HAKOL - Passover 2022

From the board and staff of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley Gary Fromer PRESIDENT

Jeri Zimmerman EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Lehigh Valley Jewish Clergy Group present the

24th Annual Community Passover Seders

Here is a listing of services from Lehigh Valley congregations. Please contact the synagogue directly to learn more and register.

Congregation Am Haskalah

VIRTUAL 2ND NIGHT SEDER

APRIL 16 at 6:30 p.m.

Led by Student Rabbi Armin Langer. Open to all. RSVP to AmHaskalahDirector@gmail. com. Have a Seat? Take a Seat! - Connecting hosts with empty chairs, with those looking for a seder. Contact AmHaskalahDirector@gmail. com to get matched.

Congregation Bnai Shalom

Congregation Brith Sholom

APRIL 16 at 5 p.m.

Led with joy and ru’ach (spirit!)

by Rabbi Melody Davis and Cantor Jill Pakman and Cantor Bob Wiener. All food will be gourmet KOSHER FOR PASSOVER! RSVP by April 1 to 610-258-5343.

APRIL 15 at 7 p.m.

Join Rabbi Michael Singer, your Brith Sholom friends and extended family as we retell the story of the Exodus from slavery to freedom. Catering

by Ron Sunshine & Feather Fraser. RSVP by April 7 to 610-866-8009.

SECOND NIGHT COMMUNITY SEDER

LEHIGH VALLEY WOMEN’S SEDER

APRIL 20 at 6 p.m.

Hosted by the Sisterhood of Bnai Shalom. RSVP to 610-258-5343.

2 APRIL 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER

COMMUNITY PASSOVER SEDER

Congregation Keneseth Israel

COMMUNITY PASSOVER SEDER APRIL 25 at 5:45 p.m.

Eat, drink, sing and learn to-

gether in community as we tell the age old tale of our escape from Egypt with Rabbi Seth Phillips and traditional foods

by Chef Eric. RSVP by April 6 online or by mailing in form.

Temple Beth El SECOND SEDER

April 16 at 10 a.m.

Register at www.bethelallentown.org or call 610-435-3521.

What’s your Passover story?

Aliette Abo:

One of my favorite Passover traditions is when everyone at the table signs their name and records the date on the inside cover of the Haggadah. Every year, everyone gets excited to see who had that Haggadah last. Every age signs their name. This tradition is a chronology of our family’s history.

Robby Wax:

Passover 2019: Laurie and I took a 6 a.m. flight from ABE to Atlanta so we could have seder with our older son, Ben, who was a freshman at Emory University, together with eight of his friends. We didn’t want him to spend his first Passover seder at college without us. We rented an apartment for the evening, and we travelled with an overweight suitcase filled with

We asked members of the Jewish community from around the Lehigh Valley about their favorite meaningful Passover traditions and memories. Here are some of their responses!

brisket, soup, Haggadahs and everything else needed for the seder.

Vicki Wax:

My favorite thing about Passover is being together with our multiple generations of family and friends. Retelling the Passover story in new ways, and, of course, the delicious food connects us to our previous generations as well.

Larry Zelson:

We still make a variation of my grandmother's recipe for charoset (with cooked dates and apples, although I think she used cooked prunes). By far the best I've ever had. It's how we convince 17 family members to cram into our kitchen every year and make it through the entire Haggadah.

My Passover story: Welcoming the stranger

By Shira Yacker Special to HAKOL Passover is soon upon us, and as much as I love the history and the meaning of the holiday, there was a part of my life when I had no idea why there were always “extra” people at our family seders. This open invitation was a practice that my Uncle Michael had each year, and it was always an adventure to discover who would be among us.

In May 2020, my uncle Michael Muderick, the patriarch of my family, passed away. A huge hole was left in my heart, but I knew it was my responsibility to carry his legacy throughout the rest of my life. His passion for Judaism, his teachings, and his value of family were passed onto me, his children, grandchildren, his great-niece, and great-nephews.

My uncle helped to instill my love for Judaism, well into my adulthood.

One of the many great impacts he had on me was how to celebrate Passover, encompassing all of its historical traditions as well as the ones he, himself, created for our family.

I am a product of a Jewish Day School education, so I was taught the story of Passover directly from the Torah. However, what I learned didn’t

come from books or classes, it came from my Uncle Michael. He knew that we had to learn by living, not by reading.

In Shemot (Exodus) Chapter 23 verse 9, it states the following: “And you shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, since you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

Growing up, I never truly comprehended why there were always random people at our seders, usually someone that even my uncle, who had invited them, barely knew. My uncle saw this command as the ultimate mitzvah of Passover, but I didn’t quite grasp it until I started having seders of my own. Growing up in the Philadelphia area and attending day school, I often took my Judaism for granted.

