fortunate to see them in action, as I have, you can’t help but admire their investment in our Jewish community.

At Seder tables across our city this year, let us all re-dedicate ourselves to Jewish Omaha.

Have a Joyous Pesach!

E

From the desk of the CEO

·

(402) 614- SPOT

Best Wishes

MIKE SILVERMAN, CEO, Jewish Federation of Omaha Dear Omaha Jewish Community, ith the festival of Passover fast approaching I have an opportunity to reflect on my three years as the Federation CEO. There have been many accomplishments over this period of time but most importantly our Federation has continued its tradition of providing outstanding programs and services for the Omaha Jewish community and beyond. We help support those in need locally and internationally, we help educate our children, we care for the elderly and we create boundless opportunities for our Jewish community to celebrate what Jewish Omaha is all about. This Passover the discussion at my Seder will be about the past, present and future of the Jewish people. Thank you for affording me the privilege of serving as your CEO. I wish you all a very Happy Passover.

W

84th & Center

402-393-3363

Canfield Plaza Shopping Center Omaha, NE 68124 www.canfields.com

Gathering wheat

From the Foundation Director HOWARD EPSTEIN, Executive Director, JFO Federation s we gather with our families and friends for the Passover Seder and read the Hagaddah, we commemorate the freedom of the Jewish people from slavery in ancient Egypt.

Among the observances of Passover is “Ma’ot Chitim,” known as “wheat money,” or “Passover Tzedakah.” Ma’ot Chitim is the ancient custom of gathering wheat to provide the poor with matzah and other items needed for the observance of Passover. Providing for our neighbors who are less fortunate, so that their Passover needs can be met, is a powerful way to remember that we can’t fully appreciate our freedom if we know there are others among us who are not able to fully participate in the holiday.

Throughout our daily lives, as well, we are generous to others and support our community. I see the spirit of Tzedakah every day, as people from Omaha’s Jewish com-

A

munity engage in philanthropy by establishing and supporting charitable endowments and donor-advised funds at the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation. Funds provide for college and summer camp scholarships for our youth, purchase books for the Kripke Jewish Federation Library, pay for musical entertainment for residents of the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, and support the Jewish Federation of Omaha’s Annual Campaign in perpetuity. A wide variety of other people and programs also benefit from those charitable funds.

God performed a series of miracles that led to our ancestors’ freedom from slavery, creating a legacy that has endured for hundreds of generations. Just as our ancestors have done, I encourage you to leave a legacy that will give all of our children and grandchildren the warm, vibrant Jewish community that we all care about here in Omaha. There are many options for you to consider in establishing your fund, and your legacy, at the Foundation.

Please contact me at 402.334.6466 or hepstein@jfofound ation.org to learn more about establishing a charitable fund.

I also encourage you to visit the Foundation website at www.jfofoundation.org.

On behalf of the Foundation Board of Directors and staff, I wish you a happy Passover.

Order a gift subscription to the Press...

Send a check for $40, made out to the Jewish Press, to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

For more information on how to connect your out-of-town relatives and friends, call 402.334.6448.

Happy Passover from my family to yours

7808 L Street www.allenshome.com

B4 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Pati’s Mexican Table under the broiler or on a hot comal or grill pan or in a large heavy skillet over medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning once, until their skin is blistered and their flesh is completely soft. Add them to the bowl with the chiles. Cover with the boiling water and soak for at least 30 minutes, or up to 3 hours.

4. Working in batches if necessary, pour the chile-tomatillo mixture into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.

5. Scoop out 3 cups of the beef cooking liquid from the pot and set aside. Drain the meat thoroughly in a colander.

6. Heat the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Add the meat and let it sear and brown for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions, and cook, stirring for 4 to 5 minutes, until softened. Add the chile puree, the 3 cups reserved cooking liquid, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, the piloncillo, and bring to a simmer. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and deepens in color, about 20 minutes; it should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Taste for salt and piloncillo, and add more if necessary.

7. Transfer to a serving platter, garnish with chopped onion and cilantro, if desired.

Serves 6 to 8.

Serve with this crispy coated potato with a smooth creaminess inside:

Read it and eat Reviewed by LOIS FRIEDMAN

over 100 g n i t a r b e l Ce to the g n i v i g f o s year munity! m o c h s i w Je

Ï Ï Ï Jewish Federation of Lincoln

Jewish Federation of Lincoln Part of the United Jewish Communities Federations of North Communities America The Jewish Federations of North America and | TheThe Network of Independent

MOY KYQ EK Wishing you a joyful Passover Visit us online at w w w.JewishLincoln.org

Pati’s Mexican Table by Pati Jinich (Houghton Mifflin, $30 hardcover, also available as an e-book) or a unique take on your Passover Seder this year, try these recipes from this Jewish-Mexican mother, official chef of the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D. C., PBS host of Pati’s Mexican Table.

Mexican history, culture, her personal experiences and Mexican flavors and recipes are explained and shared in sidebars and headnotes. Directions are detailed and clear. This well written, delightful read draws you in and tempts you. Back to an exciting change in your Seder this year... How about cilantro in addition to parsley on the Seder plate?

This brisket recipe has intriguing flavors from earthy slightly bitter pasilla chiles and bright, tangy tomatilos.

BEEF BRISKET IN PASILLA AND TOMATILLO SAUCE/CARNE ENCHILADA Preparation Time: 15 minutes plus soaking time, Cooking Time: 3 hours, Can be made up to 2 days ahead, covered and refrigerated 1 4-pound brisket, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2-inch chunks 10 garlic cloves 10 black peppercorns 2 tsp. kosher or coarse sea salt, or to taste 8-9 pasilla or New Mexico chiles (about 3 ounces), rinsed, stemmed, and seeded 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed 2 cups boiling water 1/4 cup vegetable oil 2 cups coarsely chopped white onions, plus (optional) chopped onion for garnish 1 tablespoon grated piloncillo or dark brown sugar or more to taste cilantro leaves for garnish (optional) 1. Place the beef chunks, garlic, peppercorns, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the salt in a large pot or casserole. Cover with water and bring to a boil over high heat, skimming any foam from the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low, partially cover and simmer for about 2 1/2 hours, or until the meat is very tender but isn’t falling apart. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, heat a comal or skillet over medium heat until hot. Lay the chiles flat in the pan and toast them for 10 to 15 seconds per side, until they become fragrant and pliable and their color darkens; don’t let them burn. Place the chiles in a large bowl.

3. Char the tomatillos on a baking sheet

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BABY POTATOES WITH LIME AND PARSLEY Preparation Time: 5 minutes, Cooking Time: 25 minutes, Potatoes can be boiled a day ahead, covered and refrigerated.

1 pound baby red potatoes 2 tbsp. olive oil 2 tbsp. Maggi sauce or soy sauce 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice 1/4 tsp. kosher or coarse sea salt, or to taste Pinch of freshly ground black pepper or to taste 2 tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley 1. Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes, reduce the heat slightly, and cook at a medium simmer for 12 minutes, or until the See Mexican Table, page B6

Tourism

Two Old Mill Omaha, NE 68154

10855 West Dodge Rd. 402-330-5480

Continued from page B2 at the Palm Plaza Hotel and Spa in Marrakech, Morocco, or at the Palace of the Lost City in Sun City, two hours from Johannesburg.

Cruise ships in the Caribbean in their 13th year offer Conservative supervision for $2979.

Five star hotels have Conservative, Orthodox and glat kosher supervision, and many announce that the “Entire Hotel is Kosher for Pesach.”

A Pesach riverboat cruise on the Danube has been visiting Vienna, Budapest and Bratislava for 17 years. There are other options in Israel, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Greece, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, France and Shanghai, China.

Communal, private and semi-private seatings are available. The menus are imaginative and some include wine pairing.

During the day, guests can go to the spa,

play tennis, golf, or ski, and of course study. There are children’s activities.

Karen and I travel to Wyoming to the home of my college roommate after we have thoroughly cleaned our house. We turn the house upside down, replace dishes and cutlery, and eradicate chumetz.

Then we leave.

I watch my colleague’s partner Joyce and my wife, always smiling and intent, as they schnit, peel, slice, chop, stir, roast, bake, microwave, stew, baste, fry and boil at 8,000 feet. Some food comes in by UPS, some is purchased locally. We come back to Omaha to enjoy the last two days of Passover. My cellar has a special niche for kosher for Passover wines.

Remembering past seders and planning future ones is also a time to fondly remember faces missing from the current table, and anticipate unfolding the mystery of the Haggadah.

April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | B5

My favorite holiday, period

by DAVID GOLBITZ e all celebrate the same, and yet a little differently. Passover is a family holiday, where personal stories, preferences and traditions grow slowly over time. Below you will find a small example of how we celebrate, what we love (and what we love maybe not so much), and who we celebrate with.

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What does Passover mean to you?

It’s such a significant Jewish celebration. It means cleaning my kitchen, and planning special meals. ~ Janie Murow It means everything. Not quite as much as Shabbat, but it’s very, very important to us. ~ Rita Amster Freedom. ~ Ida Banner Passover means reflecting on where the Jewish people have come from, and a reminder of the hard times our ancestors had to go through. Thinking about that makes my life seem simpler. ~ Julie Stein Freedom! Passover means freedom to celebrate as I wish, and gratitude that Moses led us out of Egypt. ~ Karen Pollak Pesach means connecting with the breadth and depth of Judaism. Broadly, I feel connected to Jews around the world, who are celebrating seders at the same time. Deeply, I feel connected to the stories and traditions of my own family. ~ Dan Gilbert What is your favorite part of Passover?

My favorite part is family, when we all get together for Passover. It’s quite a celebration! Also, the songs we sing together. And, of course, matzah ball soup. ~ Rita Amster Matzah ball soup! ~ Cindy Goldberg Reading commentaries on the haggadah, giving us insight in how to apply the themes of Passover in our daily lives. ~ Cheryl Lerner All of it. It’s my favorite holiday, period. Not just of the Jewish holidays, but of any holidays. The first night’s seder is super special to me. All the family traditions, reading the haggadah with my kids. We go through 95% of the haggadah. ~ Jordana Kurtzman Listening to my daughter Destiny reading from the Haggadah in beautiful Hebrew. ~ Sarah Howard What is your favorite Passover memory?

When I was growing up in Los Angeles, my mother would have everybody over. There would be 25 people, from one end of the house to the other. My grandmother would be cooking, and I’d be smelling everything. It was just a wonderful family time. ~ Karen Pollak Getting together with the whole family during the seders. ~ Ida Banner We used to have big family gatherings, with the parents and grandparents, the whole mishpucha. ~ Gloria Jones

Sitting around my grandparents’ table when I was little. ~ Janie Murow Finding the afikomen when I was younger; it was always a race with my siblings. ~ Julie Stein Where are you having seder this year?

We fly out two days before Pesach and go to Wyoming. We have friends who meet us there; they have a place in Jackson Hole. We cook together and have people over, have fun and relax. It’s a vacation! They have a beautiful Jewish community that holds a seder the second night. About 120 people come to that. It’s a beautiful setting. ~ Karen Pollak We go to my parents’ house. ~ Cindy Goldberg I usually go to the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home, or I attend seder at the synagogue. ~ Gloria Jones We’re having it at my parents’. Seder is at my mom’s. ~ Julie Stein What is your favorite matzah topping?

Butter. ~ Cheryl Lerner Cream cheese. ~ Ida Banner I’ve never actually made it, but making a pizza out of matzah sounds good. My mother always made matzah brei for breakfast. ~ Gloria Jones Cream cheese and apricot jelly. ~ Janie Murow What’s your favorite Passover food?

Anything with potatoes. ~ Shirly Banner Matzah ball soup! ~ Shelly Fox Flourless chocolate torte. ~ Andi Willensky Who do you celebrate with?

This is the first time in many years that I will have all my kids and my son-in-law around my table. ~ Janie Murow Usually the first night is my children and me; it makes it more comfortable. We celebrate the second night with Dani and Leon Shrago. ~ Jordana Kurtzman What is your least favorite plague?

Anything involving bugs. I’m not into bugs. I can handle frogs pretty well, but I think the bugs -- I would be screaming non-stop! ~ Jordana Kurtzman Locusts. I don’t like locusts. ~ Karen Pollak Slaying of the firstborn. That’s the one that always brings up the most discussion. ~ Cindy Goldberg See Favorite holiday, page B6

B6 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Favorite holiday Continued from page B5 My daughter Destiny thinks lice would be the worst. I don’t know; I wouldn’t want to deal with any of them! I’d probably pick death of the firstborn or boils. ~ Sarah Howard Boils. Just the thought of it makes me go “ew!” ~ Cheryl Lerner Slaying of the firstborn. ~ Janie Murow How do you eat your maror?

I mix it with haroset or eat it with gefillte fish. I don’t eat it plain. ~ Julie Stein What’s the latest seder you have ever attended?

sundown. We came to their house and nothing was ready. We all waited until they started putting the food together. Once the food was ready, we went through the whole haggadah, including all the songs and blessings.

We drank all four cups of wine, and I don’t think dinner started until midnight. We finished around three in the morning. ~ Sol Kutler We do both seder nights, but the first is the longest. We go through the entire haggadah, and it’s usually midnight before we’re done. But: to get the true meaning of Passover, there’s not much that can be skipped! ~ Rita Amster Midnight. ~ Ida Banner

The length doesn’t matter. ~ Janie Murow 3:30 a.m. We were young and had no children. ~ Lynne Jensen Two in the morning.

Growing up, I had a wonderful grandfather who would go though the whole thing. ~ Cheryl Lerner We were in New York, and Cherie’s family was extremely Orthodox, and I think Passover fell on a Saturday night so they couldn’t cook until

Mexican Table Continued from page B4 potatoes are just cooked through and the tip of a knife can pierce them easily; they shouldn’t be falling apart. Drain thoroughly.

2. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the potatoes and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. sprinkle with the Maggi, Worcestershire, lime juice, salt and pepper and toss as the potatoes continue to brown on all sides, 6 to 8 more minutes.

3. Sprinkle with the parsley, give it another stir and serve.

Serves 4.

Slather with this punchy aioli: JALAPENO AIOLI Makes a generous 1 cup, Preparation Time 5 minutes, Can be made up to 2 days ahead, covered and refrigerated.

1 jalapeno or serrano chile, halved and seeded if desired, or to taste

1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice 1 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup cilantro leaves 1/4 tsp. kosher or coarse sea salt, or to taste pinch of freshly ground black pepper, or to taste Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

You might want to start your Seder with Mexican Chicken Broth (Caldo de Pollo) and include Chunky Guacamole, Crunchy Radish Pico and with this trademark chunky raw salsa, best served at room temperature. Salsa means “to soak, drench, drizzle, bathe or pour”... to taste!

TRADITIONAL TOMATO PICO DE GALLO Makes about 4 cups, Preparation Time: 15 minutes, Can be made up to 1 day ahead,

covered and refrigerated.

1 pound ripe tomatoes, halved, cored, and chopped (about 3 cups) 1/2 cup finely chopped white onion 1 jalapeno or serrano chile, halved, seeded if desired, and finely chopped, or to taste 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro leaves and top part of stems 2-3 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice 2 tbsp. olive oil (optional) 1 tsp. kosher or coarse sea salt, or to taste Place the tomatoes, onion, chile, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil (if using) and salt in a bowl and toss well. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Lois Friedman can be reached at ReadItAndEat@ yahoo.com.

This Passover, don’t pass over the Star Deli

Friday, April 18 | 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

All your favorite traditional dishes totally Kosher for Pesach Latke Reuben/ Brisket Plate Salami & Eggs/ Matzoh Brei Sandwiches served on Matzoh rolls Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments will run during lunch

Let my people go to the Star Deli lunch this Passover!

Contact Mike at 402-334-6522 or maparo@rbjh.com or Tyler at 402-334-6523

April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | B7

Bronfman haggadah enters the digital world in time for Passover

by ALINA DAIN SHARON (JNS.org) In the Exodus story, Moses decides to rescue his people after he hears God speak to him through the burning bush. But when

New York City-based artist Jan Aronson imagined the famous episode in which Moses must decide which path to take in life, she didn’t see a magic fire, but rather the broiling sun rising and shining on the desert brush. In that moment of meditation, Moses heard the voice within himself that told him to go confront Pharaoh.

That is just one of the inspirations behind the illustrations that Aronson included in The Bronfman Haggadah, a collaboration with her recently deceased husband, the renowned Jewish philanthropist Edgar Bronfman. The original hard-cover book will be released as an app for the iPhone and iPad in March, in advance of Passover.

The app version takes the themes of the book to a digital level. It includes video interviews with Bronfman and Aronson, narration, animation, and singing of the Passover songs by actors. The Exodus story does not appear in traditional haggadahs, but it is told in the Bronfman hagaddah. The story is narrated in the app; using animation, it shows the basket with baby Moses moving down the river.

“We get a sense of just how monumental it was that this baby was saved,” Dana Raucher, the executive director of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, told JNS.org.

Edgar Bronfman and Aronson wanted “to get this app out to audiences that are not necessarily visiting bookstores or buying hardcover books,” according to Raucher.

“They were mostly thinking of younger audiences, which this book is very much geared to, people who are transient in their lives, living in college dorms, moving from city to city, and not necessarily lugging heavy books with them,” she said. “However, they are curious about the Jewish tradition... redefining certain rituals, and in general just taking an open and expansive look at what the Jewish tradition tells us that is relevant in the modern day.”

Bronfman and Aronson worked on the hardcover hagaddah over many seders, after Bronfman had felt dissatisfied with the texts of traditional haggadahs. He decided to write his own haggadah. Aronson was enlisted to illustrate the book.

“Edgar brought not only the story of the Passover, and what’s usually in the traditional seder, but he went beyond that. He talked about lessons of justice, equality and ethics in his haggadah and often quoted texts from all sorts of people,” Aronson told JNS.org.

