Tag Archives: passover

Passover/Seder – Holiday

Nationality: Israeli-American
Age: 17
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Bellevue, Washington
Language: English

Text:

The celebration of Passover starts with the Seder which is a big community event where a bunch of people get invited over. It is a very long event where there is structured text with a melody that retells the story of Jewish people being enslaved in Egypt. The entire dinner is choreographed, the text tells you when to drink, refill your wine, when to drink, when to lift the matza, etc. There are symbolic foods, such as a hard boiled egg which symbolizes the way Jewish people went from being soft to being hard due to pressure. There is a part where a glass of wine is meant to be left outside for someone from the story. At the end, there is a lot of singing after everyone has drunk four glasses of wine.

Context:

The informant was raised Orthodox Jewish and grew up engaging with their family’s Passover and Seder traditions. They say they enjoy it but the kosher matza that is used tastes bad. There is also a moment where the youngest child (which they are) has to stand on a chair and sing, which they also dislike. The informant says that the reason that the glass is left outside is because historically, people who were antisemitic would leave bodies outside the homes of Jewish families because they believed Jewish people drank blood. By opening the door in the middle, the group can check if someone had left a body outside. The informant mentioned that their grandmothers would argue about which melody was correct because each family had a different tune for the words.

Analysis:

This holiday is a community event, meant to bring people together. The purpose is to remember the past and commemorate the strength and perseverance of the Jewish people. Remembering the past of a culture is a way of remembering who the people are. In the case of Passover and slavery, remembering the past is a way of preventing it from happening again. As the Seder dinner is a historical retelling of the events, the purpose is to commemorate the people who came before while celebrating the survival of the people now.

Since the event happens at sundown (the start of the Jewish day), it is centered around food. The story itself incorporates the food into the process, connecting it to events or people. This entwines what people are eating with the story they are telling, allowing them to still eat during the event.

The modern addition of checking outside the house for a body is a result of antisemitism. Before, people wouldn’t have to worry about checking outside so that wasn’t part of the story. As it became necessary though, it became part of the celebration as the glass of wine was left specifically for a character in the historical story. The needs of the people were incorporated into the traditions of the ritual so well that if someone doesn’t know the context of opening the door, they might not realize it came from antisemitism.

The melodic element of the retelling comes from how Hebrew is spoken from the Torah which is in a singing-like manner. This is extended to the Hebrew spoken during this event because it is also a religious text. Melody allows for a text to be better remembered. By connecting words to a melody, it allows people to remember what to say for the whole three hour event better which would have otherwise been practically impossible. The informant’s own family had two different melodies that were used and they argued over which was correct. These melodies can become part of family identity and religious identity. This makes it hard for people to use a different melody because of how important their version is to them. Changing it would feel wrong and incorrect.

Jewish Tradition for Passover

Text: During Passover, which lasts for eight days, there are a couple dietary restrictions observed by Jews. Foods containing leavened grain products such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, and spelt are prohibited, as these items could become chametz if they come into contact with water for longer than 18 minutes. Ashkenazi Jews also abstain from eating kitniyot—foods like rice, beans, legumes, and corn—during this period. Traditional Passover meals include matzah, which is unleavened bread made simply from wheat flour and water and is prepared so that it does not rest for more than 18 minutes to prevent leavening. Other staples of the Passover diet include matzah ball soup, various meat dishes, and fruits. The origin of these practices dates back thousands of years to the biblical Exodus from Egypt. According to the story, after God inflicted the tenth plague on the Egyptians, killing the firstborn sons, the Israelites had to leave in haste. This urgency meant they did not have time to let their bread dough rise, resulting in the creation of matzah. The dietary laws observed during Passover serve to commemorate this pivotal event in Jewish history and the haste with which the Israelites fled their enslavement.

Context: The informant is half Jewish and has been doing this ever since he is a kid. He doesn’t keep up with some Jewish traditions but he does do this one since, in his words, “it is only once a year”. He believes in god but does not believe traditions like this holds relevance in gods eyes and he does it just to maintain his culture.

Analysis: The Jewish people are a small group of people throughout history but they have also maintained much of their culture over a great many centuries. The informant participating in the tradition and seeing the importance of carrying it shows the cultural value in judaism of preservation and survival. The jewish people have undergone suffering throughout much of their history and it is very important to remember these time periods and honoring it like in the story of exodus. this can also be seen in Hanukkah which was persecution under the greek Seleucid empire.