When I moved to the Lehigh Valley, I realized that many people had never even heard of Passover, and therefore felt it was my job to not only explain the holiday to those who asked, but also to let them experience it in an immersive way. Over the years, we have had many “strangers” come to our seders and leave with an experience they will never forget.

Passover story Continues on page 4 HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | APRIL 2022 3

Book Review: ‘Penina Farina’

By Sean Boyle Special to HAKOL Fradl Adams' first children’s book, “Penina Farina and the Humongous Snowstorm,'' illustrated by Mira Simon, introduces us to third grader Penina Farina and her family living in Catchupspill Valley as they prepare for a large snowstorm in the days leading up to Passover.

Penina is the youngest daughter of Rabbi and Mrs. Farina, and is excited about a surprise March snow storm coming to their quiet valley. Mrs. Farina does not believe her since it is warm and nothing is mentioned about a potential storm on the local Jewish radio station. But Penina heard from a classmate and swears it will be a huge blizzard.

Penina turns out to be correct, a huge storm is going to arrive shortly and ev-

eryone needs to make preparations. Since they live in a deep valley that takes plows days to clear the roads, Mrs. Farina is worried about having enough food for the family while they are potentially stuck for a few days. Since the Farina family is well known for their love of eating pasta, Mrs. Farina buys several boxes in preparation for the storm. But as each family member and the surprise guest arrives to wait out the storm, Mrs. Farina is forced to realize the boxes of pasta everyone is bringing is way too many for the storm and more importantly it is too close to Passover to have an entire closet filled with pasta. Read to learn about the amazing plan Penina and their guest have to help clear the house of pasta without wasting even one piece.

Fradl Adams is from Jackson, New Jersey, and writes weekly for The Lakewood Shopper and other publications about Orthodox women and family topics. Although the book is written for an Orthodox audience, it is still enjoyable and relatable while providing many great lessons for 2nd to 4th grade-level readers.

Although there is no Hebrew glossary, Adams does include a glossary of different types of pasta, including an illustration of each type. Excerpts of other Penina Farina adventures are included weekly in The Lakewood Shopper, but this is Adams’ only book about Penina Farina and her family.

Recommended for ages 7-10, especially for children and families that love eating pasta.

Sean Boyle is Congregation Keneseth Israel’s librarian and is also serving as President of the Schools, Synagogues, Centers, and Public Libraries Division of the Association of Jewish Libraries.

Penina Farina and the Humongous Snowstorm. (Adams, Fradl & Simon, Mira, New York, Menucha Publishers, 2021, 79p.)

Passover story Continues from page 3

Our seders are interactive.

And chaotic. And LONG. They are loud and joyous and heartfelt. My uncle made certain that we had the tools to continue the tradition of having heartfelt and memorable seders. He had a binder with anagram games, trivia games, and song parodies. He kept articles and prayers and whatever he could use to enhance the experience.

There have been so many things included to make our seders unique. Racing to see who could sing “Chad Gadya” and “Echod Mi Yodeah” the fastest without missing any words, sometimes in Hebrew and sometimes in English. Going around the table reading through each page of the Haggadah, and having every person say Kiddush so Kiddush may actually be said in excess of 20 times is another custom we have. Our seders were and still are the time when my family feels the closest to each other. If 4 APRIL 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER

someone is unable to attend in person, they are included anyway. Years ago, it was through the telephone, and now we use apps like FaceTime. We were most thankful for technology when we had our seder in April 2020.

And even then, we invited strangers and gave them our Zoom link.

As Jews, it is our responsibility to pass our traditions onto future generations. It is our job to add to those traditions to help cultivate our own. But we all need to remember that we were all strangers in the land of Egypt.

We are now here to rely on one another for welcoming those who either want to learn or have no place to go. We need to consider this mitzvah now more than ever as people are fleeing their home countries due to war.

Imagine the impact if each family included one “stranger” on their guest list and the significance of the learning and understanding that is possible from this mitzvah.

PARTNERSHIP2GETHER UPDATE FROM YOAV

Yoav celebrates the return of Spring and prepares for Pesach

By Nurit Galon Partnership2Gether So after a long and cold winter, and a rather frightening one with different strains of Corona turning up just when we were beginning to sigh with relief and the hope that maybe life was returning to normal, the Russian–Ukraine war has broken out. It perhaps is a little reminiscent for the older generation of the First World War, and the fight over territory. We hope and pray for a quick end to the battles and the return of all the refugees to their homes, even though as this goes to print, the outlook does not seem very rosy.