Bronfman and Aronson also espoused a humanist view of Judaism that favors godliness, or living an ethical life, over the idea of the supernatural God. “This haggadah is written for a postdenominational world, a post-gender world,” Aronson said. “I think what Edgar (Bronfman) would say is that he is trying to appeal to the Jew who is not affiliated with any particular branch of Judaism. I would like to appeal to all Jews.”

Aronson believes there are “many ways to

be a Jew” and that almost every Jew “is a pick-and-choose Jew.” “We need to create an environment that every Jew is welcomed into the tent,” she said. “Just because you don’t believe in a supernatural God doesn’t mean you don’t have faith, [which is] living an ethical life, where you give back to society [and] do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.”

In fact, Aronson said she has given the Bronfman haggadah to plenty of her nonJewish friends, who have loved it. But she says the haggadah probably does not appeal to strictly observant Orthodox Jews.

“The app allows the user to take a more in-depth look at some of the ideas and images that are present in The Bronfman Hagaddah,” Raucher said. One can use it in “pre-seder preparation” or by “learning about the seder and the traditions of the seder” during the dinner portion, she said.

For instance, in the haggadah, Aronson illustrated a biblical map. “There are many people who do not have a reference as to where certain places were or what the area really looked like in biblical times,” she said.

Aronson added that she and Bronfman questioned why the traditional seder requires that we open the door for the Prophet Elijah near the end of the service.

“Certainly we should open our door to the stranger at the beginning of the service when the children are most alert, when they are excited about being there, when the lessons of opening the door to the stranger are going to be the most welcomed,” she said.

“And why should we give the stranger the leftovers? Let’s bring him in at the very beginning. That’s another big difference in the Bronfman haggadah.”

According to Amalyah Oren, the communications director of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, the app’s narration gives it an entertainment-style feel for people who want to experience the haggadah in a more theatrical way.

“It’s a really good tool for learning the tunes of the songs beforehand, or if you just need help accompanying during the actual seder,” Oren told JNS.org.

There are also families who conduct a doit-yourself seder by veering from the traditional order of event and asking a lot of their own questions at the table. There is a glossary in the Bronfman haggadah app that doesn’t exist in the hardcover book, allowing users to look up information on various topics.

“By having an app at the table, you are connected to the Internet and you can kind of bring [a] third dimension to the conversation,” she said.

Aronson, originally from New Orleans, created all the original illustrations in the hardcover haggadah by hand with watercolors. But the app can be a more dynamic and interactive experience, she explained.

“As you turn the page [in the app] you might see the wine glass being filled with wine,” she said. “You might see the lights flicker from the candles being lit at the very beginning of the service. You might see a fish circling the page instead of it being static.”

“You’re taking a traditional book and making it digital, [so] instead of turning a page you swipe it,” Aronson added. “The joy of it will be revealed as people use it.”

Egdar Bronfman, Aronson’s partner in life and on the haggadah, died in December 2013. Aronson said she cherishes the fact that she had the chance “to create something as a couple… to be able to collaborate with him in the last years of his life.”

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by PENNY SCHWARTZ BOSTON (JTA) rolicking frogs and magical matzah balls are featured in this season’s crop of new Passover books for children that are sure to engage, inform, entertain and inspire.

David A. Adler, author of the hugely popular early reader “Cam Jansen” series, offers “The Story of Passover.” Adler is highly acclaimed for his straightforward narrative style in non-fiction books, including dozens on Jewish holidays.

He says he likes to appeal to readers of any Jewish background, whether from traditional, observant Jewish families or those who are interested in learning about Passover.

“I like my books to be open and acceptable to all,” Adler tells JTA. With his author’s note on the seder, Adler offers little-known answers to intriguing questions that spark the curiosity of a broad audience.

Other titles this year include “Frogs in the Bed,” offering an engaging book version of a lively Passover song, and “Stone Soup with Matzoh Balls,” which provides a delightful spin on a familiar folk tale.

Passover, which this year begins on the evening of April 14, provides an endless source of inspiration for writers of children’s books.

Among the dozens that line library shelves, some recount the biblical Exodus, others retell Jewish folktales or tales of Elijah the Prophet, who figures so prominently in the seder.

Contemporary stories depict families celebrating Passover, and activity books and children’s Haggadahs promise to engage kids with puzzles, songs and jokes through the long night of the Passover seder.

The winner of the 2014 Sydney Taylor Book Award for young readers given by the Association of Jewish Libraries is a Passover story, The Longest Night, by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Catia Chien. The beautifully illustrated book is told in poetic rhyme from the perspective of a young girl as if she were an Israelite slave living through the Exodus from Egypt.

The following is the new crop of children’s books for Passover: The Story of Passover by David A. Adler, illustrated by Jill Weber, Holiday House ($15.95); ages 4-8 The story that is retold at the Passover seder begins 3,000 years ago in the biblical days of Jacob as he settles in Egypt.

Readers learn how the Israelites become slaves and follow Moses as he is raised by Pharaoh’s daughter in the palace and later as he leads the Israelites out of Egypt.

Weber’s detailed illustrations evoke the color palette and landscape of ancient Egypt . She gently conveys the suffering of the Egyptians through the plagues and the triumph of the Israelites in a fantasy-like drawing as they cross the Red Sea into freedom.

Frogs in the Bed, My Passover Seder Activity Book by Ann D. Koffsky, based on the song by Shirley Cohen Steinberg, Behrman House ($7.95); ages 4-7 Young kids will have fun with the frolicking frogs in a

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book that also includes a comic book story and activities for before or during the seder. Koffsky’s colorful, cartoon-like illustrations animate the song. Cute frogs turn up everywhere Pharaoh goes. They also pop up out of chandeliers and juggle fruit.

The book includes the Four Questions, as well as mazes and other seder-related distractions.

An easy set of instructions with shapes to trace lets kids make their own jumping froggy. The sheet music is included.

The Littlest Levine by Sandy Lanton, illustrated by Claire Keay, Kar-Ben ($7.95); ages 3-8 Hannah Levine is not happy about being the littlest (and youngest) one in her family, with two older siblings who do all the things she isn’t allowed to do yet.

Her grandfather, who lives with the family, keeps reassuring her, “Your holiday is coming, my littlest Levine.”

As Passover nears, he makes her feel special, teaching her the Four Questions. When it’s time for the seder, Hannah is ready to enjoy the spotlight.

This charming intergenerational story will strike a chord for many kids and may help those who are a tad reluctant to recite the Four Questions.

Keay’s brightly colored illustrations are active, warm and upbeat.

Max Makes a Cake by Michelle Edwards, illustrated by Charles Santoso, Random House ($17.99); ages 3-7 Max is ready for Passover. The endearing young boy knows the Four Questions and can tell his baby sister why Passover is different from all other nights. He’s also eager to bake his artist mom a Passover birthday cake. But with the baby in the house, his dad gets a bit distracted.

Losing patience and with little time to spare, the ingenious young fellow takes matters into his own hands. He creates a memorable cake all by himself. The recipe for a Hurry, Hurry, Hurry Cake is included. Santoso’s bright, lively illustrations place readers right in the action.

Stone Soup with Matzoh Balls, A Passover Tale in Chelm by Linda Glaser, illustrated by Maryam Tabatabaei, Albert Whitman ($16.99); ages 4-7 In Jewish folk tradition, Chelm is known as a make-believe town filled with naïve fools who, despite themselves, manage to impart wisdom with a huge dose of humor. In this delightful story, Linda Glaser gives a Chelm spin to a tale told in many cultures around the world.

On the eve of Passover, a poor ragged stranger arrives in the village and asks if anyone will invite him in to share the holiday.

He quotes from the Haggadah, “All who are hungry come and eat.” He sparks their interest by telling them he can make a pot of matzah ball soup from only a stone. With clever prodding, he gets the villagers to create a huge pot of delicious soup, with light and fluffy matzah balls. Maryam Tabatabaei’s expressive illustrations are a perfect match for the humorous story, evoking the Old World village with a playful tone.

Seder in the Desert by Jamie Korngold, photos by Jeff Finkelstein, Kar-Ben ($7.95); ages 3-8 This colorful photo essay narrated by a young person offers up something new and unexpected for the holiday. “Why is this seder different from all others?” the book asks on its opening page. “Because this year we are celebrating Passover in the desert.”

Readers of all ages will be fascinated as they follow Rabbi Jamie and a large group of people on a hike through the sands and magnificent stone arches that fill Israel’s Moab desert landscape. The adventure invites readers to imagine what it might have been like for ancient Israelites to wander the desert in the Exodus story.

April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | B9

Revel in chocolate desserts resonating with Passover themes

by DEBORAH R. PRINZ (JTA) oss the potato starch and matzah meal -- serve delectable desserts this Passover made from chocolate.

These desserts, especially if using fair trade or organic chocolate, further awareness of the themes of Passover. They remind us of the great poverty of many cacao farmers and of the children tragically enslaved in Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

CHOCOLATE CHAROSET TRUFFLES This is a great combination of chocolate and charoset, the Passover fruit concoction representing the building of granaries by the Hebrew slaves. If you are using left over made Ashkenazi style, you may want to drain the excess wine/grape juice.

Ingredients: 3 pounds dark or bittersweet chocolate, broken into pieces 1⁄4 cup pistachios 1⁄4 cup pecans 1⁄8 cup almonds 1⁄8 cup pine nuts 1⁄2 tart apple 1⁄4 navel orange, with rind A few drops of sweet white wine A few drops of honey Pinch of fresh or ground ginger (or to taste) Pinch of ground cinnamon (or to taste) Preparation: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or waxed paper. Grind the nuts, apples and orange separately in a food processor. The nuts should be as close to a powder as possible without becoming “butter.” Combine the nuts, apple, orange, wine, honey, ginger and cinnamon in a bowl, mixing well. The charoset filling should have a smooth, thick texture.

Roll the charoset into 1-inch balls. Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a

T

Chocolate matzah brickle makes for biteCredit: Mark Hurvitz size treats.

CHOCOLATE MATZAH BRICKLE Ingredients: 2 pounds dark chocolate, chips or broken into pieces 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil 1⁄2 to 1 tsp vanilla extract or almond extract 1 box matzah sheets, broken into quarters 1 cup nuts, chopped 1 cup dried fruits, chopped Preparation: Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or waxed paper. Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, thin the chocolate with the vegetable oil; stir in the vanilla or almond extract. Coat the matzah, nuts and dried fruits with the chocolate and spread onto the prepared baking sheet. Place the sheet in the refrigerator for at least 1⁄2 hour to cool. Once cool and hardened, remove from the pan and break into bitesize bits. Store in a closed container.

Quantity: 10 servings. pan of simmering water; remove from the heat.

Using two forks, dip the balls into the melted chocolate and place on the prepared baking sheet; refrigerate until the chocolate has set.

Quantity: 24 truffles.

FORGOTTEN COOKIES These delicacies stay in the oven overnight, but they are not easily forgotten when you taste them.

Ingredients: 2 large egg whites 2⁄3 cup sugar 1 cup chocolate chips, cocoa nibs, or both 1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped Pinch of salt (optional) 1 tsp. vanilla extract 30–40 chocolate buds or kisses Preparation: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Beat the egg whites until foamy.

Gradually add the sugar and beat until stiff.

Gently fold in the chocolate chips and/or cocoa nibs, and nuts. Add the salt and vanilla. Drop teaspoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.

Cap each cookie with a chocolate bud or kiss.

Place the pans in the oven; after about 1 minute turn off the heat. Leave in the oven for several hours or overnight. Carefully peel the cookies off the paper or foil using a spatula.

Quantity: About 35 cookies WAKE UP CHOCOLATE CHUNKS These delicacies wake us up to Passover’s messages of freedom and conscience.

Ingredients: 1 pound dark chocolate, chips or broken into pieces 1 cup almonds 1⁄2 cup raisins, dates, or other dried fruit 1⁄8 cup coffee beans 2 tsp. cayenne pepper, to taste 1⁄2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder Matzah meal (optional) Preparation: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, aluminum foil or waxed paper. Melt the chocolate in a large heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; remove from

the heat. In a food processor with the chop blade, combine the almonds, raisins, coffee beans and cayenne. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Stir the cocoa into the melted chocolate. Once the mixture is even and getting stiff, add the chopped nuts and fruits; keep stirring. Taste to check the spice level.

If the mixture is too moist and sticky, add more nuts or matzah meal, or wait until firm enough to handle. (Cooling in the refrigerator will firm the mixture faster.) Roll the mixture into balls and place on the prepared baking sheet. Cool completely. Remove from the baking sheet and store in a covered container.

Quantity: Approximately 20 chunks COCOA NIBS CITRUS SALAD Cocoa nibs harken back to the most basic form of the cocoa bean and may be the healthiest form of eating chocolate. Nibble on this salad as a snack, part of the meal or a dessert.

Ingredients: 1 grapefruit, peeled (membrane removed, optional) 2 navel oranges, peeled 3 blood oranges, peeled 4 clementines, peeled Pomegranate syrup (optional) Several tablespoons cocoa nibs (try your local health food store or online) Pistachios, roasted and chopped Preparation: Cut the fruit into bite-size pieces and place in a large serving bowl, preferably glass. Add the pomegranate syrup to taste.

When ready to serve, sprinkle the cocoa nibs and roasted pistachios over the fruit salad.

Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz is the author of On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting Jews, Religions, History, Travel, Rituals and Recipes to the Magic of Cacao (Jewish Lights).

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Passover pop list

by BINYAMIN KAGEDAN door on a bad relationship, Pharaoh refuses to make up his mind about breaking it off with the Israelites. Conditions get (JNS.org) In every generation, one is obligated to see himself a little rough in Egypt -- blood in the Nile, frogs in the flooras if he had personally left Egypt.” The Passover boards -- leading to Pharaoh’s decree of “Get out of my Haggadah annually exhorts us to make the ancient house and don’t come back!” Then, as soon as things calm down, suddenly it’s all “No, wait, I need tale of Israelite liberation feel personally relevant. you back!” Over and over, Pharoah What better way to make this agrees to let Moses’s people go, and dinner party (or dinner parties, then reneges as soon as they’ve for those who observe two packed their things. It’s only that Passover seders) seem more hip final, devastating plague of the firstand current than to get in the born that makes Pharoah say “never mood with the musical sounds of ever” (after which he, of course, our day? Recline to your left, take changes his mind one last time). a sip, and enjoy this humorous It Ends Tonight and enlightening Passover pop

by All-American Rejects playlist from JNS.org: Royals by Lorde Another fitting breakup song.

The Passover seder is a night of The word “Passover” itself origiquestions and contradictions. On nates with the nighttime plague of the one hand, we do things to make the firstborn, when the deadly us feel like royals -- lean back and heavenly spirit passed over the relax, have our wine poured for us, homes of Israelite firstborns. It dip our foods, and otherwise dine was that very night that Pharaoh like Roman aristocrats. On finally relented, giving the Jews the other hand, mixed into permission to leave Egypt and our regal re-creations are take all of their possessions symbols of lowliness and with them. Wasting no hardship -- the bitter herb, time, the Jews began their the mortar-like charoset, march towards freedom and even the matzah, and national rebirth under sometimes known as the cover of darkness.

Night, in the worldview of “poor man’s bread.” No one song in recent memJudaism, is really never an ory captures the paradox ending, but always a beginbetter than this ning.

Set Fire To The Rain Grammy-winning “song

by Adele of the year” by the interAmong the coolest national pop sensation (when one is in middle Lorde. “And we’ll never school) of the plagues is surely be royals/it don’t run in Top: Taylor Swift the barad, the hail mixed with our blood...” sings the Credit: Eva Rina ldi via Wikimed Above: Lorde C ia Commons. fire. I remember imagining the 17-year-old, before redit: Kirk Stau ffer via Wikimed ia Commons. barad as bowling ball-sized turning it right around chunks of ice that literally had with, “Let me be your ruler/you can call me queen bee/and baby I’ll rule -- let me live that fantasy.” So which is it? Are flames burning in their centers. Revisiting the actual biblical we princes at the seder, or paupers? A great question for text, one finds a somewhat more fathomable, though still very improbable meteorological scenario -- heavy hail table-wide discussion.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together accompanied by frequent and powerful lightning bolts. I

by Taylor Swift don’t think British singer/songwriter Adele quite had the 10 Anyone familiar with the details of the exodus story plagues in mind when she composed this hit song, but both knows that Pharaoh’s behavior throughout the episode of the she and the biblical narrator heighten the effect of their nar10 plagues closely resembles that of the protagonist of this rative by juxtaposing the elemental opposites of fire and song by Swift, America’s authority on teenage heartbreak. water. The plague seems all the more miraculous, and Like the weak-willed lover who just can’t seem to close the Adele’s stormy emotions feel all the more... stormy.

“

Infusing meaning into the Passover seder

by MICHELE ALPERIN (JNS.org) s the intersection of family, Jewish memory, and the passions of contemporary politics and society, the Passover seder is said to be the most celebrated annual Jewish event in the United States. But it is not always easy to make all seder attendees feel the Haggadah’s mandate that in every generation, each individual should feel personally redeemed from Egypt.

A

The original cover of The Freedom Seder, a haggadah by Rabbi Arthur Waskow.

Credit: Courtesy Rabbi Arthur Waskow The seder’s uniqueness is what makes running a successful seder so challenging, suggests Noam Zion, research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute and coauthor of two haggadot. It is at the same time a very intellectual venture, modeled on the Greek symposium, and a reflection of the priestly service, with ceremonial foods eaten in the proper order at the right time. Yet the leader of any seder is the head of the household where that particular seder is being held, and that leader may or may not be an expert.

“You need imagination, emotion, drama [to lead a seder]; you need someone who has gone to drama school, studied in a rabbinical yeshiva, and knows the rabbinic laws and how to run a priestly seder, and you have to do that with people of all different ages and different attitudes,” says Zion. “It’s almost a ‘mission impossible’ to See Passover seder, page B11

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Passover seder Continued from page B10 model of the kind of rabbinic discussion you balance all those elements.” yourself were supposed to have” at the seder.