Matzah Hunt

Text:

During Passover, the informant’s grandparents would hide two pieces of matzo (one for him, the other for his sister) that they would then search for. Sometimes, this would involve a game of “hot or cold”. If they found the pieces of matzo, they would get a bit of money as well.

Context:

The informant is not Jewish, but rather considers themself a mix of various ethnicity, citing Jewish as one, but mentioning that he was mostly Christian and Scottish, with a bit of Native American ancestry.

Analysis:

When looking further into the matzah hunt, I found out that there’s quite a bit of history and symbolism behind it. The bread is part of a group of three matzo, and the one that’s hidden is broken off from the middle one of the three pieces. It is then wrapped in a napkin and hidden somewhere in the house. In terms of symbolic importance, it’s referred to as either representing the sacrifice that was once offered at the temple in Jerusalem, which speaks to the historic and cultural importance of the activity. Alternatively, it can be seen as a way of representing how one must set aside a portion of what they own for the less fortunate. With such an important symbolic represented here, it’s interesting to see it applied to a game for children to play. Judging by the informant’s recollection of the event, I can’t imagine the player of this activity has much awareness of its importance. As a result, they just see it as a game they can earn something from if they win. Perhaps this can be seen as the way folk practices apply in different ways to different people. While the children see a fun game, the adults see a piece of symbolism that represents them as a people, and said children do not learn such symbolism until they are much older.

Eating Haroseth for Passover

Informant: M.M

Nationality: American

Primary Language: English

Other Language(s): N/A

Age: 20

Occupation: Student

Residence: Denver, CO

Performance Date: 04/25/2024

M.M is 20 years old and is from Denver, Colorado. She is my friend from USC, and I asked her if there are any festivals or rituals she participates in regularly. She tells me about a holiday custom his dad does for Passover. 

“During Passover, which is this big Jewish holiday we celebrate every year, my dad always makes this special dish called Haroseth. It’s kind of a mix of fruits, nuts, and spices, and it tastes amazing. What’s cool about it is that the recipe has been passed down in our family for generations. Passover is pretty much the only time Dad ever cooks, which makes it extra special for me because Mom usually handles the kitchen. It’s kind of a treat to see him in there, taking over for once. This tradition has been around since I was a kid, and I interpret it as a way for us to connect back to our Jewish roots and kind of remember our ancestors through this longtime, shared recipe.”

Personally, this recipe keeps a part of their history alive. Culturally, it connects them to their Jewish heritage, celebrating freedom and resilience, which is what Passover is all about. Their passed-down recipe signifies how long this celebration has stood in their family and ancestors. So I assume this holiday was really important for them. It gives them a chance to remember where they came from and strengthen their identity.

A Unique Passover Tradition

Background Information: 

The informant is a friend of mine. They have been born and raised in Southern California, but his family has familial roots in Israel and Morocco. Their grandmother emigrated from Morocco to the US. 

Main Content: 

ME: So can you tell me about your family’s unique Passover tradition? 

YS: So during Passover dinner, we leave an extra table, or not an extra table, an extra chair, at our dinner table and we leave the front door open when we do the Haggadah, which when you tell stories. And we use the extra chair as a way to signify our dead family members being there with us. So whenever, we like pray, at that time at the table, we like bless our dead family members.

ME: That’s really cool, is it a common tradition or is it just something that your family does?

YS: I’m pretty sure its just my family, my grandma like grew up doing it and taught is to do it too. 

ME: Do you believe that the spirits are really there or is it more just for symbolism?

YS: Yeah, we believe that the spirits are really there. One year, when I was younger, there was like wind happening and our door like flew open and it was really windy in the house. My grandma told us, “That’s my husband!”.

ME: Wow, really crazy, thank you. 

Context: 

This interview happened at my apartment. 

Thoughts: 

This tradition is really interesting because it takes a formal religious tradition like Passover, and adds its own touch to it. It is even more interesting because the informant’s family actually experienced the ghost or spirit of the informant’s grandmother’s deceased husband, which really cemented their belief in the tradition. The informant told me that their grandmother grew up practicing this tradition in Morocco, before she moved to the US. I am not sure if this is widely practiced in Morocco or not, but my informant claims that it isn’t. Regardless, I think that this is a really great way to honor dead family members and still feel a connection with them, and even physically interact with them, as in the case of the informant.