Amongst our younger generation of Jews, over the past months a new ideology seems to have sprung up. Why, actually, do Judaism and the Jews need Israel? Our older generations, who remember the years of the Holocaust when Jews had nowhere to run to, no one to turn to, don’t ask this question. And daily now, as we watch Israel go to the aid of Israelis and Jews in Ukraine, and not only Israelis and Jews but others there desperately in need, can we seriously question

the need for the existence of our Jewish State? Israel has many problems, and is not always a light to the gentiles or Jews in the Diaspora. But let us not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Rather, let us rejoice every day for the existence of the Jewish State and do everything in our power to make it into the State we so sorely need.

And with the warmer weather, and the (hopefully not temporary) easing up of Corona, the country has burst into flower, and the Municipality of Yoav simply doesn’t have enough days for the variety of activities taking place for all ages. For example, this year sees the 80th Anniversary of Kibbutz Gat, who opened their celebrations with a performance of “The Wizard of Oz,” with music, songs, and adaptations to life in Yoav, including our Partnership with Lehigh Valley and the help you gave to make the performance possible. Kibbutz Galon has begun its 70th Anniversary with a brand new tennis court, also built with the help of the Lehigh Valley-Yoav Partnership 2Gether. And soon will be the festive opening of what has become a much welcomed

ecological event, “Green as far as you can see!”, devoted to the farmers of Yoav’s Market, and to the increasing role of Yoav in protecting and developing the environment. Not to forget physical welfare, the ladies of Yoav and Lehigh Valley will explore the highways and byways of Israel. And absolutely not to be forgotten, as I write, Purim is fast approaching, which is a very special day for the kids who celebrate the “Purimon” and make us all a little wistful that we grew up!

In March, Yoav also celebrates Women’s Day, and we look forward to the day when the ladies of the Lehigh Valley will come to join us. Of course, all this is alongside all the usual ongoing activities for all ages.

While March is an eventfilled month, Pesach is already in the air, and not only in the shops which are filled with everything you need to make this the best Pesach ever, and lots that you will never need but might be tempted to buy!

For many years, everyone who could claim a relative in kibbutz would try to get invited to the Kibbutz Seder night. The haggadah was read, and sung, and danced, with audience par-

ticipation, the children danced in to the much decorated dining room with bunches of flowers, the Chad Gadya was acted out with full drama, and finally – the meal! With the luxury item being the Kneidlech.

When most of the kibbutzim privatized, the Seder night reverted to the family at home, and something of a whole com-

munity celebrating together was lost. One day perhaps, the tradition will be revived.

To all of you, our friends and family in the Lehigh Valley, we wish you a very happy and tasty and meaningful Pesach, in a world which just might be considering the blessings of peace.

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GETTY IMAGES

These Passover pancake noodles are better than matzah balls

These Passover egg noodles are made from a thin crepe that’s coiled and cut into strips.

By Liz Susman Karp and Natalie Gorlin The Nosher Last April, as the pandemic raged in my area, I opened my front door to my dear friend Natalie, who literally threw at me from a distance a plastic sandwich bag containing her family’s cherished Passover tradition: flädla.

Less commonly known than the universally beloved

matzah ball, these Passover egg noodles are made from a thin crepe that’s coiled and cut into strips, over which steaming broth is poured.

Natalie’s family recipe was handed down from her mother’s tante Ilse, who emigrated from Germany in 1939 post-Kristallnacht.

Ask around about flädla and, like the history of any good noodle, you’ll discover the topic covers a lot of

ground. Flädla, also spelled flädle, didn’t start off as a Passover food, but evolved into a dish that reflects the ingenuity and frugality of Jewish Eastern European cooks, who repurposed leftover dough or pancakes into noodles.

Noodles were a significant part of the Ashkenazi diet.

In medieval times, Europeans began boiling dough in water rather than baking or

Passover umami brisket

BY SANDI TEPLITZ This is a flavorful way to serve a traditional favorite. You can alter the vegetables to include ones that suit your family. Serve this entree with a salad and applesauce to enhance the Seder meal. Follow with sorbet and macaroons dipped in bitter sweet chocolate.

INGREDIENTS: 4 pound beef brisket Salt and pepper 2 Tbsp. olive oil One each: red, yellow and white onion, sliced One container assorted mixed mushrooms One bag baby carrots One bag baby red potatoes, unpeeled

2 cans Manischewitz chicken broth 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar KP One cup KP ketchup TECHNIQUE: Heat the onions with the oil in a skillet until they are golden. Add salt and pepper to taste, then add the broth, ketchup, brown sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Place brisket in a roasting pan and pour the onion mixture over. Add carrots, potatoes and mushrooms. Cover with foil and bake at 325 degrees F for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Let the brisket rest for 15 minutes, then slice and serve. (This is delicious cold the next day with ketchup, pickles, and mayonnaise between two slices of matzo.)

6 APRIL 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER

frying it. In the Encyclopedia of Jewish Food, Gil Marks writes that noodles were predominantly used in soup and that some cooks cut up matzah meal blintzes into the liquid. No name was ascribed to that noodle or dish.