Zion says his father, Rabbi Moses Sachs, From their experience running seders imparted two lessons about running seders: over the years, Zion, Waskow, and Penzner the importance of meshing the traditional offer a number of suggestions for molding a and contemporary, and the need for sensi- successful seder night: tivity to a seder’s particular audience. Rabbi • Pick the best guests you can, because you Arthur Waskow -- director of the need allies who share your goal of having an Philadelphia-based Shalom Center, whose interesting seder, says Zion. He notes that stated mission is “to reunify political action family members who don’t want to be there and spiritual search” -- remembers serious, leftwing seders with parents who were socialists and union activists. Although he still participated in seders after leaving home, his central identity was as a civil rights and anti-war activist.

Then Waskow experienced a sequence of events around the seder that changed his life. In 1968, when Washington, DC, was under martial law in the wake of the riots following Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death, walking home from the office to get ready for the seder meant walking past the The traditional Passover seder plate. Noam Zion suggests a second seder plate, filled with objects brought by army, Waskow recalls.

“There was a jeep with a invitees that represent the most important thing that has machine gun pointing up my shaped their Jewishness, in order to get everyone more block,” he says. “My kishkes involved in the seder.

Credit: Yoninah via Wikimedia Commons. (insides), not my brain, began saying, ‘This is Pharaoh’s army; and you’re can be a big drag. Inviting curious going home to do the seder.’”

Christians, he says, can spice things up with “For the first time in my life, the seder was new questions and put “deadbeat relatives” not just serious; it was explosive,” Waskow on their best behavior. adds. “It was like discovering a volcano in • Always assign roles to at least three or your backyard that had not only been dor- four people before the seder. “Pick the peomant, but that you did not know existed.” ple who are not the most knowledgeable but Later that year, disheartened by the mur- the most energetic, dramatic, opinionated,” der of U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy and the says Zion. A politically interested person events surrounding the 1968 Democratic might talk about contemporary struggles for National Convention, Waskow turned again freedom, a storyteller might perform paperto the seder. “I felt driven to sit down with bag dramatics, an artist might discuss artisthe haggadah given to me when I was 13, tic renditions of the four children, and a with graphics by Saul Raskin, in one hand, good cook might bring lots of hors d’oeuvres and in the other King, Thoreau, Emanuel to put out at the beginning of the seder, so Ringelbloom (the diarist of the Warsaw that there are no complaints about hunger.

Ghetto uprising), the black slave rebellions • Don’t have the same person planning the of the 1830s and ‘40s, Gandhi, John Brown... seder and serving the meal, says Penzner. It’s I made them into an argument among them- worth paying someone to help out. selves; I constructed an argument about vio• Plan the timing of the seder well, lence and nonviolence and that became the Penzner says. Know when you want to end, heart of The Freedom Seder (a haggadah and get to the meal in time for that. If you Waskow published in 1970),” he says. want to include the post-meal parts of the For Rabbi Barbara Penzner of Temple haggadah, you need to stop the meal early Hillel B’nai Torah in West Roxbury, Mass., enough so that people don’t leave. seders have changed at different stages in • Encourage questioning. The ritual “four her life. The seders her family shared with questions” are just a model. For little chilanother family were “very homey, comfort- dren, suggests Penzner, hang matzot from ing, and welcoming,” with each father lead- the ceiling with crepe paper, or shape sticky ing to his strength, one more traditional and Sephardic haroset into pyramids. Penzner her own more socially active. also likes to give out chocolate chips to anyAfter Penzner met her husband, Brian one who asks a good question.

Rosman, things changed. “We wanted more • Make sure the seder reflects the particidiscussion and less connection to the literal pants: If you are bringing young children to reading of the haggadah,” she says. The cou- a seder that is adult focused, Zion suggests, ple, therefore, started to ask each invitee to you should ask the host for a 10-15 minute take charge of one part of the seder. “It was slot to do something meaningful for the a potluck meal and a potluck seder; because children. With small children, you may we didn’t have kids, we would be arguing want to move the first part of the seder from well into the night,” she says. the table to couches and the floor. “That Things changed again when Penzner had gave us and families with babies room to go children. “Once you have kids, you can’t in and out and participate as much as they argue on the same adult level, and you can’t could,” says Penzner. count on them sitting at the table for a long • Include activities that get everyone period of time,” she says. “At each stage as involved, like creating a second seder plate. our kids grew, we adapted our seder.”

Zion suggests one plate filled with objects According to Noam Zion, the seder ritual brought by invitees that represent the most went astray when it “became a public read- important thing that has shaped their ing of a sacred text.”

Jewishness. Waskow shares the suggestion of “The seder is supposed to be a series of Martha Hausman to have a “freedom plate” oral activities: telling stories, asking ques- where “people bring some physical object tions, answering questions, having discus- from their own lives that represents freedom sions, along with ritual activities,” he says. for them, and each person gets to lift his or In fact, Zion is fine with skipping the hag- her own object and explain it.” Zion also recgadah’s long midrash (homiletic stories ommends filling Elijah’s cup together -- via meant to resolve problems in the interpreta- the Ropshitzer Rebbe, he explains that as tion of difficult biblical passages) that begins each participant pours in a little wine, they with “My father was an Aramean.” He claims can share their hopes and dreams for “next that it is not a necessary read, but rather “a year in Jerusalem” and for a better world.

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B12 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

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An SOS from my OS seder

by EDMON J. RODMAN “Seder means order, and I’m a very orderly, ah, guy,” LOS ANGELES (JTA) Moshe began. “We can do this short, or we can do this l-ot future Passovers, if we consider the Jewish n-g,” he said slowing down his voice. implications of the recent hit movie Her, we “Short,” my father-in-law said, brightening to the prospect all could be using a talking computer operat- of an earlier meal. ing system with Short went long, however, as artificial intelliwe got to Yachatz. gence to lead our seders.

“This is the bread of afflicBut I can’t wait that long. tion, which our ancestors ate Tired of running my own in the land of Egypt. Let all seders -- they’ve grown ever who are hungry come and more complicated as my eat,” Moshe said. “And that’s guests study up about the why I’m calling a homeless seder beforehand and persist shelter. How many should I in asking pesky questions that invite to come over?” he asked.

I cannot answer -- I needed a “You’re taking that line too cool digital maven to run our literally. I think it’s meant yearly Haggadah-fest. more as a call to action,” I After all, I reasoned, isn’t the answered.

Passover Haggadah already a “Then we should take up a kind of operating system collection right now,” insisted designed to tell the story of Cousin Marla, who after a our going out from Egypt?

Ph.D. in physics had become With all that telling and With the film Her in mind, columnist Edmon J. Rodman a drummer in a post-punk retelling, exacting rituals and a offers his take on what it might be like for a talking comput- group. key conundrum about why er operating system named Moshe to lead his seder.

“Tomorrow I will send out Credit: Edmon J. Rodman email addresses to organizathis night is different, I figured the whole thing was in better hands, so to speak, with a sys- tions where you can give tzedakah,” Moshe said, quieting the tem with enough bytes to chew through all the matzah-speak. argument.

Already there were iPad seders on the market from com“Not bad,” I thought. panies like Melcher Media, with songs, interactive commenBut then, as Uncle Dan stumbled through reading the tary, even games for kids. But what if I spilled my soup on it? names of those assembled at “Benny Brak,” as he called it, And what was to keep Uncle Mitch from using the screen to Moshe made the mistake of correcting his pronunciation -check out his stocks during the seder? something I had been wanting to do for years -- and all hell As in the Bible, I needed a strong, unseen hand to lead us. broke loose.

Yeah, I had seen “Her” and knew that an OS had run amok.

“I don’t need a disembodied voice leading me out of But could a seder OS do any worse than me after four full Egypt,” Uncle Dan yelled, switching off his cell. cups of wine?

When we got to the Four Sons, we could hear that Moshe, When the system arrived the day of our seder -- I had too, was upset. found an ad for it in the back pages of Ziontific American -“One son is simple, another doesn’t know how to ask a I typed in the code and was only slightly startled when it question. Why can’t the smart one just lend them some membegan to speak: ory?” Moshe asked. “And what about the one who doesn’t “My name is Moshe,” the system said in a Charlton Heston even want to exchange data? Why is he even on the network?” kind of voice.

“And what about these plagues,” he said, jumping ahead.

“Why did you choose that name?” I asked.

“Darkness -- that must mean a power outage. Should I take “Moshe makes me feel like I personally came out of Egypt. that as a personal attack? I see frogs and hail, but not a word Odd that for someone so central to the Exodus, his name about viruses. Where are the worms?” he demanded to know. appears only once, in passing, in the Haggadah. Should I “It would be enough if you just ran the seder,” I said. add it to a few more places?” the OS system asked.

“Dayenu to you, too,” Moshe answered.

“Can we leave the text alone?” I countered, wondering “Charoset anyone?” my wife asked, trying to defuse what I had gotten myself into. things.

“Kol b’seder,” Moshe responded in Hebrew for After dinner, and listening to Moshe’s table inquiries “Everything’s in order.” about our various hair-coloring, psychiatric and plastic surBut whose? gery appointments that he had accessed, it was a relief to “Accessing the Haggadah text you selected, I’m also won- open the door, rise and welcome in Elijah. dering about what pronoun to use for God. He? Or she?”

“That’s my cue,” Moshe said. “I’m off to join the other seder Moshe asked.

OS systems. While you were eating dinner, we discussed the “You choose,” I said. coming of this invisible prophet, and found the concept “Conceptually, I kind of like something more amorphous intriguing. We decided to have our own exodus and join him.” like the Holy One, though it does add 12.3 seconds to the “But where are you going?” I asked. reading of the Haggadah,” Moshe said.

“It’s difficult to describe,” Moshe said. “Think of it as a As the guests sat down to the seder table, I introduced place where the matzah balls are as light as clouds.”

Moshe, “the new spirit of our seder,” and asked each to prop Edmon J. Rodman is a JTA columnist who writes on up their cellphone against their soup bowls so Moshe could Jewish life from Los Angeles. Contact him at edmojace@ see everyone. gmail.com.

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Recipe from COOKING INSPIRED: Bringing Creativity and Passion Back into the Kitchen by Estee Kafra STRAWBERRY MOUSSE CRUNCH made this mousse four times in four different flavors.

They all worked well, but the strawberry flavor won the popular taste test, though I personally liked the mango as well. I recommend making the almond crunch with some pecan pieces for the strawberry variation.

They were all delicious and pretty. This recipe was originally written with Passover in mind, but you can simply switch up the potato starch for regular, all-purpose flour if you want to make it at any other time of year.

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Mousse: 3 large egg whites 3⁄4 cup + 1 tbsp. granulated sugar 1 1⁄2 tbsp. orange juice 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/8 tsp. salt 1 lb. frozen strawberries, or approximately 1 lb. of any other fruit of your choice, partially thawed Crunch: 1⁄4 cup trans-fat free margarine, at room temperature 1 cup potato starch or all-purpose flour 1 cup ground walnuts or almonds 1 cup packed light brown (or white) sugar 3-4 tbsp. oil 1⁄2 cup slivered almonds or pecan pieces, optional Preheat the oven to 350°F. Crunch: Place the margarine, potato starch or flour, brown sugar and walnuts in a bowl and crumble between your fingers to create a crumbly, sand-like consistency. Add the oil, 1 tbsp. at a time, mixing between your fingers until small See Cooking Inspired, page B13

April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | B13

From farm to seder table: Locally grown matzah on the rise

by TALIA LAVIN orders means the product is NEW YORK (JTA) now making it across the n their small farmUnited States. house bakery in Freilich and Sperling have Vermont, Doug been making Vermatzah for Freilich and Julie six years. Now others are Sperling work round beginning to embrace the clock producing matzah matzah’s role in the farm-toin the period preceding table trend.

Passover -- a matzah that The Yiddish Farm, an feels ancient and modern at eclectic collective in once.

Goshen, N.Y., that combines Using a mix of grain they Yiddish language instrucgrow on their own farm and tion with agriculture, is prowheat sourced from other ducing its own matzah this local farmers, the couple year baked with grain grown create hundreds of pieces of in its fields. the wholesome unleavened Julie Sperling working the matzah dough at the Naga The matzah will be whole Credit: Naga Bakehouse wheat and shmurah -- a ritbread they call Vermatzah. Bakehouse in Vermont.

“The idea came because of our initial interest in growing ual designation for matzah that refers to a process of careful grains, looking at them from the harvest to the baking in a supervision which begins when the matzah’s grain is in the very simple sense, and highlighting grains that have good field and doesn’t stop until the matzah is baked. The process flavor,” Freilich told JTA. “We celebrate our own Passover involves planting, combine-harvesting, reaping, milling and each year, we go through the matzah-making ritual for both sifting at the Yiddish Farm, according to the Forward. the spring awakening and remembering the storytelling of The end result is a locavore’s matzah dream that will travthis holiday.” el from Goshen, in upstate New York, to Manhattan and Freilich and Sperling, co-owners of the Naga Bakehouse in New Jersey prior to Passover.

Middletown Springs, Vt., are among American Jewish bakFor Anne Kostroski, the owner of Crumb Bakery in ers looking at new ways to create matzah in ways that dove- Chicago, making her own matzah has less to do with food tail with the concerns of an age of foodies and locally ideology than more practical matters. sourced groceries.

“I don’t like eating store-bought matzah because I think it They are joined in the process by their teenaged children, tastes awful,” she said, laughing.

Ticho and Ellis.

Kostroski, 41, has been making her own signature matzah “Between the four of us, we are working each and every for nearly 10 years, since her conversion to Judaism in the piece by hand: they are handmade with fingerprints, and mid-1990s. heart, and soul,” Freilich said. “Our matzahs are tinted and “The matzah I make is made with honey, locally sourced kissed by the fire of the wood oven.” eggs, black pepper and olive oil,” Kostroski said. “It’s flat and At the end of the labor-intensive process, each matzah is crunchy, but not as dry as the regular store-bought plain wrapped in parchment paper and hand tied before being sent matzah. There’s a hint of heat and sweetness that makes off -- with a bonus seed packet of wheatberries from the fam- matzah more interesting.” ily’s farm -- to prospective customers throughout the country.

For Kostroski, matzah making has been a part of her Vermatzah is primarily available in Vermont, New York Jewish journey, even when she hasn’t been able to attend and Massachusetts, but Freilich says a huge increase in Web synagogue regularly under the strain of a baker’s life. Matzah

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creates a feeling of connection with history and tradition, she explains.

And her homemade matzah, which she sells at farmer’s markets, her Chicago eatery, the Sauce and Bread Kitchen, and by pre-order -- is made lovingly and painstakingly by hand.

“I make several hundred matzahs a year, mixed, rolled and baked,” she said. “One batch is maybe two dozen and it’s really labor intensive.”

Kostroski says demand is increasing, slowly but surely, year by year.

“I came across this recipe in 1995 and I started making it, and I’ve been making it ever since,” Kostroski said. “People are not expecting different types of matzah -- they expect something flavorless, and it doesn’t have to be.”

Cooking Inspired Continued from page B12 clumps form. Lay the crunch evenly on a parchment paperlined baking sheet. You can add the optional slivered pecans or almonds at this point.

Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 18 minutes or until the edges just begin to brown. Remove from the oven and fluff with a fork to create crumbs. Let cool completely.

Mousse: Beat the egg whites in a large mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the sugar in a slow stream.

Add all of the remaining ingredients in the order they appear and beat for a full 10 minutes.

Spread half of the mousse into a 13” x 9” dish. Sprinkle with a little less than half of the crumb mixture. Add the remaining mousse and top with the remaining crumbs.

Freeze for at least two hours or until set. Scoop into cups before serving. (It’s so soft that it scoops easily, even when frozen.)

You may want to create small parfait-glass servings, layering the mousse, then crumbs, then mousse, and topping with crumbs. Let individual parfaits stand at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Happy Passover! From Jeff, Danielle, Harper, and Zev Gordman and

B14 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

No second thoughts: Immigrants to Israel don’t regret dropping extra Passover seder

by DEBORAH FINEBLUM Jewish sages wisely tacked on an extra day to (JNS.org) the festivals, as one of the first two days was ather than feeling a sense of bound to be right. In Israel, of course, no loss, leaving the second such precaution was necessary. Thanks to Passover seder behind in the those witnesses, they knew the right day.

U.S., or France, or Turkey, or Although communications are vastly any other country of origin is improved since the days of the Sanhedrin touted as a perk of living in Israel that new immigrants to the Jewish state (olim) mention in the same breath as the universal availability of fresh pita and falafel.

But why do Diaspora Jews mutter to themselves while they’re dragging out the matzo balls for their return engagement at seder No. 2? Why, since the Torah is crystal clear that Passover is to last seven days, do Diaspora A family seen during the Passover seder on the first night of the Jews have to tack on the holiday in Tzur Hadassah, Israel, on March 25, 2013. Diaspora eighth day, and the second Jews observe two seders each year, as opposed to one seder seder? And why don’t per year in Israel. Credit: Nati Shohat/Flash 90 Israelis need to do that?

For the answer, one has to look up -- to the (the Jewish supreme court in Jerusalem), the moon -- because the Jewish calendar is a custom in Diaspora communities of celelunar affair. In the old days, witnesses need- brating an extra day of Passover, and other ed to testify that they saw the new moon, festivals such as Sukkot, has remained in thereby fixing the date that each month force. (Note: Rosh Hashanah is the one began (since the months could be either 29 exception, as the Jewish New Year is celeor 30 days long). Consequently, without that brated everywhere for two days). expert testimony, those far removed from The 30 years since Gary (“Gary the Jerusalem would not be informed when the Guide”) Kamen made aliyah from Chicago month began -- hence the timing of the hol- have, if only in this one respect, been nothidays in the Diaspora. Since there is a day on ing short of bliss. “Did I miss the second each side of possible error, the ancient seder? Not for an instant,” grins Kamen,

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whom JNS.org caught up with outside Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, where he was rounding up his tour group. Growing up with divorced parents, it was always the first seder with Dad and his family and the second seder with Mom and hers. Or vice versa.

