Jewish News Supplement - Passover 3.28.22

Passover 5782

Supplement to Jewish News March 28, 2022 jewishnewsva.org | March 28, 2022 | Passover | JEWISH NEWS | 15

New Year Discover New Options

Passover Dear Readers,

T

his might be the year that we all get to dust off most of our Haggadahs, and maybe even polish the silver as we return, hopefully, to some more

traditional Seders. While last year’s smaller outdoor Seders were a welcome step forward from the previous year’s more isolated Zoom events, gathering around a table inside is, well…tradition!

A desire for tradition, however, doesn’t mean that it’ll be so. Two years of interruption, continued concerns about COVID-19’s next path, and the war in Ukraine are all (among other related issues) bound to have an impact on how we celebrate Passover 2022. As such, Jewish News asked area rabbis to share not, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” But rather, “Why is this year different than the last two years?” Their responses begin on page 18.

Our annual listing of local Passover events and services—primarily with synagogues—starts on page 21. If you’re looking for a Seder to attend, in-person or via Zoom, myriad options are available.

In addition to the re-telling of the story of Exodus, Passover seems to be almost as much about the food…what can be eaten or not. This section offers a recipe for Fladla on page 25 and just outside the section, Shari Gutterman Berman offers two of her favorite Passover dishes on page 30.

Where to shop for all of the Pesach ingredients, where to ‘break Passover,’ as well as some catering options can be found among our advertisers. Please check them out.

Whether virtual or with friends and family, we hope you are able to celebrate Passover exactly how you prefer.

RISTOR A NTE LA PROMENADE SHOPPES La Promenade Shoppes | 1860 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach 757.491.1111 | AldosVB.com

16 | JEWISH NEWS | Passover | March 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

Chag Pesach Sameach…and stay safe!

Terri Denison Editor

On view through August 14

E X H I B ITI O N PRO G R A M S

The Guiding Hand Gallery Talk

May 15, July 16, and July 24 at 2 p.m.

Join us for a close look at elaborate ancient pointers and newly created pieces commissioned and acquired by the Barr Foundation from contemporary artists.

Chrysler Book Club: The Chosen

August 14 at 3 p.m.

Explore traditions of Judaism and its history in America in a book by Chaim Potok.

Registration is required.

All programs are free. Learn more at chrysler.org.

FREE ADMISSION | CHRYSLER.ORG Support for the exhibition is provided by the

Jennifer McCurdy (American b. 1955), Torah pointer, 2018, Porcelain with gilding, Lent by the Barr Foundation jewishnewsva.org | March 28, 2022 | Passover | JEWISH NEWS | 17

Passover

Ma Nishtana or Why is this year different?

I

nstead of asking, “Why is tonight different from all other nights?” the first of the traditional four questions asked by the youngest child at the

Seder, Jewish News asked local rabbis, “Why is Passover this year different from the last two years?” With the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and plenty of political discord, their responses are thoughtful, rabbinic, and

We’ll be back.

Rabbi Sender Haber

M

y uncle, whose presence extends the seder by a generation, will be back. Our guests, who might otherwise not have a seder, will be back. Memories of our proudly Jewish brothers and sisters fleeing Communist Russia will also be back.

Most importantly, we will all be back with a new appreciation for the ability to breathe, to congregate, and to celebrate our collective freedom to live fulfilled and G-dly lives.

Rabbi Sender Haber, B’nai Israel

hopeful.

Rabbi Sender Haber.

Passover, 5782: Something old, something new Rabbi Michael Panitz

Virtual Second Seder Saturday, April 16

6:00 pm

Wiggles & Giggles:

Sammy Spider’s Passover Shapes Sunday April 3

10:30 am

To find out more about these events and to follow us on social media, use this QR code.

F

or the past two years, COVID-caused changes to our patterns of public interactions dominated the experience of celebrating Pesach—much of it “going virtual.”

That is partly still the case, but this year feels like a cautious step back towards earlier norms. At Temple Israel, we are bringing back our popular “matzah brei bake-off” as the kiddush luncheon after services on the second day of Passover, Sunday, April 17.

Still, you never just recapitulate the past.

(If you did, my out-of-date neckties would suddenly be in fashion again!) The heightened level of police security at all of our functions and the remaining public health measures Rabbi Michael Panitz. that we still have in place remind us that today is always a balance of tradition and change. This is true for life in general, and therefore, it is also true for our religious lives.