Recipes for Passover noodles are included in numerous Jewish cookbooks, notably June Feiss Hersh’s compilation of recipes from Holocaust survivors titled, “Recipes Remembered: A Celebration of Survival,” illustrating how deeply ingrained the dish was in people’s memories. Sometimes called lokshen, the Yiddish word for noodle, the recipes use matzah meal or potato starch, and always the same method of frying a thin crepe and cutting it into strips.

Pinpointing when, where, or who first adapted these noodle ribbons for the holiday is a challenge.

“What is most fascinating to me,” said Gaby Rossmer, coauthor with her daughter, Sonya Gropman, of “The German-Jewish Cookbook,” “is how these food traditions travel. They do follow routes.

You can see it, but you can’t tell exactly which one came first, which came second.”

Many Jews, like Natalie’s ancestors and Rossmer, lived in southern Germany; in the Swabian region, pancakes are known as flädle. The recipe has been handed down over generations; tradition dictates the crepes be thin and crispy.

Flädlesuppe was a popular dish, but “never for Passover,” says Rossmer. She was a year old when she came to America from Bavaria, but fondly remembers frequently frying flour crepes with her father; the goal was always to have enough left over to make flädlesuppe.

The noodles are a key component of a comparable, popular Austrian soup called frittatensuppe, or pancake soup, which is always made with beef broth, says Nino Shaye Weiss, a blogger at JewishVienneseFood.com and Jewish food guide in Vienna. There, the crepes are called palatschinken; cut up they’re referred to as frittaten. “Jews do seemingly love them as they cannot live the eight days of Passover without them,” he comments, adding that frittaten for Passover are simply known as Peisachdike lokshen (kosher for Passover noodles).

Legend has it that frittatensuppe may have originated in 19th century Austria to feed Austrian, French, and Italian diplomats secretly meeting during the Congress of Vienna. One participant was Conte Romano de Frittata, whose coachman prepared the pancake. Frittata comes from the Italian word friggere, to fry; perhaps

suggesting that the dish was named after the coachman’s employer. However, the only similar Italian-Jewish recipe I could find was for Minestra di Sfoglietti Per Pesach, a soup containing noodles of baked dough, in The Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews

by Edda Servi Machlin. If the story is true, the dish did not make its way back to Italy.

Holocaust survivor Cecile Gruer, 86, is known as her family’s chef. She movingly recalls eating flädla in 1946 at the first Passover she celebrated with her family in an Austrian displaced persons camp after they were reunited. Then a teen, she watched her mother prepare the noodle as her mother had done in Hungary. Greuer makes flädla year-round, using potato starch, matzah meal, or quinoa or almond flour for gluten-free relatives.

Sometimes she’ll just mix egg and water, essentially an omelette. Gruer suggests adding any herb, such as dill or cilantro, to heighten the soup’s flavor. She continues these traditions because, she said, “You do not want to break the chain.”

Gruer’s and Natalie’s families enjoy their flädla in chicken broth with matzah balls. The Lubavitch sect, who follow the custom of gebrokts and don’t eat any dish where matzah can touch liquid, have just the noodle in their soup, says Leah Koenig, author of The Jewish Cookbook. Gruer confides she doesn’t like chicken soup.

How does she eat her flädla?

She laughs. “I would have it on the plate!”

INGREDIENTS 4 eggs, separated 3/4 tsp. salt 1/4 - 1/2 cup (to taste) chopped chives 4 Tbsp. potato starch 1/4 cup of chicken broth Oil DIRECTIONS 1. Separate the eggs and add the salt to the yolks.

2. Mix chives and potato starch in with the egg yolks.

Add as much chicken broth as is necessary for the mixture to be the consistency of pancake batter.

3. Beat egg whites until stiff and add to yolk mixture (mix occasionally while cooking batches to avoid separation).

4. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and add enough batter to cover the bottom of the pan. Fry like a crepe, and remove from pan.

Lay fladla on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

5. Let cool, then roll each crepe and cut into thin strips.

Fladla can be made a few days in advance and refrigerated.

6. Serve in hot soup and enjoy.

fa ll

Passover Puppy Chow

By Sheri Silver The Nosher Passover has always been, hands down, my favorite holiday. I love the tradition of the seders, I love the fact that Passover means spring is here — heck, I even love gefilte fish!

What I don’t love? The lack of good snacks.

I’m not talking about that ubiquitous can of macaroons that is on every kitchen counter during the holiday week. And I’m not talking about those jellied fruit slices either (does anyone actually eat those?).

No — I’m talking about crave-worthy snacks that you would want to eat any time of year, but happen to be Passover-friendly, too.

Like this Passover puppy chow!