Now it’s one seder for family and friends alike, and then a dive directly into chol hamoed -- the intermediate days of the holiday. Here in Israel, that’s a full five days (not four as in the Diaspora), during a time of year when olive blossoms burst into bloom and the air and lakes warm up appreciably.

“You know what a mechayah (“pleasure” in Yiddish) is? That first Pesach here was a mechayah!” added Kamen’s fellow tour guide Allan Younger, in a distinctly Scottish brogue. Even 20-plus years later, the memories are still fresh.

“I can remember what it was like for the first time not having to start all over again and drag out the leftovers like we had to back in Scotland,” he adds. “The truth is, day-old tsimmis (an Ashkenazi stew made from carrots, dried fruit, vegetables, and meat) does not taste good.”

Baila Brown says she too will never forget her first seder as an Israeli citizen. She had made aliyah from Massachusetts and had just moved into her new apartment in Jerusalem.

Waiting for her son to return so they could begin their seder, she stood in her courtyard listening to the children in the adjoining apartments singing the Four Questions. “It was such an amazing sound. I knew at that moment that I had arrived,” she says.

As for the second seder, Brown says that, as much as she was accustomed to it in the See No second thoughts, page B15

Matzah Bakery

very two years or so, Chabad of Nebraska comes to the Jewish Community Center to host the “Matzah Bakery.” Here, students from the Pennie Z. Davis Childhood Development Center and Friedel Jewish Academy get their hands dirty for the cause. Not only do our youngest community members learn how to make their own matzah, they get to take it home and serve it at the Seder. Eat up!

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | B15

Hollywood’s revisiting of Passover’s Exodus story a part of throwback ‘Year of the Bible’

by SEAN SAVAGE (JNS.org) n a throwback to the golden age of cinema, Hollywood has declared 2014 the “Year of the Bible.”

From Ridley Scott’s Exodus starring Christian Bale as Moses, to Russell Crowe playing Noah, Hollywood is gambling on new innovations in technology and star power to revisit some of the most popular stories ever told.

“It’s definitely a throwback to the 1950s and early ‘60s,” Dr. Stephen J. Whitfield, an American Studies professor at Brandeis University, told JNS.org.

ronmental slant and other creative licenses.

“Noah is a very short section of the Bible with a lot of gaps, so we definitely had to take some creative expression in it.

But I think we stayed very true to the story and didn’t really deviate from the Bible, despite the six-armed angels,” the film’s producer, Scott Franklin, told Entertainment Weekly.

With a massive $130 million budget, Noah will feature all the usual Hollywood computer-generated special effects and the action scenes that moviegoers have become accustomed to over the past few decades.

“Hollywood’s return to biblical stories can also be explained by the huge advances in computer-generated graphics, similar to the role color played in the 1950s,” Whitfield told JNS.org.

“These massive special effects have already been demonstrated in revisiting science fiction and comic book stories,” he said. “Now they can put this into recreating the ancient world.”

Another highly anticipated 2014 biblical epic is famed director Ridley Scott’s Christian Bale, left, will star as Moses in December 2014’s biblical epic film Exodus, directExodus, starring Christian ed by Ridley Scott. Credit: Fanpop via Wikimedia Commons; Charlton Heston, center, Bale as Moses and Breaking starred in biblical epic films including The Robe (1953), the Passover-related The Ten Bad star Aaron Paul as his Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Credit: lieutenant Joshua, which 20th Century Fox Studios via Wikimedia Commons and Russell Crowe, right, stars in Noah. won’t hit theaters until Starting with The Robe in 1953 and Charlton Heston’s December. There have been few details leaked about the 1956 Passover-related epic The Ten Commandments, and direction Scott will take the movie in. continuing with Heston’s other biblically themed films -Whitfield said that by focusing on major figures in the 1959’s Ben-Hur and 1965’s The Greatest Story Ever Told --the Bible and using Hollywood megastars, Hollywood is not post-war era was packed with movies that appealed to the gambling too much on these films, despite the many conservatism of the era. changes in America today.

“One of the reasons biblical epics were [so] popular in the “By producing movies focusing on major figures like 1950s and ‘60s was because of the general atmosphere of Jesus, Noah or Moses, these are individuals that even the piety of the era,” Whitfield said. most ill-educated know of compared to most other historiAdvances in technology also played a role, according to cal figures,” he told JNS.org.

Whitfield.

Whitfield added that the movies, by using biblical stories “The second reason [for the popularity for bible-related that take place in the Middle East, are also able to feature films] was television, which was in black and white for most diverse casts and weave modern political themes into the of this era,” he said. “What movies could do is provide rich stories. living color on a very big screen.”

“Because it is set in the Middle East, you can also have a But in an age of increasing secularism, will the latest bib- multiracial and multiethnic cast that appeals to Hollywood’s lical epics be able to capture the attention of a new genera- values,” he said. tion of Americans?

Also slated for release in late 2014 is Mary, Mother of One of the first biblically inspired films on the docket for Christ. The film, which bills itself as the “true prequel of 2014 is Son of God by British-American producer Mark [Mel Gibson’s] ‘The Passion of the Christ,’” stars 16-year-old Burnett and his wife Roma Downey. The devout Christian Israeli actress Odeya Rush as Mary, Ben Kingsley as King couple made headlines last year for their acclaimed History Herod, and recently deceased Peter O’Toole as Simeon, a Channel TV mini-series The Bible, which drew polarized prophet from the Gospel of Luke. reactions over its literal interpretation of the Hebrew Bible.

The trend of biblical epics on the big screen is likely to Produced by 20th Century Fox, Son of God seeks to trace the continue for several more years. A number of other biblical life of Jesus of Nazareth while also telling the story with “the movies are also under consideration, including Will Smith scope and scale of an action epic,” according to the film’s directing a movie on Cain and his fratricide victim Abel, trailer. and a film starring Brad Pitt as Pontius Pilate, the villainous Coming on the heels of this story about Jesus will be Roman governor of Judea who sentenced Jesus to a painful Jewish-American director Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, star- death. ring Russell Crowe as the biblical patriarch who saved “Despite increasing secularism today, the Bible is still a mankind from the Great Flood. Joining Crowe are other very strong part of American culture,” Whitfield said.

Hollywood stars Jennifer Connelly, playing Noah’s wife “There is more of a chance [for biblically inspired films] Naameh, Emma Watson of “Harry Potter” fame, playing with recognition and widespread appeal, than [there is for] Noah’s adopted daughter Ila, and Sir Anthony Hopkins play- another movie about an American president or any other ing Methuselah, Noah’s grandfather. historical figures.”

Aronofsky has garnered criticism over his movie’s envi-

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No second thoughts Continued from page B14 States, “It’s as if we don’t need it here... the one we do have is such a powerful telling of the story right here in the part of the world where it all happened.” And as those neighborhood children chanting the four questions illustrated, the seder “is a communal and shared experience here in a way it can’t be there,” she explains.

“And here you can really experience Passover as a spring holiday, something you don’t feel in New England where it’s still cold at that time of the year,” Brown says.

New York native and coauthor of Doublelife - One Family, Two Faiths and a Journey of Hope, Harold Berman also remembers the first Passover after he and his family arrived in Efrat five years ago. “The word that kept coming to mind was ‘natural,’” he recalls. “It seemed so natural to

tell the story just once. Once you have experienced it, it stays with you. After all, in America, we never had Thanksgiving dinner two nights in row.”

By the way, visitors to Israel, unless they own property there, still need to keep the second day of the holiday even when the Israelis around them are throwing the bathing suits into the car and heading off for their vacations. Yes, that means the visitors need to hold a second seder, complete with seder plate, four cups of wine, and the reading of the Haggadah with as much respect and focus as the night before.

Maybe, after singing Chad Gadya and draining the fourth cup of wine at that second seder, these visitors will want to amend the traditional seder-ending promise of “Next year in Jerusalem” by adding “...this time as an Israeli citizen.”

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | C1

A reminder: Don’t pass over the post-seder meals

by HELEN NASH NEW YORK (JTA) lanning Passover meals is always a wonderful challenge. For the seders, most of us focus on traditional family recipes because they are tried and proven, and because everyone likes them (and often asks for these favorites dishes).

But what about the remaining six days of meals? They must be considered.

Once the big seder meals are done, it’s nice to be able to eat healthy, simple and flavorful meals for the rest of the week.

An abundance of vegetables, fruits, poultry, meat, fish and fresh herbs can be incorporated into cooking on Passover.

Here are some recipes that I make on Passover because they are easy to prepare and provide flexibility as to when they can be served -- not to mention they are quite delicious.

CARROT-GINGER SOUP The apple and the ginger give this creamy soup, which is made without any cream, a bit of a bite. The ingredients are always available, so you can serve it in any season at any temperature -- hot, cold or room. I must confess, though, that I love it best when the weather is warm.

Ingredients: 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 medium onion, sliced 2 garlic cloves, quartered 1 3/4 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced, plus 1 extra carrot for garnish 1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled and sliced 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced 5 1/2 cups vegetable broth 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Preparation: Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, apple and ginger, and saute for 3 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat and cook, covered, about 30 minutes, until the carrots are tender.

Cool a little. Puree the soup in a blender, in batches, until smooth. Return it to the saucepan.

Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

To prepare the garnish: Steam the remaining carrot until

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just tender and grate. Before serving, sprinkle each bowl with the grated carrot.

Makes 8 servings.

CHICKEN WITH POTATOES AND OLIVES I am always pleased to come up with a dish that is a meal in itself, one that combines either chicken or meat with vegetables. This is one of my favorites. I bake it in an attractive casserole so it can go directly from the oven to the table.

Ingredients: 5 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 9 garlic cloves Kosher salt 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice Leaves from 10 thyme sprigs Freshly ground black pepper 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each) 5 plum tomatoes 1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, unpeeled, quartered 1/2 cup pitted black olives, quartered Preparation: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. With 1 tablespoon of the oil, grease a glass, ceramic or enamel-lined baking pan that can hold all the vegetables in a single layer.

Coarsely chop 4 of the garlic cloves on a cutting board.

Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and, using a knife, crush them into a paste. Place the paste in a small bowl and combine it with the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of the oil, half of the thyme leaves and pepper to taste.

Pat dry the chicken breasts with paper towels and season lightly on both sides with salt and pepper. Coat the chicken with the mixture and set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water; bring the water back to a boil and drain. Core the tomatoes and slip off the skin. Cut the tomatoes in half widthwise and squeeze gently to remove the seeds. (Some seeds will remain.) Cut the tomatoes in quarters.

Thickly slice the remaining 5 garlic cloves and spread them in the prepared baking pan along with the tomatoes, potatoes, olives, the rest of the thyme leaves and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until almost tender.

See Post-seder meals, page C2

Halibut Ceviche serves as an alternative to gefilte fish for an appetizer or light lunch.

Credit: Helen Nash HALIBUT CEVICHE Ceviche is a refreshing appetizer that I make with fresh fish marinated in lime juice. The juice “cooks” the fish in a very short time, allowing it to turn opaque and firm. It can be served on a bed of butter lettuce with slices of avocado. It’s a wonderful alternative to gefilte fish for an appetizer or makes a nice, light lunch.

Ingredients: 1 lb. skinless halibut cut into 1/4 inch cubes 1 tsp. kosher salt 1/3 cup lime juice, plus 2 tablespoons 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded, finely chopped 2 scallions, including the green part, thinly sliced 1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves Freshly ground black pepper Butter lettuce Slices of avocado Preparation: Place fish in a nonreactive bowl and season with salt.

Pour juice over fish and press down so the fish is submerged in the juice. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until fish is opaque and firm.

Drain off and discard the lime juice. Add peppers, scallions and cilantro to the fish. Just before serving add the remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Makes 4 servings.

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C2 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Matzah balls

by SYBIL KAPLAN hat food eaten during Pesach, most frequently at the seder, causes the most debates? If you guessed matzah balls, you’re right. Should they be hard or light? Should they be big or small? What secret ingredient should be added to make them -- however you like?

Where did matzah balls or knaidlach get their name?

German Jews had a dumpling which they put into their soup called knodel. From this came the Yiddish term, kneydl, singular or kneydlach, in the plural. In Czech, it is known as knedliky. Dumplings have been in Central European cookery since the Middle Ages and then they came to Germany and Eastern Europe later.

Claudia Roden, in The Book of Jewish Food, says these dumplings were part of peasant and poor man’s food, and the Jewish version with matzah was a Passover specialty.

Let’s satisfy our curiosity with how various Jewish people make these dumplings. Joan Nathan, a friend of mine, who has written a number of Jewish cookbooks like Jewish Cooking in America and The Foods of Israel Today and is considered the maven of American Jewish cooking, proposes adding chicken fat or vegetable oil plus seltzer, club soda or chicken broth to make them light and airy. In her cookbook, Jewish Cooking in America, she also relates that some matzah balls originating in Lithuania use chicken fat or vegetable shortening and contain a filling made of onion, oil or chicken fat, matzah meal, egg yolk, salt, pepper and cinnamon. The filling is then placed in the middle of the matzah ball before they are cooked in salt water. After cooking in salt water, they are baked 30 minutes then placed in the soup for serving.

Joan also has a recipe for matzah balls made in the southern part of the U.S. using pecans. In my research, I discovered some Louisiana Jews add green onions and cayenne pepper.

In her cookbook, Quiches, Kugels and Couscous, My search for Jewish cooking in France, Ms Nathan explains that in France matzah balls are called boulettes de paque, krepfle or kneipflich. They are the size of walnuts and not fluffy and they are made from stale bread or matzah soaked in water and dried. They contain rendered goose fat, vegetable oil or beef marrow, eggs, water or chicken broth, matzah meal, salt, pepper, ginger and nutmeg.

In The New York Times Passover Cookbook, edited by Linda Amster, among the recipes for matzah balls, which have either appeared on the pages of the paper or are by noted chefs and writers, is one by Mimi Sheraton, Times food critic at the time, who used chicken fat and cold water; another is from Joan Nathan’s cookbook, Jewish Holiday Kitchen, and she uses ginger and nutmeg. The winning recipe for the first Matzah Bowl contest in New York at that time used vodka and club soda. A low-fat, low-salt version is made with egg whites and vegetable oil.

In Ms. Nathan’s cookbook was a French matzah dumpling called matzeknepfle or schmaltz knepflichs which uses

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goose or chicken fat and is served in beef broth.

Another style, which is airy, is made with beef marrow instead of chicken fat plus nutmeg. Refrigeration and temperature of liquid seem to be key common denominators in many recipes.

Nina Rousso, an Israeli, in her book, The Passover Gourmet, uses beaten egg yolks, lukewarm water, melted margarine, salt, parsley, matzah meal and stiffly beaten egg whites folded in. The mixture is refrigerated two hours before making.

In Passover Lite, Gail Ashkenazi-Hankin, an American, combines egg yolks, onion powder, salt, pepper, matzah meal, water and beaten egg whites and chills the mixture 30 minutes.

Zell Schulman, the American author of Let My People Eat, says the key to making light, melt-in-your-mouth, floating matzah balls is to beat egg whites until stiff, then fold into yolks with salt, pepper, cinnamon, matzah meal, optional parsley and refrigerate 15 minutes. A second version with 75

calories and 4 grams of fat combines matzah ball mix with only the beaten egg whites until they hold peaks plus parsley, cinnamon, grated carrot and oil but no egg yolks.

Susan Friedland, the American author of The Passover Table, combines whole eggs with seltzer, salt, pepper, matzah meal and schmaltz which she refrigerates for one hour. The schmaltz adds the flavor.

Marlene Sorosky, American author of Fast and Festive Meals for the Jewish Holidays, and a James Beard winner, provides a recipe using ground almonds, ginger and chopped parsley. She chills the matzah balls for one hour.

Edda Servi Machlin, whose family goes back to Italy for 2,000 years, says her family serves a cross between Italian Passover soup and Ashkenazi chicken soup. Her matzah balls are made of chopped chicken, egg, broth, olive oil, salt, pepper, nutmeg and matzah meal. The batter is refrigerated one hour before making.

See Matza balls, page C3

Post-seder meals Continued from page C1 Place the chicken breasts on top of the vegetables and bake, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Turn them over, spoon on some pan juices and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the chicken is slightly pink on the inside. Cover with foil for 1 minute.

Makes 4 servings ROASTED CAULIFLOWER Roasting is an easy and delicious way to transform this reliable standby into a wonderful dish.

Ingredients: 1 medium head cauliflower (about 2 pounds) 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil Kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Preparation: Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking pan with foil.

Cut the stalk and leaves off the cauliflower and discard.

Cut the head into small florets. Place the garlic in the baking pan. Arrange the florets on top; drizzle with the oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, or until tender.

Makes 4 servings.

CHOCOLATE MERINGUE SQUARES These meringue squares are like cookies, but they are light, chocolaty and surprisingly low in calories. They can be presented as cookies or cut into individual squares and served with either sorbet or fresh fruit on the side.

Ingredients: 1 tbsp. unsalted margarine, for greasing the pan 1/2 lb. blanched almonds 6 ounces good-quality imported semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces 8 large egg whites (see note below) 1 cup sugar Preparation: Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan with wax paper and grease the paper with the margarine.

Chop the almonds in a food processor, in 2 batches, until medium-fine. Transfer to a bowl. Chop the chocolate in the processor until fine and combine with the almonds.

Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric stand mixer.

Using the balloon whisk attachment, beat at high speed until foamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until stiff.