Rabbi Michael Panitz, Temple Israel.

530 Raleigh Avenue Norfolk, VA 23507 757.625.4295 www.ohefsholom.org

18 | JEWISH NEWS | Passover | March 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

Passover B”H If not me, who will do? If not now, when?

Rabbi Ari Oliszewski

C

hag HaPesach is a Jewish holiday that asks us to think. During Pesach, we need to look forward and to see how we’ll continue.

Of course, it does not happen in an easy way because we need to answer: “Ma Nishtana HaLaila Hazeh MiKol HaLeilot?” What in this night is different from the other nights? And maybe, this year, the question needs to be: what on this is different from the last two? Or what has changed from two years ago?

I’m sure that a lot of things have changed, not only in the world, but also in our lives. We know COVID forced us to change, to pay attention to different kinds of things that in the past we didn’t care about… face masks, alcohol, washing hands more often, vaccines, etc. Many things came into our lives to stay.

Many things help us answer: MaNishtana? Too many things ISHTANU, have changed. And with these changes, came out some feelings. We felt like slaves with all the rules. But now, after two years of living within a pandemic world, we can say: We are almost free from the virus, we are almost free to return to our “normal” Rabbi Ari Oliszewski lives.

But we know that if we don’t take care of ourselves, the others, the world, we may find ourselves in a new virus again, into a new slave mode, and living again in isolation.

Pesach gives us a new opportunity to think about who we are. Where are we going? And, what are our dreams?

We have the opportunity to answer the questions this year, and also, we have the chance to “change the world into a better place to raise our children.” The tools are in our hands, and as Pirkei Avot says: “If not me, who will do? If not now, when?”

Rabbi Ari Oliszewski, Temple Emanuel

jewishnewsva.org | March 28, 2022 | Passover | JEWISH NEWS | 19

Passover Fear receding like the Sea of Reeds Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman

T

Better quality cooking tools from around the world.

his Pesach is different from the previous two given that finally the fear and anxiety of the pandemic plague are prayerfully receding, like the waters of the Sea of Reeds before the fleeing Israelites who glimpsed at last that divine freedom was within reach. Not unlike the Ukrainian refugees of all ages whose dangerous Exodus from Pharoah Putin’s suffocating grip ought to evoke our compassion, admiration, and support.

Those remaining behind to resist the aggressors are surely included, led by inspiring Jewish Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman.

President Zelensky. The surviving Israelites were taught by true leader Moses that the ultimate response to their long enslavement was to reestablish their fractured lives and threatened peoplehood in a sacred context of fulfilling Mitzvot, honoring the God of Freedom and Responsibility.

So are we, the pandemic’s survivors, to reengage with renewed vigor and purpose in missed communal structures that bind and bond us to each other, the best within us and our embracing heritage of lasting values and ideals that the gift of liberty safeguards and enhances.

May Shalom’s blessings of healing, hope, and harmony be the portion of all of God’s children at these challenging crossroads again of plaguing tyranny of dictator and disease.

Wishing you a Chag Kasher V’ Sameach!

Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman, Temple Lev Tikvah

The youngest at the seder table will have another question to ask Helping you with your selections since 1975.

Hilltop North Shopping Center 757-422-0888 · kitchenbarnonline.com 20 | JEWISH NEWS | Passover | March 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

Rabbi Ron Koas

O

n Passover, the youngest person at the table asks this question four times: “What makes this night different from all other nights?” This year, he or she will add one more question: “Why is Passover this year different from the last two years?”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year’s Seder will be different from the last two years because the Seder is a communal tradition and in the last two years amid the coronavirus pandemic, we couldn’t gather together and celebrate the holiday. Large gatherings of people around a table Rabbi Ron Koas. sharing food and drinks wasn’t allowed. Most families had to isolate themselves, and extend the rituals to others through a virtual platform. This year we will be back with our families and friends. I personally will be in Israel with my family celebrating the Seder.

Rabbi Ron Koas, Congregation Beth El

Passover Why is this Passover different from the past two years?

Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg

Passover in Jewish Tidewater Passover begins at sundown on Friday, April 15 Area Synagogues plan both in-person and ZOOM events to celebrate the holiday.