If you’ve never heard of puppy chow — well, it’s one of the easiest and most addictive snacks EVER. Ingredients can vary, but it’s typically made with just four ingredients: cereal, chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. Yes, practically healthy food.

Yet each of these ingredients pose a problem for the Passover cook. Most cereal (even the gluten-free kind) is made from corn or rice — not allowed in the diets for many who observe. Same for peanut butter and powdered sugar (which contains cornstarch).

And if you need a treat that’s dairy-free, butter and chocolate are off-limits, too. (Note: If you eat corn during Passover, feel free to use regular powdered sugar and you can skip the

first step.)

But no worries — I’ve swapped out each of these ingredients with a totally Passoverfriendly substitute, and I promise you will not notice the difference. This recipe gets bonus points for being egg- and dairy-free, so loved ones who have food allergies or follow a vegan diet can indulge, too!

INGREDIENTS 2 cups granulated sugar 2 Tbsp. potato starch 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips 1/2 cup almond butter 1/4 cup dairy-free spread 1 tsp. vanilla 6 sheets matzah, broken into coarse pieces DIRECTIONS 1. Make the powdered sugar — using a blender or food processor, process the granulated sugar and potato starch until fine, 1-2 minutes.

Transfer to a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.

2. In a large bowl set over barely simmering water, combine the chocolate chips, almond butter, dairy-free spread, and vanilla, stirring until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add the matzah pieces, stirring gently and quickly to coat completely.

3. Transfer the matzah to the Ziploc bag, seal, and shake to coat pieces completely. Spread onto a baking sheet to set; store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Grilled Eggplant Stacks

By Shannon Sarna The Nosher INGREDIENTS 1 medium eggplant Salt and pepper Cooking spray 1 Tbsp. olive oil 1 large, ripe tomato 4 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced 3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar 1 Tbsp. olive oil Salt and pepper Fresh basil (optional) DIRECTIONS 1. Cut a brown paper bag and lay out on the counter or table. Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch slices and lay out on top of paper. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and allow eggplant to sit for 1 hour. Flip eggplant slices and let sit for another hour. (if you don’t have a paper bag, you can lay out on baking sheets, paper towel or parchment. The paper bag helps absorb some of the excess water).

2. Blot eggplant with towel to remove excess water.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray baking sheet with oil.

4. Lay eggplant slices in one layer and roast for 12-15 minutes, or until just brown.

5. Stack eggplant, tomato, mozzarella and repeat. Drizzle small amount of balsamic vinegar and olive oil on each stack. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Garnish with fresh basil if desired.

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Lehigh Valley Women’s Seder is not for women only

By Rabbi Melody Davis Congregation Bnai Shalom The first Women’s Seder I attended was about 25 years ago. It was hosted by the Allentown Rosh Chodesh Group at Congregation Keneseth Israel. It was an evening of music, laughter, great food, and eye-opening education. Since then, there have been Women’s Seder’s sporadically in the Lehigh Valley.

The Rosh Chodesh Group of Easton led by Eleanor Bobrow and Cindy Daniels hosted them every year prior to the pandemic.

It is my hope that as the Lehigh Valley grows both larger and smaller (larger in population and smaller geographically), that we can establish important community rituals which will rotate from venue to venue. We need to know each other, and sharing our traditions is a perfect way to do so.

This year, the Lehigh Valley Women’s Seder returns, hosted by the Sisterhood of Bnai Shalom on Wednesday, April 20, at 6 p.m. Cantor Katyah Gohr will be leading us in joyous song. The kitchen at Bnai Shalom Synagogue will be kashered for

Passover and serving a dairy/vegetarian meal.

Our redemption from enslavement is an ongoing process. We will learn about many of the unsung Jewish women who have contributed to our freedom.

And just think: you can go ‘out’ to dinner during Pesach!

Passover at the JDS: A weekslong production in the making!

By Joanna Powers JDS Director of Hebrew and Judiacs The weeks, and even months, leading up to Passover is a very special time at the Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley. We always say that there is never quite enough time between Purim and Passover to become Haggadah experts and get in all of the learning and creative activities that make Passover a holiday like no other. Our solution, just like in many grocery stores, is to start our Passover preparations even before Purim and then continue intensely until we all finally sit down to our school and home seders.

This year, our third- through eighth-grade Judaics teachers are committed to ensuring that their students will know the Haggadah with impressive proficiency. They’ll have a lot more than four questions ready to offer, along with the answers. Our lower elementary students have been practicing the main four questions since February and love to act out the Passover story. And our youngest learners have been very busy singing Passover songs and creating beautiful projects to enhance their families’ seder tables. As Passover gets closer, the students will have a chance to prepare charoset for their seder meal.