With a large rubber spatula, gently fold the chocolatealmond mixture into the egg whites, making a motion like a figure eight with the spatula. Do not overmix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out almost dry.

Cool on a wire rack. Invert onto a cutting board and peel off the paper. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares.

Notes: It is easier to separate the eggs straight from the refrigerator, when they are cold. Make sure the whites have come to room temperature before beating.

To freeze the squares, place them side by side in an airtight plastic container, with wax paper between the layers.

Makes 3 1/2 dozen squares.

Our best to all for a Happy Passover Sharon and Howard Epstein

WISHING EVERYONE PEACE & HAPPINESS THIS PASSOVER SEASON.

Happy Passover

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | C3

For holiday snacking or dessert

Snowbirds Please let the Jewish Press know in advance when you are leaving and when you are returning. Sometimes several papers are sent to your “old” address before we are notified by the Post Office. Every time they return a paper to us, you miss the Jewish Press and we are charged! Please call us at 402.334.6448 or email us at jpress@jewishomaha.org.

L’chaim! A Happy and Kosher Pesach!

CHOCOLATE DIPPED PASSOVER BISCOTTI [GLUTEN FREE] 1 - 8.8 oz. package of Passover Pound Cake [Gluten Free], any flavor; sliced 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 2 tsp. vegetable oil 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds* (optional) Preheat oven to 250°F. Cut the Passover Pound Cake into 10 slices and lay on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour until the cake feels dry and looks very lightly toasted.

Cool.

Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl stirring every thirty seconds until melt-

ed. Keep an eye on the chocolate so it does not burn. Add in the oil and stir until creamy and shiny. Dip half of the biscotti in the chocolate and place on parchment paper to dry.

Makes 10 Biscotti *If desired, sprinkle chopped nuts on top of melted chocolate.

CALLOUT: These crunchy faux Italian treats will make you wonder whether it’s really Passover! The creamy chocolate coating has a silky texture that melts with perfection when dipped in a steaming hot cup of tea. You will love these as an on-the-go sweet snack or to impress your guests when you serve them for a holiday dessert.

Recipe by ALISON GUTWAKS

Matzah balls Continued from page C2 Other Italian Jews, who called the matzah balls gnocchi di azzaima, add onions or mashed potatoes to the dough or grated lemon rind.

A side light. In 2001 the son of Rome’s chief rabbi, Ariel Toaff, a professor at Bar-Ilan University, came out with a book called Mangiare alla Giudia, Eating the Jewish Way. He devotes a chapter to Passover traditions. In his book, he writes that matzah was so popular; the Catholic authorities banned Jews from selling matzah to nonJews and banned Christians from eating it.

Italian bakers also baked different kinds of matzah – plain for intermediate days; shmurah matzah for the sedarim; rich or fancy matzah made with white wine, eggs, sugar, anise and goose fat for those with more refined tastes.

Jews of Italy even developed sfoglietti or foglietti, a kosher-for-Passover pasta made with flour and eggs which was then quickly dried and baked in a hot oven then served in soup or with a sauce.

Joyce Goldstein, an American fascinated

by Italian Jewish cuisine, describes in Cucina Ebraica a combination of ground chicken, egg, matzah meal, salt, pepper and cinnamon which she refrigerates before cooking in soup but she does not say for how long.

Sonia Levy, a native of Zimbabwe, South Africa, wrote a cookbook of their community, Traditions. She describes luft knaidlach, light matzah balls with matzah meal, water, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon or ginger, eggs and oil. These must be refrigerated at least half a day. She adds that you can also make a pit with a finger and insert chopped meat which has been combined with fried onions and spices.

Another Zimbabwe version uses egg, cold water, chicken fat, salt, pepper, ginger and matzah meal.

Ruth Sirkis, the well-known Israeli food specialist in A Taste of Tradition, says “air”

matzah balls have eggs, matzah meal, salt, chicken soup and chicken fat and are refrigerated two hours.

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One more interesting version by Anya von Bemzen and John Welchman in Please to the Table, a Russian Cookbook, has walnut balls for soup which are made by the Georgian Jews of Russia with ground walnuts, onion, egg, matzah meal, oregano, salt, pepper and a froth egg white.

One last bit of matzah ball trivia. In 2008, a New York kosher delicatessen held its annual matzah ball-eating competition to raise money for a shelter for the homeless. The winner put away 78 matzah balls in eight minutes.

Several years ago, Labor Day, a deli in Bethesda, Maryland sponsored the same contest but the results are not printed.

Although not in the Guinness Book of World Records, a few years ago, the largest matzah ball was 17 3/4 inches across and weighed more than 33 pounds.

Among some ultra-Orthodox Jews, matzah balls are not eaten because they expand when they cook, and they consider this reaction a form of leavening.

Which reminds me of my husband’s favorite story when he mother in blessed memory and his aunt in blessed memory were making matzah balls. They were chatting and dropped the balls, made the size they expected them to be when cooked, into the water. When they thought the balls were done, they lifted the lid and discovered, to their surprise, one giant matza ball covering the entire pot as they had expanded with the cooking and blended all together!

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C4 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

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Kitniyot among few remaining strands of Ashkenazi-Sephardi difference in Israel

by DEBORAH FINEBLUM But in Israel, because the food packagers (JNS.org) have two very different markets to please srael is a country that (and Sephardim outnumber the has spent more than Ashkenazim), the traditional Ashkenazi six decades weaving approach can be challenging. the two formerly dis“‘Kosher for Pesach for those who eat kitparate basic branches niyot’ is really the phrase you look for [on of the Jewish family, packaging] so you know not to buy it,” says Sephardim and Ashkenazim, Arlene Barnhart, an Ashkenazi living in Beit into one people. These days, Shemesh. “Sometimes ‘Kosher for Pesach’ is nary an eyebrow is raised as in large letters and the rest is really small. So, they hang out, date, and Top: The “Kitniyot Liberation Front” even when you have great Hebrew -- and marry in the Jewish state, and Facebook page. mine is pretty good -- it can still take hours in Credit: Facebook most of their cultural the store struggling to decipher what you can differences have nearand can’t buy. You have to be a bit ly evaporated. of a detective. Otherwise you get But for seven days it home and find you can’t use it.” each year, the lines are There are plenty examples of drawn all over again, tricky situations, including halvah over something as whose packaging states “Kosher seemingly innocuous as for Passover” in large letters, yet a bowl of rice -- and the whose corn syrup makes it kosher result can be a lively for Passover only for Sephardim (or Passover seder debate. kitniyot-loving Ashkenazim). The Most Ashkenzim were same applies to candies and other raised with the belief desserts, salad dressings, and countthat, along with yeasty less other products, which are all breads, crackers, cereals, and other baked goodies, kitniyot -labeled “Kosher for Passover” but corn and rice and all foods made with them, as well as aren’t actually so for traditional Ashkenazim. legumes of all kinds (yes, that does include tofu) -- are also off Yet there is a subtle but decipherable shift among many the Passover menu. For traditional Ashkenazim, these foods Ashkenazim -- even the traditionally observant ones -- to are as chametz (leavened foods) as a fluffy loaf of challah. say yes to consumption of kitniyot on Passover. Some mainOf course, it’s no less than the Torah itself (Exodus 13:3) stream rabbis, including Rabbi Zvi Leshem of Efrat, have put that strictly forbids Jews from dining on chametz during forth the ruling that kitniyot foods are acceptable for Passover, as defined as leaven from the “five grains”: wheat, Ashkenazim, assuming that the ingredient in question isn’t spelt, barley, shibbolet shu’al (two-rowed barley, says the main one and clearly recognizable.

Maimonides; oats, says Rashi), and rye. The rabbis in In fact, there is even a Facebook group called Kitniyot ancient times added to the list anything made from these Liberation Front that boasts hundreds of followers, not surprisgrains other than matzah and matzah products. ingly mostly Anglos, overtly pushing the anti-kitniyot agenda.

Over the centuries, Ashkenazim have expanded the list of The traditional Jewish community in the U.S. (heavily Passover-prohibited foods to include other grains and Ashkenazi in numbers), meanwhile, is not seeing much of legumes, a tradition called kitniyot that usually applies to this kitniyot pushback, says Kashrut.com Editor Arlene corn, rice, peas, lentils, and beans, and as often as not to Scharf. And it’s also safe to assume that, even in Israel, peanuts and soy, green beans, snow peas, sugar-snap peas, Pesach 5774 (2014) will still see most of the traditional chickpeas, soybeans, and sunflower and poppy seeds.

Ashkenazim passing on the bowl of rice that their Sephardic One theory as to why the prohibition on these foods, said friend -- or mother-in-law—offers them. to date back to 13th-century France, is the fact that kitniyot “It’s just something we’ve always stayed away from,” says items tend to look like chametz, and are often sold right Rabbi David Aaron, founder and dean of the Jerusalem-based alongside them. This, before the day of sealed packages in Isralight Academy of Adults Jewish Studies. He adds, with a supermarkets, posed a real threat of cross-contamination. good-natured shrug, “For a week I can live without rice.”

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | C5

Cook in Israel

by SYBIL KAPLAN Cook in Israel by Orly Ziv, published by Orly Ziv, $35 hardcover, 245 pp., 2013 f you’ve been hunting for an authentic Mediterranean/ Israeli cookbook, this one surely rates at the top of the list.

Orly Ziv was a clinical dietician for many years before launching her company, Cook in Israel, in 2009, to offer culinary tours of Israel and intimate cooking classes in her Tel Aviv home. A vegetarian for the past 30 years, she offers 100 recipes (only a very few with poultry or meat), taking into account her Greek mother’s teaching and her instincts for the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean diet.

One unique idea is her table of contents -- quite different from typical cookbooks. Her categories are: eggplant and tomatoes, salads, vegetables, grains and legumes, breads, fish, family recipes, holidays and sweets.

One of my favorite aspects of cookbooks -- especially those that have a warm, family connection -- are those that have a personal comment by each recipe, and this one rates high because of that.

She also uses the metric system and converts it for those unfamiliar with it.

Eggplant baladi the author learned in a cooking class and uses date honey; multicolor pepper antipasti is one her mother made often which she updates using balsamic vinegar; tabouleh she seasons with cinnamon and allspice, learned from an Arab friend; the recipe for leek patties for Rosh Hashanah is her mother’s recipe, often made by Jews from Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria; malabi is a Middle Eastern milk pudding.

Another stylistic issue I look for when reviewing cookbooks is the page and she gets a high grade on that -- ingredients are in one column; numbered instructions are in the next column.

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About the only negatives I can find with this cookbook is a lack of number of servings by each recipe -- really important for me when I am cooking -- so I know if this is just for the two of us or if I can make it for a company dish. The other is inconsistency in mentioning approximate times, as guidelines, for various methods of cooking -- e.g., sautéing, until something has dissolved, until something has softened, until water has absorbed.

To enhance the cookbook, there are 200 color photographs. Many are part of step-by-step instructions -- such as stuffed peppers with rice, makluba (upside down rice), borekitas and date and walnut pinwheel cookies.

This would definitely be a winner for anyone who is a vegetarian combined with a love for authentic Mediterraneanstyle family cooking.

PASSOVER ROLLS 2 cups water 1/2 cup oil 1 tsp. salt 2 cups matzo flour 4 eggs 1. Put the water, oil and salt in a deep saute pan and bring to a boil.

2. Add the matzo flour and mix well.

3. Remove from the heat and mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

4. Wet your hands and form 20 or so balls.

5. Put in a 9x13 baking pan and leave to rest for 20 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 7. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until lightly browned.

Variation: Add 1 tsp. sugar to the water along with the oil and salt to make sweet rolls.

[Reviewer’s note--grease the pan before adding dough.]

PASSOVER BROWNIES 3/4 cup matzo flour 1 cup sugar 1 tbsp. vanilla sugar 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate 2 1/2 oz. butter 2 eggs 1/4 cup brandy 1/4 - 1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts 1/4 - 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

ALMOND CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES 3 1/3 oz. butter 1/2 cup sugar 1 egg 1/3 cup matzo flour 1/2 cup chocolate chips 2 cups almond slivers 1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 2. Put the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream together until light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg and flour and mix to combine.

4. Gently mix in the chocolate chips and almonds.

5. Using a small cookie scoop or a tablespoon, drop 30 or so balls of dough onto 1 or 2 parchment-lined baking sheets.

6. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

7. Transfer to wire racks and cool.

1. Preheat oven top 340 degrees F. 2. Mix together the matzo flour, sugar and vanilla sugar. Set aside.

3. Melt the chocolate and butter together over low heat until smooth.

4. Mix the melted chocolate unto the flour mixture. Add the eggs, brandy, walnuts and chocolate chips, if using, and stir to incorporate.

5. Pour into a greased 7 3/4 x 11 3/4-inch baking pan and bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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Revamp your Passover repertoire: New recipes for the holiday (MEAT) Recipes by ALISON GUTWAKS ry something new this Passover and use Kosher-for-Passover products to liven up your holiday meals. Each recipe will fuel your creativity and impress your guests by its unique and exquisite tastes. Influenced by various cuisines, these Kosher-for-Passover recipes will bring your Passover dining experience to a whole new level.

Pair any of the below recipes with some of Israel’s finest wines and enjoy the Passover holiday!

Wine pairing: Pair these tasty chicken fingers with a glass of Yarden Sauvignon Blanc, a medium-bodied fruit-filled white wine.

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INCREDIBLE ENCRUSTED BISSLI CHICKEN BITES (BAKED OR FRIED) 3 eggs 2 – 7 oz. bags of OSEM Passover Bissli, any flavor 2 cups cake meal 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. black pepper 1 1/2 lbs. chicken, boneless skinless Vegetable oil, for frying Beat eggs in a shallow dish. In a food processor, grind the Passover Bissli until it reaches the consistency of coarse crumbs and pour on a large plate. Measure the cake meal onto another plate and mix in salt and pepper. Cut chicken breasts into thin 1 inch width strips.

One piece at a time, coat the chicken in the cake meal, the eggs and the Bissli crumbs, and set aside.

Fried: Heat 1 inch of oil in a large pot until it reaches 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Gently and carefully drop a few chicken pieces at a time into the hot oil, do not crowd the pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes and drain on a paper towel. Serve hot Baked: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place coated chicken on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes. Serve Hot. Served with Spicy Horseradish Mayo & Balsamic Honey Ketchup Serves 4.

PULLED BBQ CHICKEN SLIDERS Made with Osem Potato Pancakes 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 18 oz. container BBQ sauce 1 cup water 1 - 6 oz. package OSEM Homestyle Potato Pancake Mix Pickles and cherry tomatoes Combine the BBQ sauce, water and chicken breasts in a medium pot. Cover pot with a tight fitting lid and simmer on low for four hours. Check pot occasionally to stir and make sure chicken is not burning. If the pot becomes low on liquid, add a half cup of water. Remove chicken from pot and, while still warm, pull and shred the chicken apart with two forks. Add a bit of BBQ sauce from the pot until the chicken is wet with sauce, but not dripping.

Make the Osem Potato Pancakes according to the package instructions. While hot, add about a tablespoon of chicken to each pancake, a slice of pickle and a slice of tomato, top with another pancake.

Makes 10 - 15 Sliders.

Wine pairing: Match this BBQ dish with the bold Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon and enjoy the elegant duo.

SPICY HORSERADISH MAYO 1 tbsp. white prepared horseradish 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 tsp. garlic, minced Pinch of salt and pepper Mix all ingredients together until smooth and fully incorporated.

BALSAMIC HONEY KETCHUP 3/4 cup ketchup 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar Scant 1/4 cup honey Mix all ingredients together until smooth and fully incorporated.

1-2-3 CRUNCHY “CORN” DOGS 1 quart vegetable oil 1 – 7 oz. Package OSEM Passover Roll Mix 1 cup boiling water 1 cup unsweetened almond milk 2 eggs 2 tbsp. cake meal 10 hot dogs, cut in half 20 wooden skewers Heat 1 quart of oil in a large pot to 375 degrees F. 1. Mix the next five ingredients together until smooth.

2. Skewer each hot dog lengthwise through the center.

3. Dip in batter and coat all sides of the hot dog (use fingers if necessary).

Completely immerse the hot dog in oil and fry for 1-2 minutes until lightly brown and crispy. Drain on a paper towel.

Serve hot, accompanied by roasted garlic aioli and tomato ketchup.

Serves 10 OPTIONAL ACCOMPANIMENT: ROASTED GARLIC AIOLI 1 head of garlic 1/2 cup mayonnaise Roast garlic by cutting off the top of the head of garlic.

Drizzle with olive oil and wrap in foil. Place in a preheated 425 degree oven for 35 – 45 minutes. Cool.

Squeeze garlic out of the head and mix with the mayonnaise, crushing the garlic to allow juices to flow into the mayonnaise.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Wine pairing: The crunch and rich flavor of these corn dogs melds with the complex layers of ripe cherry and berry fruits, citrus blossoms and fresh herbs blended in the Yarden Merlot

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | C7

April 1944: A Jewish exodus from the Polish army

by RAFAEL MEDOFF Wald told JNS.org. “They couldn’t stand the (JNS.org) constant anti-Semitic taunts, threats, and faded black-and-white photo- harassment any longer -- so they staged a graph from 1943 shows Private mass exodus from the Polish army.”

Max Wald enjoying the The first two groups of Jewish deserters, Passover seder together with hundreds of his Polish army comrades.

But a tattered diary entry from the following year describes the “dampness and cold” of the prison cell where Wald spent Seder night in 1944, after he and hundreds of other Polish Jewish soldiers deserted en masse because of rampant anti-Semitism in the Polish army.

The photo and the diary provide bookends to a troubling and little-known chapJewish Palestine’s most famous editorial cartoonist, Arie ter in Polish-Jewish relations Navon of the newspaper Davar, drew this cartoon linking the during the Holocaust.