O

n the one hand, we have much for which to be grateful. The miraculous creation of vaccines and their efficacy in combatting COVID-19 have made it possible to share Seder with our loved ones freely. However, the death and distraction being waged against the innocent people of Ukraine remind us that we are far from realizing the Haggadah’s prayer of freedom for all people. There is much work to be done in our community, nation, and world to reach the promise of “Next Year in Jerusalem”—of the ultimate redemption of Jews and of all God’s children.

Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg, Ohef Sholom Temple

Beth El

Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg.

Morning services will be held in-person as well as streaming. All evening services will be streaming.

Erev Pesach Friday, April 15, 5:45 pm Shabbat Pesach Saturday, April 16, 9:45 am and 5:45 pm Sunday, April 17, 9:45 am and 8:15 pm Thursday, April 21, 5:45 pm Friday, April 22, 9:45 am and 8:15 pm Shabbat Pesach/Yizkor Saturday, April 23, 9:45 am (arrive

by 10:45 am and bring your Yizkor book) and 8:15 pm For more information, contact 757-625-7821 or visit www.bethelnorfolk.com.

B’nai Israel Friday, April 15 (14 Nisan)— Fast of the First Born Fast Begins 5:10 am Daf Yomi 6 am Shachris 7 am Siyum Following Shacharis Last Time to Eat Chametz 10:30 am Burn Chametz before: 11:48 am continued on page 22

jewishnewsva.org | March 28, 2022 | Passover | JEWISH NEWS | 21

Passover continued from page 21

Candle Lighting 7:22 pm Mincha/Kabalas Shabbos/Maariv 7:20 pm Seder: Approximately 8:20 pm Chatzos 1:05 am Shabbos, April 16 (15 Nisan) 1st Day of Pesach Shachris 8:45 am Daf Yomi 6:15 pm

Family owned and operated since 1917

Mincha 7:15 pm Class Maariv: 8:05pm Candle Lighting 8:21 pm Second Seder: Approximately 8:30 pm Begin counting Omer Chatzos 1:05 am Sunday, April 17 (16 Nisan) 2nd Day of Pesach

Southside Chapel • 5033 Rouse Drive Virginia Beach • 757 422-4000

Shachris 8:45 am Daf Yomi 6:30 pm Mincha 7:30 pm Class Maariv / Havdala 8:22 pm Friday, April 22 (2 1Nisan) 7th Day of Pesach Shachris 8:45 am Daf Yomi 6 pm Mincha 7:15 pm Maariv 7:28 pm Candle Lighting 7:28 pm Shabbos, April 23 (22 Nisan) 8th Day of Pesach Shachris 8:45 am Yizkor approximately 10:30 am Daf Yomi 6:20 pm Mincha 7:20 pm Neilas Hachag Maariv / Havdala 8:28 pm

Chabad of Tidewater

Chris Sisler, Vice President, Member of Ohef Sholom Temple, Board member of the Berger-Goldrich Home at Beth Sholom Village, James E. Altmeyer, Jr., President, James E. Altmeyer, Sr., Owner

Maestas Chapel • 1801 Baltic Ave. Virginia Beach • 757 428-1112

Kempsville Conservative

Advance funeral planning Flexible payment plans Financing available Making your arrangements in advance

Chesapeake Chapel • 929 S. Battlefield Blvd.

Chesapeake • 757 482-3311

is one of the best ways to show your loved ones that you care about them.

Our Family Service Counselors have the training and experience that will help you

options for financing. Visit our web site

Services will be held at KBH. Shabbat Pesach Saturday, April 16, 10 am Sunday, April 17, 10 am Friday, April 22, 10 am Shabbat Pesach/Yizkor Saturday, April 23, 10 am For more information and for current COVID protocols, contact kbhsynagogue@ gmail.com.

Ohef Sholom Temble

in the process. Our services include a free funeral cost estimate, and we offer many

Community Seders at the Chabad House.

Friday, April 15 Saturday, April 16 For more information or to RSVP, email rabbilevi@chabadoftidewater.com.