Once we arrive at the big week, two very different but equally special events will take place. Our Prek through first-grade students 8 APRIL 2022 | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | HAPPY PASSOVER

will take part in a Passover themed fair, with a variety of interactive stations that will reinforce all of the holiday learning that they have been doing with their teachers. Students will stack sugar cubes to build Egyptian pyramids, race baby Moses across the Nile by blowing through a straw, clean a play kitchen until it is chametz-free, and make matzah out of model magic, among several other handson learning experiences that will take them through family holiday traditions and the steps of the seder.

A few days later, second through eighth grades will come together to hold our first in-person school seder since 2019. Their weeks of preparation will pay off. Every class will be responsible for a section of the seder, and specific readings will be recited by our middle school students, who will all be co-leaders of our event. All of the ceremonial foods will be enjoyed, along with a delicious holiday meal prepared by the incredible Sunshine Café. After all of the prayers, blessings, stories, songs, and dining are complete, we will end with our traditional JDS custom - singing and dancing to the incredible video of the Babaganewz rendition of “Echad Mi Yodea,” fabulously illustrated by Aaron Schachter. It is impossible to stay still when this song plays!

Passover excitement is all encompassing at the JDS, and we can’t wait to finally celebrate this holiday together. Chag Sameach!

Local agencies help community celebrate Passover

Israel reshaped by the next generation

By Gavriel Siman-Tov Community shaliach

Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley will be helping older adults across the Lehigh Valley celebrate Passover this year in ways big and small. They anticipate handing out over 100 boxes of matzah to those in need. Volunteers will also lead holiday programs at Legend of Allentown and Country Meadows residences in Allentown, Bethlehem, and Forks Township.

To donate matzah, please drop boxes off at the red bin in the Jewish Community Center lobby or call 610-821-8722 to set up an appointment to deliver it to the JFS office directly.

At the JCC, Friendship Circle

will be enjoying a fun and interactive Passover Seder and a Passover play, including edible candy plagues, at their Monday, April 11 meeting. Adults 50+ can contact Beth Kushnick at bkushnick@lvjcc.org or 610-4353571 to inquire about membership.

PJ Library will also be hosting its Passover event at the JCC on Sunday, April 10. Families can register at https://jewishlehighvalley.org/pjlibraryevents for this free event open to the community including an interactive walk through the Passover story with activities, crafts, snacks, and a PJ Library story.

Every year, as we are reading the Haggadah, we read the story of Passover — the story of the people of Israel leaving Egypt, transitioning from slavery to freedom.

One part of this story always seems a bit odd to me. Why did it take them 40 years to go from Egypt to Israel? If I open a map, I’d see Israel and Egypt share a border, so why did they need 40 years to cross?

This question had been in my mind every Passover, until a year or two ago, I decided to get an answer. And, of course, when you need an answer to a question, you will end up asking Google. So I did, and the answer that came up really made me think.

It’s been said that G-d made us walk 40 years in the desert to let a generation to pass, so that the people who would enter Israel would no longer know slavery and would be ready for the next chapter of the story.

But then, we ask ourselves, why are the

people who were slaves not deserving of having a home and living a free life?

This question stuck with me, and I started to think maybe I could translate it into a situation closer to me. I thought of Israel — about how we are celebrating 74 years really soon, and how a generation has passed since the establishment of the country, and now the country is in our hands to be shaped as we see it. The generation who built the country came from a different background, from living in a world with no Jewish homeland. They came from their struggle and built a country that would solve it.

And maybe this is what G-d didn't want to happen. Maybe we are now “entering” into Israel all over again. We are now the people who will “rebuild” the country in our eyes, in the eyes of people who grew up in a world that has a Jewish homeland.

We have the responsibility to reshape Israel and to keep pushing to accomplish greater things. We are the generation who enters the land of Israel after walking 40 years in the desert.

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HAPPY PASSOVER | HAKOL LEHIGH VALLEY | APRIL 2022 9

In new Passover children’s books, a bespectacled lion reads the Haggadah and a Depression-era mitzvah

KAR-BEN BOOKS; CANDLEWICK; HOLIDAY HOUSE PUBLISHING

By Penny Schwartz Jewish Telegraphic Agency On the eve of Passover during the Depression, a juggler in ragged clothes is invited into the home of a poor family that has a bare Seder table. It’s a poignant scene in “The Passover Guest,” the captivating debut picture book by author Susan Kusel, a longtime Judaica librarian who was inspired by a classic Yiddish tale, “The Magician,” by I.L. Peretz.

By lovely coincidence, readers have that rare opportunity to enjoy another retelling of the beloved story in a new publication of “The Magician’s Visit,” adapted

by Barbara Diamond Goldin, with new illustrations by Eva Sanchez Gomez. The original 1993 edition was among the earliest books by Goldin, now one of the country’s most acclaimed writers of Jewish children’s books.