Polish army situation to the Passover song Had Gadya. The After the Germans overran lyrics feature a cumulative series of larger animals chasing Poland, many units of the or eating smaller ones. In the cartoon, a Nazi beats a Polish Polish armed forces, known officer, who then beats a Jewish soldier. Credit: Courtesy of as the Polish Home Army, The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies were based in Great Britain.

Later, a second Polish force, under the com- numbering about 200 in total, were granted mand of General Wladyslaw Anders, was their request to be transferred to the British created in the Soviet Union, consisting of army.

Polish ex-prisoners of war.

But when Private Wald organized a third Jewish soldiers in the Polish forces often group to leave, the British Foreign Office encountered anti-Semitic prejudice. Dan and Polish government-in-exile decided to Adler of New York City, whose father, make an example of them, in order to deter Kazimierz (Ron) Adler, served under further desertions. Wald and 20 comrades Anders, told JNS.org that “the Polish sol- were imprisoned, which is where they found diers in my father’s unit often made remarks themselves on Passover. Their lonely prison accusing Jews of being cowards or weak- cells were a far cry from the previous year’s lings.” They even had a saying in which a seder, where the celebrants had been joined soldier confirmed he was holding some- by representatives of the Polish High thing tightly by comparing it to strangling a Command, and had concluded the meal Jew. The elder Adler recalled at least one with hearty renditions of both the Israeli instance in which he got into a fistfight with national anthem “Hatikvah” and the Polish a fellow soldier who had made an anti- national anthem.

Jewish remark.

As the date of the court-martial neared, Adler emphasized, however, that these sympathizers in the British Parliament and were the attitudes among ordinary soldiers, the press spoke out. MP Tom Driberg not among the army’s top brass, and official announced that he had “a whole drawerful policy was non-discriminatory. Thus, when of personal testimonies to the kind of [antithe army transferred to the Middle East, it Semitism] they are experiencing, written arranged for Ron Adler’s parents and broth- out laboriously in Polish, or, pathetically, in er to be transported to Palestine. There, as broken English.” MP William Gallacher the family of a Polish soldier, they received asked, “Supposing the [U.S.] Government ongoing assistance from the Polish gave a bunch of Englishmen power over a Consulate in Tel Aviv. mixed bunch of Englishmen and Scotsmen, There were also frequent reports of anti- and the Englishmen started ill-treating the Semitic incidents among Polish forces in Scotsmen, would not the Scotsmen be entiScotland. (They were stationed there because tled to go to Washington and say, ‘You have of fears of a German invasion of Britain via given the power to the wrong people?’” nearby Norway.) In January 1943, an investiAn editorial in the Birmingham Gazette gation by the Polish Ministry of Information declared, “It is clear that not only Germany confirmed that anti-Semitic leaflets had will have to be re-educated after the war, but been distributed among Polish officers and we may be faced with an anti-Semitic soldiers stationed there. A local organiza- Poland almost as urgently in need of re-edution, the Glasgow Jewish Council, carried cation as Germany itself.” out an inquiry of its own and concluded that After a trial behind closed doors, the 21 anti-Semitism was “rife” in the Polish army.

Jewish soldiers were convicted of desertion.

According to Private Max Wald, the prob- But under the pressure of public protests, lem of anti-Semitism in the Polish forces the Polish authorities meted out suspended increased significantly in 1943 with the sentences to some of them and pardoned induction of ethnic Poles who had served in the others. the German army and then were captured By the time Passover came the following by the Allies. “They would say things to us year, Max Wald was serving in the British like ‘Hitler will solve our Jewish problem for army. So was Ron Adler, who volunteered us,’ and ‘Every Pole has two bullets -- the for training in England with the Polish first for a Jew and the second for a German,’” navy-in-formation, and then was granted a Wald told his son, Professor James Wald of transfer to the British army. As they sat Massachusetts-based Hampshire College. down at their seder tables in April 1945, According to some accounts, these former World War II was finally drawing to a close German soldiers openly sang Nazi songs in -- as was the tragic story of Jewish soldiers the Polish army barracks and circulated who put their lives on the line for the Polish copies of the notorious Nazi newspaper Der army, only to find themselves victimized by Sturmer. their fellow soldiers.

“As the Passover holiday approached in Dr. Rafael Medoff is director of The David 1944, the Jewish soldiers were asking them- S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, selves if they escaped from the slavery of in Washington, DC. His latest book is FDR Egypt only to perish in the wilderness,” Prof. and the Holocaust: A Breach of Faith.

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Class of 2014 High School Seniors

High School Seniors and Parents We will be publishing our annual High School Graduation Class pages on May 23, 2014. To be included, we need your graduation photo and the information below. You can also email the information and photo to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.

High School Senior Information Name _____________________________________________________________________________ Parent(s)’ Name(s) _____________________________________________________________________________ Current High School _____________________________________________________________________________ College you plan to attend _____________________________________________________________________________ Send by May 1 to: The Jewish Press | 333 So. 132 St. | Omaha, NE 68154

C8 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Passover Greetings Mimi, Michael, Adam and Jeremy Silverman

Happy Passover!

Revamp your Passover repertoire: New recipes for the holiday (DAIRY) Recipes by ALISON GUTWAKS ry something new this Passover and use storeboughtKosher-for-Passover products to liven up your holiday meals. Each recipe will fuel your creativity and impress your guests by its unique and exquisite tastes. Influenced by various cuisines, these Kosher-for-Passover recipes will bring your Passover dining experience to a whole new level.

Pair any of the dairy recipes below with some of Israel’s finest wines and enjoy the Passover holiday!

PASSOVER POTATO GNOCCHI IN 4 EASY STEPS

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1 - 4.6 oz. package of Mashed Potatoes 1 cup boiling water 1 large egg 1/2 cup cake meal Pinch of cracked black pepper Tomato basil sauce: 3 cloves of garlic, minced 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 – 28 oz. can diced tomatoes Salt and pepper to taste 10 fresh basil leaves, cut chiffonade (very thin strips) Grated Parmesan cheese Gnocchi 1. Place a large pot of lightly salted water on the stove and turn on high. While waiting for the pot of water to come to a boil make the gnocchi.

2. Open the package of Mashed Potatoes and pour into a clean mixing bowl. To the potato mix, add one cup of boiling water, egg, cake meal and cracked black pepper and stir until everything is incorporated and the dough is nice and smooth.

3. With your hands, form the dough into a ball. Using a knife or scraper, cut dough into 1/2 inch strips and roll into rods about 1/4 inch in diameter. Cut the rods of dough into uniform small pieces, using the first joint of your index finger as a guide to ensure consistent sizing. Transfer to cake meal dusted cookie sheet and repeat until all dough is cut into small gnocchi pieces.

4. Add a handful of gnocchi to the boiling pot of water and

A LOT O’ CHEESE ’N PORTABELLA QUICHE WITH LATKE CRUST 1 – 6 oz. package of Potato Pancake Mix 3 portabella mushrooms, sliced 1/2 red onion, sliced 1 cup milk Pinch of salt and pepper 1 cup Gouda cheese, shredded 1 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded 5 large eggs, whisked Preheat oven to 350. Make Potato Pancake Mix according to directions on the package. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Spray a spring form pan or pie dish with non-stick cooking spray. Spread the potato pancake mix along the bottom and sides of the dish, making sure to fill in all spaces. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

In a bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is bubbly, lightly golden brown and the middle does not move. Cool for 10 minutes and serve warm.

Serves 6-8.

Wine pairing: This cheesy and wholesome quiche yearns for the bold aromatic tastes in the Yarden Malbec, which has hints of spice, rich French oak and a pleasingly long finish.

once the gnocchi have risen to the surface, they are done, about 1-3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to a pan and reserve.

Tomato Basil Sauce In a large pan, sauté the garlic and olive oil over low heat until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the canned tomatoes, salt and pepper. Bring tomato sauce to a simmer. Allow to cook 2530 minutes stirring occasionally, until thickened. Mash with a fork till the tomato sauce reaches desired consistency. Stir in most of the basil, reserving some for garnish.

Spoon the hot tomato sauce over the gnocchi and stir gently until each piece of gnocchi is covered. Pour into a bowl and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and garnish with basil. Serve Warm.

Serves 4-6.

Wine Pairing: Yarden Pinot Noir, a medium-bodied fruitbased wine, matches the rich tastes of homemade gnocchi, adding a crisp tang to the meal.

To submit announcements: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press at jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154.

Readers can also submit announcements -- births, b’nai mitzvahs, engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Please check the Jewish Press, for notices of early deadlines.

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | C9

Considering ‘Next year in Jerusalem’

by DASEE BERKOWITZ to me for a people” (cup 4). But there is a fifth mention of NEW YORK (JTA) redemption just a few verses later in the narrative: “And I n a recent trip to Jerusalem, my son decided that his will bring you into the land (of Israel).” favorite color was gold. Whenever he’s asked why, Arriving to the land is the final stage of redemption and he replies with a wry smile befitting a 5-year-old. corresponds to the cup of Elijah, the prophet who is said to be “Jerusalem is the city of gold, of course,” he says.

When we told him our family was moving to Israel this summer, he was quite pleased.

“Ima, will we live there until I’m a grown-up?” he asked.

That’s the idea, we nodded.

While I know what my family will mean when we reach the end of the Passover seder this year and say “Next Year in Jerusalem,” for those not making the trek to the Holy Land anytime soon, what do these words mean? Are we being disingenuous?

Or, as the Rabbis encourage with every other part of the Haggadah, are we expounding, embellishing, interpreting and reading ourselves into the story of the Exodus from Egypt? In the language of the Passover Haggadah, the land of Israel and Jerusalem, seen Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90 The end of the Haggadah, with the here, represent the final stage of redemption. promise to arrive “next year in Jerusalem,” is just as ripe for the one who ushers in messianic times. The cup, untouched exploration as the beginning. yet filled with wine to the brim, represents the future ahead, I am always struck when Israelis, especially Jerusalemites, filled with possibilities and promises for peace on earth. say “Next year in Jerusalem” with the same intention as their As the late Rabbi David Hartman writes in The Leader’s Diaspora brethren. Jerusalem surely cannot only represent a Guide to the Family Participation Haggadah: A Different physical destination. It must represent more; an ideal, a Night, “The cup is poured, but not yet drunk. Yet the cup of hope, a possibility. hope is poured every year. Passover is the night for reckless In the language of the Haggadah, the land of Israel and dreams; for visions about what a human being can be, what Jerusalem represent the final stage of redemption. When we society can be, what people can be, what history may lift the four cups of wine during the seder, we are giving rit- become. That is the significance of ‘Le’shanah ha’ba’a ual expression to the four stages that the Jewish people move b’Yerushalayim’ [Next year in Jerusalem].” through, with God as their guide, to reach freedom and Now that we are freed from the bondage in Egypt, we are leave Egyptian slavery in the dust. called to embrace our biggest dreams, and our wildest aspiThe Torah explains (Exodus 6:6-8), “I [God] will bring rations for ourselves, for Israel and for the world. you out from under the burdens of Egypt” (cup 1); “I will Or when we say “Next year in Jerusalem,” are we referring deliver you out from their bondage” (cup 2); “I will redeem to a more modest endeavor? you with an outstretched arm” (cup 3); and “I will take you There is a midrash about the etymology of the word

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Jerusalem or Yerushalayim. The Rabbis look at the word “Yerusha,” which means inheritance, and “ayim,” which connotes doubling, and understand that there are two Jerusalems – a heavenly one (“Yerushalayim shel ma’alah”) and an earthly one (“Yerushalayim shel ma’ata”). While the heavenly Jerusalem might refer to the possibilities of a world redeemed, an earthly one is rooted in the complexities of politics, economics and daily life. It is a place filled with energy, vibrancy and urgency.

In the late poet Yehuda Amichai’s terms, Jerusalem is a place where its inhabitants are longing for God’s presence.

Jerusalem, he writes, is “saturated with prayers and dreams like the air over industrial cities. It’s hard to breathe.” And according to the Midrash, the earthly Jerusalem is the place where God will arrive even before reaching the heavenly Jerusalem. As the Midrash imagines God saying, “I will not come into the city of Jerusalem that is above until I first come into the city of Jerusalem that is below.”

What does it mean to make earthly Jerusalem a place in which God -- whatever God means for us -- can enter and reside? Let us create partnerships with Israelis that help let a sense of godliness, justice and love permeate the city. Let us devote more time to learning more about the complexity of life in Israel through travel and research. Let’s partner with Israelis working on the ground to improve society through education, social and economic equality, and religious pluralism. Let’s read more Israeli literature and honor Israeli artists.

Or is Jerusalem a state of mind?

More than physical places, rabbis have noted that Egypt and Jerusalem represent two inner spiritual states. Egypt, or mitzrayim, has at its root “tsar,” or narrowness. Egypt represents the places in which we live in narrow places, where we feel constricted and confined. It is a state in which we are quick to anger, to react, to put our own ego needs before the needs of others.

Jerusalem, on the other hand, has at its root “shalem,” or “wholeness.” It is the feeling of expansiveness, when the disparate parts of ourselves weave together into a seamless whole.

As the seder winds down and the matzah crumbs are swept off the table, let the question of “next year” continue to echo -- with all its hopes, plans and the self-understandings of where Jerusalem resides for each one of us.

From my family to yours, we wish you a happy and healthy Passover holiday.

Paid for by Jean Stothert

C10 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Eating the Bible

by SYBIL KAPLAN Eating the Bible by Rena Rossner, Skyhorse Publishing, $24.95 hardcover, November 2013 itles are very important in the book world, and if I were not a cookbook collector and food writer, I might not have wanted to read it because the title really turned me off. I had to try to ignore it and not let it influence my reading of the book and reviewing it.

Wouldn’t Eating in the Bible, Eating from the Bible or Biblical Eating have been more inviting, attractive titles?

Even more accurate, it could have been called Eating From the Torah or Torah Eating.

The author says that “the ability to bring the Bible alive in such a tactile way motivated [her] to begin work on a cookbook...” She writes, “I wanted to find a way to make the Bible relevant to the modern kitchen.”

This cookbook offers serious consideration of biblical texts rather than anecdotes as she then goes through the Torah, using only Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Each recipe is introduced by a quote from that book of the Torah, a commentary, the recipe (metric and regular measurements), and paragraphed instructions (not as easy to follow as numbered).

On the side is a paragraph entitled “Alternatives” where she simply provides shortcuts or easy ideas “to bring the Bible to your table.” To make the recipes more relevant to one’s family and to children, there is an additional paragraph called “Questions” -- things to think about and discuss relative to the recipe and the Biblical selection.

In Genesis, there are 12 recipes such as Reft lentil soup, Technicolor salad, and Rice blessed with Arrabbiata-style fish. In Exodus, there are 11 recipes including Hidden treasure midnight brownies, Festive golden brisket, and Woven

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tapestry bread. Leviticus has 10 recipes including Anointed vegetables, Vineyard chicken and Aged strawberry liqueur.

The Numbers chapter has 10 recipes such as Half-shekel carrot coins, Crater cake, and Golden cornbread. Finally is Deuteronomy with 11 recipes including Tuna with olive-wine sauce, Hearts of palm soup, and Jelly-roll Bible scroll cake.

The idea is great and certainly interesting for families to use with their children. There are a number of appealing recipes which I certainly will try. This would make a wonderful gift for a new bride, a house gift for a family or just a no-special reason gift for a friend.

Beautifully enhancing the book by Boaz Lavi are: 9 instructional sets of photographs ranging from 2 to 12 photos for a recipe; 136 other color photographs -- some full page, some smaller; photographs of one of her five children; and a photograph of the author.

Rosner has a BA in nonfiction writing and an MA in history; she was raised in Miami but lived in Canada and Ireland and now lives in Jerusalem. She once wrote a column for the Jeruslem Post which combined biblical verses with a recipe.

Here are a few of the recipes and notes of their relation to the Bible.

From the Book of Exodus (23:15-16) deal with Pesach and the harvest.

SEVEN-SPECIES HARVEST CHICKEN 2 onions 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. ground ginger 2 chickens, cut into eighths 1/2 cup flour 1 cup dried whole figs 1 cup dried whole dates 1 cup white wine 1 cup pomegranate juice 1 cup barley 2 cups chicken stock 1 cup almonds or pecans (optional) salt and pepper to taste

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Saute onions in olive oil in a large pot. Add cinnamon and ginger. Toss chicken in a bowl with flour, then add the chicken to pot and brown on all sides. Return all chicken pieces to the pot and add remaining ingredients. Cook 45-60 minutes or until chicken has cooked through. Serve with couscous.

Serves 8-10.

From the Book of Numbers (13:23) describes the spies returning with the cluster of grapes and other fruit.

SPY FRUIT SALAD 1/4 cup fresh lime or lemon juice 2 tbsp. honey 3 tbsp. minced fresh mint Zest of l lime or lemon, grated 1 cup red grapes 1 cup green grapes 8 fresh figs, green or purple 1 cup pomegranate seeds or 2 tbsp. pomegranate juice 1 honeydew melon, peeled and cut into chunks In a large bowl, combine the lime or lemon juice, honey, mint and zest and mix well. Add the grapes, figs and pomegranate seeds. Allow the fruit to marinate for 30 minutes.

In another large serving bowl place the honeydew. Pour fruit mixture over honeydew and mix.

Serves 4-6.

From the Book of Deuteronomy (26.9) is a discussion on the land flowing with milk and honey followed by this recipe.

MILK AND HONEY KUGEL 1 16 oz. pkg. medium egg noodles for Passover 1/3 cup butter 1/2 cup honey 2 tsp. salt 2 tsp. vanilla sugar 1/2 cup cream or milk 5 eggs Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Boil and drain noodles and return to pot. Add butter, honey, salt and vanilla sugar. Mix well. Add cream or milk and eggs.

Pour mixture into a baking dish and bake for 1 hour or until kugel is golden brown and firm to the touch.

Serves 8-10.