Denbigh Chapel • 12893 Jefferson Ave. Newport News • 757 874-4200

for a three-step Pre-Arrangement Guide or contact the Altmeyer Pre-Arrangement Center directly at 757 422-4000

Approved by all area Rabbis and Chevrah Kadisha Riverside Chapel • 7415 River Road Newport News • 757 245-1525

www.altmeyerfuneralandcremation.com 22 | JEWISH NEWS | Passover | March 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

Wiggles & Giggles: Sammy Spider’s Passover Shapes Sunday, April 3, 10:30 am Virtual Second Seder Saturday, April 16, 6 pm For more information, contact 757-625-4295 or visit www.ohefsholom.org.

Temple Emanuel All Passover services, listed below, will be in‑person, as well as on Zoom. No masks are required if proof of full vaccination, including the booster, is on file in the Temple office. Those who are not vaccinated are asked to wear a mask at all times while in the building.

Shabbat Pesach Saturday, April 15, 10 am Sunday, April 16, 10 am Friday, April 22, 10 am Shabbat Pesach/Yizkor Saturday, April 23, 10 am For more information, contact office@tevb.org or 757-428-2591 or visit www.tevb.org.

Temple Israel Services Friday, April 15, 5:30 pm Saturday, April 16, 9:30 am Sunday, April 17, 9:30 am Held in-person, featuring a Matzah Brei bake off between Rabbi Panitz, Lawrence Fleder, and Valerie Yanku.

Services will be in-person and live streamed.

Masks and proof of vaccination are required. For more information or to RSVP, contact templeisraelva@aol.com or 757-489-4550.

Temple Lev Tikvah Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman will hold a Zoom Seder Friday, April 15, 6:30 pm.

For more information, call 757-617-0334.

Tidewater Chavurah Communal seder Saturday, April 16, 6 pm at the home of Rabbi Ellen Jaffe-Gill and Spencer Gill. The seder is open to Chavurah members and prospective members.

For more information or to RSVP, contact Rabbi Ellen at rabbicantorejg@gmail.com or 757-464-1950 or visit www.tidewaterchavurah.com or on Tidewater Chavurah’s Facebook page.

Attendees must be vaccinated against Covid-19. Masks are optional.

Passover PJ Library offers free downloadable Passover recipes for kids

Plus, new and free books, family-friendly Haggadah, podcasts, and fresh-baked ‘Matzah Mania Guide’ to help families celebrate Passover 2022

A

trusted resource for Jewish families in more than 35 countries who receive their free books each month, PJ Library is offering fresh reading, audio stories, and tasty treats for families celebrating Passover this year, April 15 to 23.

In the United States alone, more than 240,000 children are receiving new books this month, each providing a carefully curated selection of age-appropriate reading related to Passover. This year, families will also receive a colorful illustrated Matzah Mania foldout which includes recipes for homemade matzah, matzah trail mix, and matzah pizza lasagna, ideas for serving a seder grazing board, as well as culturally inclusive information about seder traditions and the Four Questions—printed in English and Hebrew.

Families will also find PJ Library co-branded Yehuda Matzos boxes at the supermarket. Each package will include information about how to sign up to receive free books for children from birth through age eight. And, PJ Our Way allows kids ages nine and through 12, to select and review books on their own each month.

Passover-friendly frittata.

LOW PRICES — perfect —

FOR PASSOVER

Kids cook Free Passover recipes for kids include frittatas, fruit-based breakfast balls, Matza Brie, frozen ice cream, home-made matza, cauliflower pizza, Passover rolls, mini kugels and more. The recipes are available at:https://pjlibrary.org.

For more ideas to entertain the kids during the eight-day Passover holiday, consider these new PJ Library offerings.

Passover podcasts Two new Passover-themed episodes of the PJ Library Presents podcast network launch in April. These new podcasts bring Jewish traditions, culture, holidays, and values to life through engaging audio storytelling.

On April 4, Kiddo Learns about Passover will be the latest Afternoons with Mimi audio story; and Humpty Dumpty and the Passover Feast will be the newest tale in the Beyond the Bookcase series. Families may listen to the 2022 NAPPA Award-winning podcasts on all major streaming sources. More information is available at: https://pjlibrary.org/ podcast.

Family-friendly Haggadah One of the leading sources for family friendly Haggadahs across the United States and beyond with its colorful and kid-friendly illustrated In Every Generation: A PJ Library Family Haggadah, PJ Library has shipped more than 675,000 individual Haggadahs to more than 110,000 PJ Library families for free since 2018.