A different Seder table takes center stage in “The Four Questions,” where a bespectacled lion reads from a Haggadah at a lavish ceremonial meal with guests that include a zebra, a young monkey and other whimsical animals. The gloriously illustrated book is a new edition of the 1989 classic by the late artist Ori Sherman with text by the acclaimed novelist and poet Lynne Sharon Schwartz.

These are some of the standouts in a crop of engaging new children’s books for Passover, the eight-day Festival of Freedom that begins this year on the evening of April 15.

Other titles feature lighthearted humorous stories and a lively interactive family Hagaddah with tips for this COVID-19 era, when many Seder guests may be joining remotely.

Happy Passover!

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Caryn Yacowitz; illustrated by Julie Downing Candlewick; ages 3 to 7 In simple rhyming verse, Yacowitz reimagines the biblical story of baby Moses as his mother sets him adrift in a basket on the Nile to save him from harm from the Egyptian Pharaoh. The river’s creatures

protect baby Moses until he is discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter. Downing’s beautifully colored double-page illustrations of a wide-winged ibis, a hippo, crocodile and an escort of butterflies bring the story to life.

“Seder in Motion: A Haggadah to Move Body and Soul”

Rabbi Ron Isaacs and Dr. Leora Isaacs; illustrated by Martin Wickstrom Behrman House; all ages Here’s a lively family Haggadah that encourages Seder participants of any age to feel a personal connection to the Passover story. The engaging style follows the traditional order of the Seder and features Jewish customs from around the world along with thoughtprovoking questions. There are plenty of tips to include remote guests.

“Meet the Matzah: A Passover Story”

Alan Silberberg Viking; ages 3 to 5 In this playful and zany story, the award-winning cartoonist Silberberg sets the humorous action in an imaginary classroom where the “students” are types of breads. Alfie Koman, a shy matzah, tries to retell the story of Passover, but the school sourdough, Loaf, takes over and stirs trouble. Alfie must decide whether to leave his hiding place to confront the mean-spirited Loaf. Expect lots of laughs from Loaf’s madeup version of the Ten Plagues (among them no WiFi and broccoli for dessert).

“Matzah Craze”

Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh; illustrated by Lauren Gallegos Kar-Ben; ages 4-9 At Noa’s multicultural school, the kids like to swap what’s in their lunch boxes. But during Passover, when Noa has an unusual looking cracker – her matzah – she explains to her friends that she can’t swap.

In Kiffel-Alcheh’s delightful rhyming story, the spunky Noa, with copper-toned skin and frizzy red hair, figures out how to share her favorite ways to eat matzah.

“The Great Passover Escape”

Pamela Moritz; illustrated by Florence Weiser Kar-Ben; ages 4-9 It’s the eve of Passover at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem, and Elle the elephant and Kang the kangaroo are eager to find a way to escape and find a Seder. Their friend Chimp answers their Passover questions and joins the adventure. Will the trio get past the locked zoo gate and find a ritual meal?

Pamela Moritz’s humor-filled story is embellished with Florence Weiser’s brightly colored illustrations.

“The Passover Guest”

Susan Kusel; illustrated by Sean Rubin Neal Porter Books/ Holiday House; ages 4 to 8 Set in Washington, D.C., in 1933, during the Depression, Kusel’s warmhearted story takes its inspiration from Uri Shulevitz’s version of Peretz’s Yiddish tale “The Magician,” which she loved as a child. On the eve of Passover, a young girl named Muriel wanders around her favorite sites in the nation’s capital. She’s in no hurry to go home because her family does not have enough money for a Seder.

At the Lincoln Memorial, Muriel is enchanted by a juggling magician dressed in rags. When the stranger turns up at her family’s door and is invited in for Passover, their bare table miraculously fills with an abundance of food for the Seder. Could the mysterious guest have been Elijah?

Sean Rubin’s vibrant, expressive illustrations pay tribute to Marc Chagall, Rubin writes in an artist’s note.

“The Magician’s Visit”

Based on a story by I.L. Peretz; adapted by Barbara Diamond Goldin; illustrations by Eva Sanchez Gomez Green Bean Books; ages 4-8 In this masterful retelling of Peretz’s Yiddish tale, Goldin takes readers back to an old world shtetl. In the days before Passover, a stranger dressed in rags mesmerizes the villagers Passover children’s books Continues on page 11

The Passover seder is the perfect time to ask your family powerful questions

By Dasee Berkowitz Kveller

Passover children’s books Continues from page 10

with his spellbinding magic.

When he turns up at the door of a couple who have become too poor to make their own Seder, the magician produces a wondrous and full table. May they partake in this Seder? the couple asks. And who is the stranger, who has disappeared when they return. Gomez’s colorful illustrations capture the era and the magic of the story.