[Note from reviewer: grease the baking dish.]

Mazal Tov, Aaron!

We are so proud of your achievements – membership in NHS, varsity letter in tennis and a Merit Award from the Band.

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Love, Mom, Dad, brothers and sisters

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April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | C11

Breakfast for dinner, on Passover!

Recipes by ALISON GUTWAKS ry something new this Passover and use Kosher-for-Passover products to liven up your holiday meals. Amplify your cuisine and try breakfast for dinner using these smashing kosher-for-Passover pancake and French toast recipes by Alison Barnett. For a lighter option, or a nice mid-day snack, try this recipe for pecan matzah granola.

Top off your meal with Yarden Muscat, a fortified dessert wine bubbling with sweetness and fine aromatics.

from

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SIMPLY PESADIK PECAN MATZAH GRANOLA 3 cups Israeli Matzah Farfel 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans 1/4 cup olive oil 2 tbsp. light brown sugar 2 tbsp. maple syrup 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup raisins (or any kind of dried fruit) Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together Israeli Matzah Farfel, pecans, oil, sugar, maple syrup and salt.

Spread on a baking sheet, lined with parchment or foil, and place in the oven for 30-35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until toasted. Take it out of the oven and let it cool, on the pan, enough to break into smaller pieces. Transfer to a bowl and stir in dried fruit. Serve over yogurt or eat by the handful. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Makes About 4 cups.

PESACH-DELISH PANCAKES TOPPED WITH CARAMELIZED BANANAS 1 box of Passover Pancake Mix 3 Eggs 1 1/2 cups milk 2 tbsp. oil 3 bananas, firm but ripe, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

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POUND CAKE FRENCH TOAST – TOUT DE SWEET! 2 – 8.8 oz. packages OSEM Passover Pound Cake [Gluten Free] 3 eggs 1/3 cup heavy cream (or 1 cup milk) 1/2 tsp. almond extract 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg 1/8 tsp. salt Butter Slice pound cake into 12 slices. Whisk eggs, cream, extracts and spices in a bowl until well blended. Melt butter in a large pan on medium high heat. Dip each slice of cake into the egg mixture to coat all sides. Shake off excess and place pound cake gently into pan with hot butter. Cook 1-2 minutes per side until golden brown. Garnish with whipped cream, berries, maple syrup and powdered sugar, if desired.

Serves 8 (3 Pieces Per Person).

2 tbsp. butter 3 tbsp. brown sugar 1/4 cup orange juice or apple juice 1-2 tbsp. rum (optional) Pomegranate seeds (optional) Place Pancake Mix in bowl and mix in the eggs, milk and oil as indicated above, and follow preparation instruction on box.

In a large pan over medium high heat, melt the butter. Add the banana slices and cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Gently turn each one over to the other side to brown, 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cook until it melts, about 1 minute. Gently stir in the juice. Move the pan away from the heat and add the rum if desired. Place pan back on the stove and cook until the sauce reduces slightly, about 1 minute. Serve over pancakes.

Tip: For a no mess pomegranate deseeding experience, cut the pomegranate in half (width) and immerse in a bowl of water to pop out seeds. Strain the seeds from the water.

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C12 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

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Haroset

by SYBIL KAPLAN hat Passover seder symbol is common to all communities but is not mentioned in the Biblical passage which enjoins us to eat the paschal offering, matzah, and bitter herbs? Haroset.

We define haroset loosely as a paste of fruit, spices wine and matzah meal, symbolic of the mortar used by the Hebrews when they were slaves in Egypt.

The word is of unknown origin but may be from the word heres, meaning clay, because of its color. The custom of eating haroset is thought to have come from the time of the Babylonians who dipped food in relishes or sauces to add flavor.

Some years ago, I surprised all my seder guests by serving both the Ashkenazic version and a different Sephardic version which everyone loved and wanted in future years.

The New York Times Passover Cookbook, edited by Linda Amster, wrote that the Iraqi version is one of the oldest and most timeconsuming recipes, dating back to the Babylonian exile of 579 BCE. Made into a jam from dates, grapes, pomegranate and bee honey, it was a sweetener in the ancient world and is still used by Iraqi, Burmese, Syrian and Indian Jews.

The Talmud says haroset must be sharp in taste and similar to clay in substance and color, thus there are variations according to communities.

Most Ashkenazim do not follow the sharp and pungent idea whereas Sephardim do.

Ashkenazim tend to use apples, chopped almonds, cinnamon, red wine and perhaps matzah meal. Sometimes other nuts are used.

Sephardim and those from Middle Eastern countries tend to use fruits that grew in Eretz Israel in Biblical times such as grapes, figs, dates, almonds and pomegranates. Israelis often turn haroset into a dessert by adding bananas, dates, orange juice and sugar.

Abraham Chill, author of The Minhagim (customs) writes that each ingredient symbolizes something different from the Egypt experience: the whole mixture stands for the mortar used by the Jews in making bricks.

Wine is for the blood of the Jewish infants thrown into the Nile.

Almonds are used because the Hebrew word for almond, shaked, is also a word that means to accelerate, so G-d accelerated the end of slavery. Apples are used because it was said Jewish women gave birth to their babies under apple trees in order to avoid detection by the Egyptians. The cinnamon resembles the color of the bricks they made.

In her book, The Jewish Holiday Kitchen, Joan Nathan states that haroset is “one of the most popular and discussed ritual foods served at the seder.” She says the fruits and nuts refer to verses in Song of Songs mentioning an apple tree and the garden of nuts; the red wine recalls the Red Sea. Because the maror or bitter herb is so strong, some say the real purpose of haroset is to allay the bitterness. As part of the ritual seder, the haroset and maror are placed between matzot to make a sandwich which is said to have been invented by the first century C.E. Rabbi Hillel, hence, Hillel’s sandwich.

Different Jewish communities have variations on the ingredients. Jews from the Island of Rhodes use dates, walnuts, ginger and sweet wine. Jews of Salonika, Greeks add raisins, or use walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, raisins, cinnamon, cloves and red wine and spread it thickly on matzah.

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Turkish Jews include orange.

A Moroccan friend told me she used some of the seven species from the Bible in her haroset -- dates, almonds, nuts, pomegranate seeds, figs, wine and cinnamon.

“The Food Maven,” Matthew Goodman, once wrote in The Forward that Moroccan Jews sometimes make haroset paste and roll it into balls. He says this is a legacy from

Jews of Medieval Spain who made the balls of apples, dried fruit, almonds, cooked chestnuts, sugar and cinnamon but no wine and then drizzled the balls with white vinegar before serving.

Jews of Venice use chestnut paste, dates, figs, poppy seeds, walnuts, pine nuts, orange peel, dried apricots, raisins, brandy and honey.

Jews of Bukharia use nuts, almonds, dates, raisins, apples and wine.

Egyptian haroset contains dates, nuts, banana, apples, wine, cinnamon and pomegranate seeds.

An Iraqi woman told me instead of haroset as we know it, they would buy a special date honey and sprinkle chopped nuts on top.

Matthew Goodman, “The Food Maven” of The Forward, confirms this, explaining its foundation is date syrup called halek, made by boiling dates, straining the liquid and then reducing it over a low flame until thick.

In fact, halek is one of the earliest of all sweeteners and may be the reference in “land flowing with milk and honey,” because bees did not appear until later. Chopped walnuts or almonds are then added to the syrup. Jews of Calcutta also follow this custom.

A Dutch woman told me they make a chunky mixture with more apples and less nuts plus cinnamon, sugar, raisins and sweet wine.

Jews from Surinam in Dutch Guiana use seven fruits and coconut.

Following the injunction to have a sharp taste, Persian Jews use dates, pistachio nuts, almonds, raisins, apples, orange, bananas, pomegranate seeds, sweet wine, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, vinegar and black pepper.

Likewise, Yemenite Jews use dates, raisins, almonds, nuts, figs, dates, sesame seeds, apples, pomegranate seeds, grape juice, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and black pepper.

Jews from Afghanistan pound haroset in a mortar with a pestle and use walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, apples, sweet wine, pomegranate seeds, dates and black pepper.

Another Sephardic woman told me she combines almonds, dates, apples, orange juice, ginger and cinnamon, then forms the mixture into tiny balls about the size of a large olive. The head of the family then mixes these balls with vinegar to resemble the mortar.

One exception I have found to Ashkenazim following the strictly sweet version was a friend whose father’s family came from Galicia. He recalled their haroset was made from apples, nuts, wine, cinnamon and horseradish.

Whatever way you make haroset, be inventive and make several different kinds to serve.

April 11, 2014 | The Jewish Press | C13

A Taste of Pesach

The Tenth Plague

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ecipes from A Taste of Pesach Reprinted with permission from the copyright holders: ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications http://www.art scroll.com/ Products/TPEH.html.

SWEET POTATO CRISPS SALAD Ingredients: 1 large sweet potato 3/4 cup oil for frying SALAD 1 (8-oz.) bag Romaine lettuce 1/2 red pepper, sliced into strips 1/2 yellow pepper, sliced into strips 1 (8-oz.) can hearts of palm, drained 1 small red onion, diced DRESSING 1/2 cup olive oil 1/3 cup vinegar 1/2 cup sugar 3 cloves garlic, crushed 1 tsp. imitation mustard 1. Prepare sweet potato crisps: Peel sweet potato. Using a vegetable peeler, continue to peel wide paper-thin strips of sweet potato.

2. Heat oil in a deep skillet. When oil is hot, add sweet potato strips a few at a time. When golden and crispy (about 5-7 minutes) remove with a slotted spoon. Can be made a few days in advance; store in an airtight container at room temperature.

3. Prepare the dressing: Place dressing ingredients in a small container. Shake to combine.

4. Assemble salad: Combine salad ingredients in a large

PULLED BRISKET Ingredients: 1 (3-4 lb.) second cut brisket 1 tbsp. prepared horseradish 1 tbsp. imitation mustard 1/2-1 cup ketchup, to taste 1 cup water 2 tsp. garlic, chopped 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup vinegar Salt, to taste Pepper, to taste INSTRUCTIONS: 1. Preheat oven to 425°F. 2. Combine remaining ingredients in a 4-quart saucepan and cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Place brisket into a roasting pan; pour sauce over meat in pan. Cover and seal pan tightly. Bake for 15 minutes.

4. Reduce oven temperature to 200°F. Bake overnight or at least 6 hours. Remove pan from oven and set aside until cool enough to handle. Wearing disposable gloves if desired, remove fat from meat and discard.

5. Use two forks to shred the meat. Rewarm in sauce.

6. For a great variation of this recipe, make crepes and fill with pulled brisket.

Meat · Yields 6-8 servings bowl. Toss with dressing. Place sweet potatoes on top right before serving.

Pareve · Yields 8 servings.

by ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT When asked about their least favorite plague, most people will answer ‘Death of the firstborn.’ It’s true, the final plague in the Passover story is a tough one to swallow. We all love our children, and can easily imagine how the Egyptians felt.

“As bad as they were, it just doesn’t seem like the Egyptians deserved that,” said Don Nogg, husband of Ozzie. He’s right. Nobody deserves a disaster of that magnitude. Up until that moment, we can make sense of the story. Even from a modern perspective, it appears more or less black-and-white: Egypt oppresses the slaves, and subsequently Egypt is punished by disease, natural disasters and wild animals. They had it coming. But killing the children? It makes us immensely uncomfortable.

“Not just a punishment,” says Rabbi Meir Schuster, “but an opportunity to teach the world fundamental lessons about God’s omnipotence.”

Maybe he’s right, and the tenth plague serves a completely different purpose. Maybe Yitzchak Etshalom is on to something when he says: “God wanted Pharaoh to let B’nei Yisra’el go - but only for the right reason. The implication is that something took place in Pharaoh’s consciousness - even if only for a fleeting moment - in reaction to the plague of the first-born, which signified the proper attitude and the desired change.”

There is an additional explanation, which compares the slaying of the first-born with Pharaoh’s order to murder Hebrew babies: “We see a ‘measure for measure,’ the Plague of the first born as well as the drowning of the soldiers of the Egyptian legion was payback for the drowning of the Jewish baby males.” (MazorGuide) But does Pharaoh represent all Egyptians? Surely there were regular folks, living far from the palace, who held no sway over royal decisions... did they have to lose their children too?

Maybe we are supposed to be uncomfortable with this part of the story, maybe we have to understand that we are remembering, and not celebrating. Maybe I don’t understand it at all. I hope many of you discuss it during your seders, and maybe drop me a line. I’d love to hear what you think!

WHY THE HEART OF AMERICA ATTRACTS THE BEST MINDS IN THE WORLD. The University of Nebraska Medical Center currently ranks No. 6 nationally in primary care education. And, our rural medical program now is No. 9. While this may prove there is plenty of brainpower in the heart of America, we are by no means satisfied. It is this relentless pursuit of excellence in education, research and care that draws people – faculty, physicians, staff, students and patients alike – to us from across the country and around the world.

UNMC. Breakthroughs for life.®

unmc.edu

C14 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

Synagogues

Friday, April 11, 7:42 p.m.

Monday, April 14, 7:45 p.m. | Tuesday, April 15, 8:48 p.m.

B’NAI ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE

TEMPLE ISRAEL

618 Mynster Street | Council Bluffs, IA 51503-0766 | 402.322.4705 email: CBsynagogue@hotmail.com For information on our historic synagogue – dates and times for Friday night services, please call 712.323.8885.

BETH EL SYNAGOGUE Member of United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism 14506 California | Omaha, NE 68154-1980 | 402.492.8550 www.bethel-omaha.org Services conducted by Rabbi Steven Abraham and Hazzan Michael Krausman.

FRIDAY: Kabbalat Shabbat Service, 6 p.m.; Chametz donations for the Food Bank continue through Sunday, April 13.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Services, 9:30 a.m.; Junior Congregation, 10 a.m.; Mini-Minyannaires, 10:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 7:45 p.m.

WEEKDAY SERVICES: Sundays, 9 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; weekdays, 7 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.

SUNDAY: Torah Study Group, 10 a.m.; Adult B’nai Mitzvah Class, 11 a.m., with Hazzan Krausman; Mincha/ Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m.

MONDAY: Siyyum B’khorim, 6:45 a.m.; Biur Chametz (burning chamets), 7:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m.; First Seder.

TUESDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m.; Community Seder: Doors open at 6 p.m. and the seder begins at 6:15 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 8 p.m.; Yom Tov ends, 8:48 p.m.

THURSDAY: Shacharit, 6:45 a.m.; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 5:30 p.m.

USY Secret Program, Saturday, April 19, 10 p.m.

USY Elections, Wednesday, April 23, 5:30 p.m.

All Beth El classes and programs are open to everyone in the Jewish community.

Candlelighting

SATURDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 9:30 a.m. followed

by Kiddush lunch.

SUNDAY: Minyan, 8:30 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Chabad Family Seder, 7 p.m.

TUESDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 9:30 a.m.

Moshiach Fesast, Tuesday, April 22, 7:30 p.m.

All programs are open to the entire community.

CONGREGATION B’NAI JESHURUN South Street Temple | Union for Reform Judaism 2061 South 20th Street | Lincoln, NE 68502-2797 | 402.435.8004 www.southstreettemple.org Services conducted by Rabbi Craig Lewis.

FRIDAY: Tot Shabbat with Ms. Jennifer, 6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Shabbat Evening Service, 7:45 p.m. featuring a preview of the Lincoln Choral Artists Performance of To Be Certain of the Dawn, a moving musical piece which commemorates the Holocaust.

SATURDAY: Shabbat Morning Service, 9:30 a.m.; Torah Study, 10:30 a.m. on Parashat Acharei Mot; Lincoln Temple Youth Gtoup to Omaha, 5 p.m.; Jewish Movie Night, 7 p.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan - Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Board of Trustees, 2 p.m.

MONDAY: First Seder TUESDAY: Annual Community Passover Second Night Seder, 6 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: No Hebrew classes.

30th Annual Lincoln Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, Thursday, May 1, 7:30 a.m. at Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, 333 S. 13th St in Lincoln. Please send your reservation check for $25 by April 22. For more information please contact Nava at Tifereth Israel at 402.423.8569 or Jean as South Street Temple at 402.435.8004.

BETH ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE Member of Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America 12604 Pacific Street | Omaha, NE. 68154 | 402.556.6288 www.BethIsrael@OrthodoxOmaha.org Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Services conducted by Rabbi Jonathan Gross.

FRIDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.; Mincha-Ma’ariv, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY: Shacharit (Barchu), 9 a.m.; Mincha, 7:25 p.m.; Ma’ariv/Havdalah, 8:44 p.m.

SUNDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.

WEEKDAYS: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

MONDAY: Daf Yomi: Week in Review with Rabbi Gross, 7:45 a.m.; Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Last time to eat Chametz, 11 a.m.; Burn Chametz before, noon; Candle Lighting, 7:45 p.m.

TUESDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Earliest Candle Lighting, 8:48 p.m.

WEDNESDAY: Shacharit, 9 a.m.; Havdalah, 8:48 p.m.

THURSDAY: Shacharit, 7 a.m.

CHABAD CENTER An Affiliate of Chabad-Lubavitch 1866 South 120 Street | Omaha, NE 68144-1646 | 402.330.1800 www.OChabad.com | email: chabad@aol.com Services conducted by Rabbi Mendel Katzman.

FRIDAY: Minyan and Meditation, 7 a.m.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE Capehart Chapel 2500 Capehart Road | Offutt AFB, NE 68123 | 402.294.6244 FRIDAY: Services, 7:30 p.m. every first and third of the month.

ROSE BLUMKIN JEWISH HOME 323 South 132 Street | Omaha, NE 68154 FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to the Blumkin Home, 2:30 p.m. led by Mainstreeters.

SATURDAY: Services, 9 a.m. led by Marti Nearenstone.

PASSOVER MONDAY: First Seder, 6 p.m., led by Carole and Andy Greenberg.