(Non-subscr ibers

*Product availability varies by store

Save on the ingredients you need for your family’s traditions.

ADS_22SI Jewish News Kosher Ads_4.875x8.125_Final.indd 1

may purchase the printed Haggadah via Amazon.) A digital version may be downloaded in five languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and French.

This Haggadah is filled with songs, blessings, and explanations and is available as a free printable PDF from https://pjlibrary. org/haggadah.

Passover Hub: Stories, songs and books PJ Library is also updating its Passover hub with new book lists and dozens of fresh ideas and resources for families,

3/18/22 1:40 PM

including stories, songs, games, activities, recipes, and printables.

About PJ Library The Harold Grinspoon Foundation created this program to make it easy for families to add Jewish connections to reading time. The books, activities, and many other free resources offered by PJ Library help families enjoy more Jewish culture, values, and traditions at home and in their communities. To find out more about PJ Library in Tidewater or to sign-up kids aged 0-12, contact Nofar Trem at ntrem@ ujft.org or visit pjlibrary.org.

jewishnewsva.org | March 28, 2022 | Passover | JEWISH NEWS | 23

Passover

JERUSALEM QUARTET APRIL 25

APRIL 25, 10:30 AM

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, PORTSMOUTH

PROGRAM: HAYDN Quartet in F minor, Op. 20, No. 5 BEETHOVEN Quartet No. 9 in C major, Op. 59, No. 3, “Razumovsky” Part of the Arts Alliance Coffee Concert Series This program funded in part by the City of Portsmouth and the Portsmouth Museum and Fine Arts Commission

APRIL 25, 7:30 PM

ROBIN HIXON THEATER, CLAY AND JAY BARR EDUCATION CENTER, NORFOLK

PROGRAM: MENDELSSOHN Quartet No. 4 in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2 WEBERN Langsamer Satz, 1905 TCHAIKOVSKY Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 11 Part of the WHRO Public Media Chamber Music Series

Co-presented with

Supported in part by the Fannie, Milton & Leslie Friedman Family Foundation Classical Music Fund of the Virginia Arts Festival Endowment

2022 PLATINUM SPONSORS BILLY GARLAND

GROUPS 10+ SAVE!

TICKETS: VAFEST.ORG OR CALL 757-282-2822 24 | JEWISH NEWS | Passover | March 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

These Passover pancake noodles are better than matzah balls Everything you need to know about fladla (including a recipe).

Liz Susman Karp and Natalie Gorlin

L

ast 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 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,” says 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.

Passover

Wishing you peace and happiness at Passover

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 says, “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!”

FLADLA INGREDIENTS 4 eggs, separated

150 Boush Street, Suite 300 • Norfolk, VA 23510 (757) 490-1193 • www.coheninvestmentgrp.com

¾ tsp salt ¼-½ cup (to taste) chopped chives 4 Tbsp potato starch ¼ cup of chicken broth oil

DIRECTIONS Separate the eggs and add the salt to the yolks.

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.

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

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.

Let cool, then roll each crepe and cut into thin strips. Fladla can be made a few days in advance and refrigerated.

RobertK

Fladla.

Serve in hot soup and enjoy.

jewishnewsva.org | March 28, 2022 | Passover | JEWISH NEWS | 25

Leaving a Legacy in Jewish Tidewater

Passover Growing up in Iran, I thought the whole country celebrated Passover Aylin Sedighi-Gabbaizadeh

I am a Holocaust survivor. My husband and I lost our entire families during the war. The people of the United States and this community have restored my faith in humanity and provided a safe environment in which to raise our wonderful children.

Norfolk has become my home.

Based on everything I have experienced, it is my obligation to be charitable both globally and to my community. There is nothing more important than good deeds and respect for others.

- Bronia Drucker*

Bronia Drucker* established a Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment gift to UJFT. What will your legacy be?

Define your legacy with a gift to endow the Jewish community so future generations have the opportunity to embrace our shared heritage and the values you hold dear.

* of blessed memory

Contact us for your free guide: tjfinfo@ujft.org | 757-965-6111 foundation.jewishva.org

G

rowing up in Iran, I never truly appreciated the difference between Spring Cleaning, New Year’s, and getting ready for Passover. The Jewish holiday takes place almost simultaneously with the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz, when the entire country engages in a frenzy of preparations.