YANGWENSHUANG/GETTY IMAGES

Did you ever wonder why questions are so central to the Passover seder?

They first appear as part of the iconic Four Questions, which are traditionally asked by the youngest seated around the table. Of course, this set of questions is a great way to keep the kids engaged early on in the seder, and to make sure they know Passover seder cuisine basics — matzah instead of bread, maror (bitter herbs) instead of broccoli.

Questions are asked again in the Haggadah when we get to the Four Children, each of whom is connected to a question. The Wise One asks, “What are all these statutes and laws…?”

The Simple One asks simply, “What is this?” Then, by the seder’s end, we have “Echad mi Yodea?” (“Who Knows One?”), the counting game-in-song that affirms the centrality of G-d in the Passover narrative.

Questions aren’t just a pedagogical tool to engage seder participants in this evening of storytelling; questions are at the very heart of the Passover experience. Questions are the literary mode through which the message of freedom and liberation is conveyed. Questions open up possibilities; they convey that things can be different.

When we ask questions on seder night, we are exercising freedom. Just as an outstretched arm rescued the ancient Israelites from bondage, so, too, can open and generous questions wrest us from dead-end communication.

After all, generous questions invite generous answers.

Friday night, April 15, marks the beginning of Passover, a holiday set in springtime with the promise of renewal it invites. As such, I am thinking about the kinds of questions I want to ask around my seder table to bring us into that spirit. While so many of us are feeling deep exhaustion after two years of pandemic parenting, seder night can be a wake-up call. The Passover story is not only about a historical event that happened in the distant past in a physical location called Mitzrayim, or Egypt. Mitzrayim is an archetype for any narrow or constricted space (Mitzrayim has within it the word, tzar, or “narrow.”) When we sit down to tell the story of leaving Egypt, we are also telling the story of leaving our mitzrayim, our narrow places. And we can only begin to tell those stories if the questions posed feel generous enough to invite our honest answers.

As my family sits down around our seder table, we will move through the Haggadah and the traditional Four

Questions that our youngest kids will ask. We will then pass around a glass bowl, and in it little pieces of paper with questions that invite more personal exploration for children and adults alike.

These questions will include ones like: • What gave you strength when you are having a hard time this year? (Or for kids: “What helped you when you were down?”)

• Who did you notice needed extra love this year? How did you help them?

• What is a piece of advice you would want to receive from an elder in your life to give you some perspective? (Or for kids: “What is a story that a grandparent has told you that you love to hear?”)

• What is a hope or dream that you have for yourself? (Or for kids: “What is something you want to do that you

have never tried before?”)

Each question holds the potential to connect us to our inner wisdom and points of resilience, to the people around us, and to the possibility that there is something new we can explore. Some guests might want to sit with these questions for a bit and only share their responses later on in the seder. Others will want to share their reflections right away. Invite everyone present, whether young or old, to share their thoughts.

My hope is that by asking these kinds of open-ended questions on seder night we can begin to move out of the confines and narrow places we have been in. By asking generous questions — and listening to their answers — may we all move into a space in which we can breathe a bit deeper and toward whatever comes next.

and its rituals. Sherman fills the bordered pages with gloriously colored illustrations of whimsical elephants, monkeys, fish, goats and birds. Turn the book upside down for a view of the Four Questions written in Hebrew calligraphy and other illustrations.

A back page note by Ori Z. Soltes, a scholar of Jewish art, explains that Sherman’s dazzling art carries forth traditions from hieroglyphics to illuminated Jewish manuscripts and the centuries-old painted murals of Eastern Europe’s wooden synagogues.

“Moses Could Have Been Selfish”

Paid for by Susan Wild for Congress

MJ Wexler MJ Wexler Books; ages 3 to 7 In this simply told rhyming story, Wexler retells the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt in an accessible style for young kids, emphasizing standing up against injustice.

Questions at the end encourage discussion.

!‫חג פסח שמח‬ REP. SUSAN WILD WISHES YOU A HAPPY PASSOVER!

“The Four Questions”

Illustrated by Ori Sherman; text by Lynne Sharon Schwartz Levine Querido; ages 8 and up In this exquisite pairing of text and art, Sherman and Schwartz captivate readers – kids and adults – with the Four Questions traditionally recited by the youngest child at the beginning of the Seder. The lavishly illustrated book is a new printing of the original first published in 1989.

Like the Seder itself, the book has the air of mystery and intrigue. Schwartz answers the Four Questions with a lyrical narrative of the Passover story

I firmly believe that support for Israel should be a non-partisan issue. I look forward to continuing to serve our community in Congress. I’ll keep working in a bipartisan manner to improve the lives of everyone in the Lehigh Valley. That includes addressing the challenges burdening our manufacturers and employers and the unique issues facing our healthcare providers and hospitals. Have a fantastic and meaningful Passover!

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