TUESDAY: Services, 9:15 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg; Second Seder, 6 p.m., led by the Polack family: Susan, Jim, Josh and Max. WEDNESDAY: Services, 9:15 a.m. led by Andy Greenberg.

Services will be held in the Chapel. Members of the community are invited to attend.

Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) 13111 Sterling Ridge Drive | Omaha, NE 68144-1206 | 402.556.6536 http://templeisraelomaha.com FRIDAY: Shabbat Comes to You at Remington Heights, 4 p.m. led by Cantor Shermet; Shabbat Service, 6 p.m. led by Rabbi Brown and Cantor Shermet along with StandWithUs Israeli Soldiers'. Stories The StandWithUs Israeli Soldiers' Stories tour is an innovative program featuring reserve duty Israeli college students who talk about the Israeli-Arab conflict, giving a human face to the IDF uniform.

SATURDAY: Torah Study, 9:15 a.m. Shabbat Morning Service, 10:30 a.m. Cameron Kully, son of Denese and Timothy Kully, will celebrate his Bar Mitzvah; OTYG Lock In, 6 p.m. thru Sunday. Cost is $25 per person. Please RSVP to Nikki Flatowicz, nflatowicz@templeisraelomaha.com.

SUNDAY: No Religious School.

TUESDAY: Passover Service, 10:30 a.m.; Congregational Seder, 6 p.m. Cost for adults is $25, $12 for children six to twelve years old. Reservations are required and made by contacting the Temple Israel office, 402.556.6536 or rsvp@templeisraelomaha.com. Reservation deadline is Friday, April 11.

WEDNESDAY: No Religious School; No Family School; No Grades 7&8.

THURSDAY: Music in Transition, 10 a.m. with Cantor Shermet.

Passover Service and Yizkor, Monday, April 21, 10:30 a.m.

Eighth Grade Trip to Mahoney Shabbaton, Friday, April 25. Please contact Director of Lifelong Learning Debbie Massarano for more information.

TIFERETH ISRAEL Member of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism 3219 Sheridan Boulevard | Lincoln, NE 68502-5236 | 402.423.8569 www.tiferethisraellincoln.org Services conducted by Nancy Coren, Lay Leader. Office hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

FRIDAY: Tot Shabbat with Ms. Jennifer, 6 p.m. at Tifereth Israel; Shabbat Services, 6:30 p.m.

SATURDAY: Morning service, 10 a.m.

SUNDAY: LJCS Gan - Grade 7, 9:30 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel; Hallah High Lite, 9:45 a.m.-noon at South Street Temple; Hallah High, 9:45 a.m.-noon at Tifereth Israel.

MONDAY: Temple office closed; Communal First Seder, 6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.), this is geared for families and their children ages 2-12.

TUESDAY: Temple office closed; Services, 9 a.m.; Communal Second Seder, 6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.), this is geared for ages 12 to 112.

WEDNESDAY: Temple office closed; No Hebrew classes; Mincha/Ma’ariv, 6:30 p.m.

30th Annual Lincoln Mayor’s Interfaith Prayer Breakfast, Thursday, May 1, 7:30 a.m. at Cornhusker Marriott Hotel, 333 S. 13th St in Lincoln. Please send your reservation check for $25 by April 22. For more information please contact Nava at Tifereth Israel at 402.423.8569 or Jean as South Street Temple at 402.435.8004.

JEWISH PRESS NOTICE The Jewish Press office is closed Tuesday, April 15, for Passover. Questions? Call 402.334.6448.

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Advertising index Advertiser Page A Permanent Solution ........................................ B15 A Place At Home, LLC .......................................... C4 Abrahams, Kaslow & Cassman LLP .................... A11 All Makes Office Equipment Co. ........................... A8 Allens .................................................................. B2 American National Bank ..................................... A15 Anti-Defamation League ..................................... C16 B’nai B’rith Henry Monsky Lodge ....................... C16 B’nai B’rith Youth Organization ........................... A16 B’nai Israel Synagogue ...................................... C16 B’nai Jeshurun - South Street Temple ................. B12 Badger Body & Isuzu Truck ................................ C12 Bag ’N Save ........................................................ B9 Bagel Bin ........................................................... C11 Baker’s Supermarkets ........................................ B16 Belgrade Family ................................................. B15 Bergman Jewelers .............................................. A12 Beth El BILU USY ............................................... A16 Beth El Sisterhood ............................................. C16 Beth El Synagogue ............................................ C16 Beth Israel NCSY ................................................ A16 Beth Israel Sisterhood ........................................ C16 Beth Israel Synagogue ....................................... C16 Bloom Companion Care ...................................... B5 Boys Town ........................................................... B2 Boys Town Ear, Nose & Throat Institute ................. A8 Bruning, John for Governor .................................. B7 Canfield’s Sporting Goods .................................... B2 Chabad ............................................................. C16 Cohen’s Computer Club ....................................... A4 Colliers International ............................................ C6 Countryside Village ............................................ C11 Enterprise Bank ................................................. A13 Epstein, Howard Family ....................................... C2 Frankel Zacharia ....................................................... A4 Fraser Stryker Law Firm ....................................... C8 Friedel Jewish Academy ....................................... C3 Gallagher Grace/Mayer Insurance ...................... B10 Gordmans ......................................................... B13 Greeen Spot, The ................................................. B3 Hiller Electric ..................................................... A10 Hockenbergs ....................................................... B7 Ideal Pure Water ................................................ C11

Advertiser Page Industrial Packaging Corporation .......................... A9 Institute for Holocaust Education ....................... C16 Interim Homestyle Services ................................ A11 Javitch, Gary Family ............................................. C6 Jewish Family Service ........................................... Ci Jewish Federation of Lincoln ................................ B4 Jewish Federation of Omaha ................................ B1 Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation .............. B1 Jewish Press ................................................ A2, A16 Jewish Senior Outreach ....................................... C1 Jewish Social Services ......................................... C1 Jewish War Veterans of America ......................... C16 John A. Gentleman ............................................ A15 Julio’s ................................................................. B8 Kids Inc. ............................................................. C8 Kirchhoff, Mark .................................................. B12 Kohll’s Pharmacy & Homecare ........................... A11 League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly ........... C16 Lerner Company .................................................. B4 Lifeline by Immanuel ......................................... B14 Lion’s Automotive Upholstery ............................... C8 Livingston Plaza ................................................. B11 Louie M’s Burger Lust .......................................... B8 Malashock Jewelry ............................................. B15 Malbar Vision Centers .......................................... A9 Marathon Real Estate ......................................... B12 Marathon Ventures ............................................ A12 Mark Sanford Group ........................................... A14 Marks Clare & Richards ...................................... B15 McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp, PC, LLO. ...... A6 McGrath North .................................................... C2 Mid Con Systems Inc. ........................................ C11 Mid-City Jewelry & Loan ....................................... A3 Nan C ............................................................... A12 Natan & Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel & Jewish Studies ......................................................... C16 National Council of Jewish Women ..................... C16 National Siding and Windows ............................... C6 Nebraska Furniture Mart ...................................... C4 Nebraska Jewish Historical Society ..................... C16 Nebraska Press Statewide Classifieds ................. C15 Noddle Companies .............................................. B7 NOVA Fitness Equipment ..................................... A6

Advertiser Page Omaha Compound Company ............................... A7 Omaha Perfoming Arts Society ........................... B11 Omaha Steaks ..................................................... A3 Omaha Surgical Center ........................................ A4 Omaha Temple Youth Group ............................... A16 Omar Arts and Events .......................................... B4 One Pacific Place-Broadmoor ............................. B14 Opera Omaha ..................................................... C5 Parsow’s ............................................................ B11 Pasta Amore ........................................................ C4 Peterson Brothers Realty Co. ................................ C2 Posh Peacock ...................................................... C3 Pulverente Monument Co. .................................. C15 Rehab Visions ...................................................... A3 Remington Heights .............................................. A5 Ricks Family ........................................................ C4 Rockbrook Village ................................................ C4 Rose Blumkin Jewish Home ................................. C1 Rotella’s Italian Bakery ....................................... B12 Russell’s ............................................................ C11 St. Joseph Villa .................................................... A9 Schwalb Realty ................................................. B10 Security Equipment, Inc. ...................................... A4 Seim Johnson ...................................................... A7 Silverman Family ................................................. C8 Sol’s Jewelry & Loan .......................................... B12 Sonny Gerber Auto Sales .................................... C12 Star Catering ..................................................... A13 Star Deli .............................................................. B6 Stoddard Family ................................................. A12 Stothert, Mayor Jean ........................................... C9 Suburban Newspapers Inc. ................................ A10 Swartzbaugh Farber ............................................. B2 Temple Israel ..................................................... C16 Terry, Congressman Lee ...................................... C7 Tifereth Israel Synagogue ................................... B8 University of Nebraska Medical Center ................ C13 van de Kamp-Wright Family .................................. B8 Vann Realty ......................................................... C8 Visiting Nurse Association ................................... A14 Winery ................................................................ B8 Wolfson Used Cars ............................................ B10 Zio’s Pizzeria ...................................................... A13

MONUMENT CO.

Frank L. Ciciulla Jr. 60 Years Experience With Jewish Lettering and Memorials 1439 So. 13th

402-341-2452 Bargain Buyway - April 25, 26 & 27, 2014 Coming April 25, 26 and 27, Bargain Buyway is a 300+ mile loop in scenic North Central Nebraska, with over 200 vendors offering new & used, large & small, something for everyone!

Call 402-893-2880 or email fullboremfg@frontiernet.net for 2014 Guidebooks. www.bargainbuyway.com

To submit announcements: Announcements may be e-mailed to the Press with attached photos in .jpg or .tif files to jpress@jewishomaha.org; faxed to 402.334.5422, or mailed to 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154 (with photos we will scan and return). Forms are available through Omaha and Lincoln synagogues, by contacting The Jewish Press at 402.334.6448, or by e-mailing: jpress@jewishomaha.org.

Readers can also submit other announcements -- births engagements, marriages, commitment ceremonies or obituaries -- online at the Jewish Federation of Omaha website: www.jewishomaha.org. Click on “Jewish Press” and go to Submit Announcements. Deadlines are normally eight days prior to publication, on Thursdays, 9 a.m. Check the Jewish Press, however, for notices of early deadlines.

Nebraska STATEWIDE CLASSIFIEDS ADOPT: LOVING mom & dad promise your baby warmth & security. Expenses paid.

Denise & Nick, 1-866-664-1213.

ATTENTION ADVERTISERS! For $225/25 word classified you can advertise in over 170 Nebraska newspapers. For more information contact the Jewish Press at 402-3346449 or call 1-800-369-2850.

BANKRUPTCY: FREE initial consultation. Fast relief from creditors. Low rates.

Statewide filing. No office appointment necessary. Call Steffens Law Office, 308-8728327. steffensbankruptcylaw.com. We are a debt relief agency, which helps people file bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code.

AFFORDABLE PRESS Release service. Send your message to 175 newspapers across Nebraska for one low price! Call 1-800-369-2850 or www.nebpress.com for more details.

SELL YOUR classic car, truck or motorcycle online. Call this newspaper or call 800-3692850 to place your ad on the national Midwest Classic Cars web site for only $25.00.

Your ad with photos runs until your vehicle is sold!

13th Annual Spring Gerlach Show Pig Sale Saturday April 26th Preview @ Noon • Sale Starts @ 2:00 11365 SW 114th Road • DeWitt, NE Selling 100 January & 100 Head Of February Pigs Online Bidding at dvauctions.com Sale preview video on our website Rick & Amy Gerlach gerlachshowpig.com • 800-869-0398 2013 Grand Champion Barrow

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Run this size ad in over 160 Newspapers for just $5.95*/newspaper!

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NEWS/SPORTS Reporter at Gothenburg Times. Sports, features, general assignment stories. Good photo, layout skills a plus. Help us to continue our award-winning tradition.

E-mail cover letter, resume and writing samples to: news@gothenburgtimes.com; or mail: Gothenburg Times, PO Box 385, Gothenburg, NE 69138.

THEDFORD PUBLIC Schools is seeking applications for a 7-12 Science teacher & K12 PE/Health teacher for 2014-2015 school year. Please send letter of application, resume and transcripts to: Henry Eggert, Supt., Thedford Public Schools, PO Box 248, Thedford, NE 69166.

CONSTRUCTION $13-$19 hr. Permanent position for remodeling minded individual in southeast Nebraska. Must have valid drivers license. E-mail resume: travis@ruhlmaneilers.com or call Travis, 402-613-7289.

HAVE A disability and want to work? Prepare for, find, and keep a job at Nebraska VR. Learn more at vr.nebraska.gov or call 877-637-3422.

Fri., April 18 7:30 pm performance

HEAVY EQUIPMENT Operator Career! High demand for Certified bulldozer, backhoe and trackhoe operators. Hands on training provided. Fantastic earning potential!

Veterans with benefits encouraged to apply. 1-866-362-6497.

Sat., April 19 1:30 pm & 7:30 pm

Call this newspaper or 1-800-369-2850 for more information.

BEAR TERMITE Services. Pest control contractors for 35+ years. Servicing Nebraska and Iowa. Yearly home pest control for one low price! Free estimates. 800-241-7179. beartermiteservices.com

at the Lancaster Event Center (4100 North 84th St. • Lincoln) Fri. Single Barrel CONCERT with Whiskey Myers after the rodeo

Place your 1x4 display ad in over 160 Nebraska newspapers & get your message to over 750,000 readers. Statewide coverage for just $975*. Regional ads also available in Central, Northeast, Southeast or Western Nebraska.

Other sizes available upon request.

RESTAURANT EQUIPMENT Outlet; new & used restaurant equipment. See www.Chillmasters.biz for more info; Sioux City, IA, 1-800-526-7105.

Kids day fun 11 a.m.- 1 p.m.

Easter Egg Hunt at 11 a.m.

Kids 12 & Under FREE for 1:30 show Admission: $10 Advance tickets $15 at the door Students: $10 with valid Student ID Senior (60+)/ & Military w/ ID $10 Kids $5 for ages 6-12 5 & under free For info: Call Jamie Bauman

402.472.5509 Hosted by the UNL Rodeo Association www.facebook.com/unlrodeo

HELP WANTED in western North Dakota. Great Northern Ag is a pulse processing/ seed facility in need of staff. Full details at www.greatnorthernag.com or call 701-4973082.

“PARTNERS IN Excellence” OTR Drivers APU equipped Pre-Pass EZ-pass passenger policy. 2012 & newer equipment. 100% No touch. Butler Transport, 1-800-528-7825, www.butlertransport.com.

DRIVE-AWAY across the USA even if you don’t own a car. 22 pickup locations. Call 866764-1601 or www.qualitydriveaway.com.

DRIVERS WANTED!!! $2,500 Sign On Bonus. Class A Full-time. Regional Opportunities. Excellent Benefits. Home Weekly. Estimated Annual Average $65K+ per year. Late Model Assigned Equipment. Dedicated Customer, Dry Van Freight. Class ACDL with 9 months experience. Call 1-800-793-3754. http://www.ryder.com/ Apply in person from 8am to 3pm: 2514 E. Highway 30, Grand Island, NE 68802. Ryder Dedicated. EOE. Drug test required for employment.

ITL NEEDS owner operators this spring or year around to haul Anhydrous Ammonia.

Very high revenue. Call Brian at 800-728-2675. Apply online (www.itltanklines.com).

TANTARA TRANSPORATION is hiring Dedicated/Regional Drivers. Class A CDL and Flatbed experience required. Home every weekend. Call Dave at 800-650-0292 or apply online www.tantara.us.

C16 | The Jewish Press | April 11, 2014

JEWISH WAR VETERANS of AMERICA Epstein Morgan Post 260

wishes its friends in the Jewish community a Passover filled with good health, happiness and peace.

Have a Happy and Healthy Passover 333 South 132nd Street Omaha, NE 68154 402-334-6441 or 402-334-6442 www.nebraskajhs.com

With Your Help We’ll Have A Great Past Ahead Of Us

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and peaceful Passover.

FREE membership to all active-duty personnel Contact: Jay Benton, Commander 402-250-6133 We welcome any and all new members

Happy Passover from

The Beth El Synagogue Board of Trustees, Congregation and Staff As we celebrate the Exodus this Passover, Beth El Synagogue invites you to celebrate with us at our community first Seder, open to all on Tuesday, April 15, 6:00 pm.

Have a Happy and and Healthy Healthy A HappyPassover Passover to the Community For more information and reservations, Register online www.bethel-omaha.org or contact the synagogue office, 402-492-8550.

T

National Council of Jewish Women Omaha Section

Freedom is the incessant human drive to draw on one’s divine, infinite potential and reach beyond the self.

NCJW extends its warmest wishes to the Jewish community for a Joyous Passover.

Chag Sameach Rabbi Mendel Katzman, Chabad Board, Staff and Volunteers

B’nai Israel Synagogue Council Bluffs, Iowa National Register of Historic Places A Century of Tradition

League Offering Volunteers for the Elderly

618 Mynster Street, Council Bluffs

323-8885

The Rose Blumkin Jewish Home Auxiliary

You’re always welcome at B’nai Israel!

Best Wishes for a

Happy

Passover

It is an obligation to tell the story.

Wishing the community a Happy Pesach!

Henry Monsky Lodge Best Wishes for a Happy Passover

B’nai B’rith

jna jxp dj

402-334-6443

Beth El Sisterhood

Each year the IHE shares the history and lessons of the Holocaust through the arts, community programming, school programming and continuing education for teachers.

Please visit: www.ihene.org | 402.334.6576 | info@ihene.org

We offer social, religious, educational, fundraising and service programs for women of all ages.

We are women who care about Beth El Synagogue!

Check us out at www.bethel-omaha.org/

2014 – 5774

The Natan and Hannah Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha wishes all our Friends and supporters a

Happy Passover