Nowruz (A New Day), which marks the beginning of spring, is Iran’s most festive and colorful holiday. Persians, Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, and even Bahais all purchase new clothes, make traditional cookies, and engage in 12 days of celebrations.

These celebrations include setting a special table, known as a haft-seen, that consists of various items signifying renewal, luck, and blessings. The seven S’s, as they are known, would take their ceremonial places on the same number of plates: sabzeh (a green plate of grown wheat); seeb (red apples); samanoo (a wheat-based dish); senjed (a fruit of the lotus tree); seer (garlic); serkeh (vinegar); and sekkeh (coins laid in water). No table would be complete without swimming goldfish, an elaborate mirror to reflect joy to the viewer, hand-painted eggs, and a holy book.

Where our Muslim neighbors placed a Quran on their haft-seen table, we placed a Torah or a siddur. Where our Muslim neighbors sprouted wheat, we grew lentils, given the proximity of the secular holiday to Passover, when we removed wheat from our homes.

For years I believed Passover to be the beginning of the Jewish calendar because it was synonymous with all things new and a promise of starting afresh. Given the mild climate of the country, by the time the holiday came around, cherry blossoms were in bloom and the aroma of jasmine flowers filled our noses.

Just as the entire country went into full spring-cleaning mode for the national holiday, Jews scoured their homes of

26 | JEWISH NEWS | Passover | March 28, 2022 | jewishnewsva.org

forbidden hametz, or leavened products.

In our home, all the closets would be emptied and reorganized. All the rugs would be taken into the yard and washed in hot, soapy water in order to rid even the tiniest morsel of hametz. I knew Passover was close when my grandmother dug out her larger-than-life-size iron pot and started the process of kashering every item in her kitchen in boiling water.

My grandmother told me stories of stuffing her mattress and blankets with clean cotton — something I was thankful we no longer had to do. Nonetheless, the tasks were still endless, and everyone in the family was involved in the process.

Given that there were no kosher-forPassover shops (or even kosher shops), every cake and cookie had to be made from scratch, a task that entailed the washing, drying, and blending of all the needed nuts. The week before the holiday, the aroma of roasted nuts would fill the house, and the sweet smell of homemade cookies couldn’t summon the holiday fast enough. Given the lack of kosher products, we hardly consumed any dairy for the eight days, our diets consisting of eggs, meats, and, according to Iranian Jewish custom, rice.

Our Muslim neighbors, too, were busy cleaning, readying themselves for the coming of spring. A Muslim family with whom we were particularly friendly would come over each Passover for a taste of matzah, saying how they looked forward to it all year. My father’s co-workers knew it was an auspicious time of the year for him and wished him especially well as he took a holiday for the Seders. In the market and in the streets, though, we kept quiet about our Passover preparations.

We did not discuss details with strangers and those with whom we did not feel a connection.

The Seder itself brought its own associations and customs. At the end of each ritual meal, as we bid farewell to yet another holiday and sang “Next Year in Jerusalem,” the words had a deep

significance for us. Our Seder table became quieter with each passing year, with so many family and friends already gone to other promised lands. We each wondered out loud when our turn would come to leave a country that treated us like second-class citizens, when we would find security and peace in other lands.

In the market and in the streets, though, we kept quiet about our Passover preparations.

Over time, our entire extended family fled to Israel and the United States. My immediate family was the last of our clan to finally pick up and leave, in September 1990.

The story of Iran’s ancient Jewish community unfolds over more than 2,700 years, back to when the Jews were exiled from Jerusalem through to today, after most members of the community have relocated throughout the world. Today there are fewer than 10,000 Jews left in Iran, the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel.

My Passover experience here is vastly different than the one I grew up with.

Every year as I put away one set of dishes and bring out my Passover ware, I feel a pang of guilt at how easy it is to get ready for the holiday compared with what my mother and grandmother had to do in Iran. The shelves of the supermarkets here are filled with kosher-for-Passover cookies, cakes, chocolates, sweets, and dairy products. One could almost forget that we are experiencing a holiday that celebrates the Jews’ escape from slavery.

But I am forever grateful for the freedoms that I have been granted here, and to celebrate this most auspicious holiday alongside so many of our people.