Passover - Food Rules and Rituals

When your dealing with the Divine, play by the rules, or else......

Thanks to Amy Culbertson of the McClatchy Newspapers for this information.

Understanding the rules and rituals of Passover

Passover, which this year begins at sundown Wednesday, is a major Jewish festival that celebrates the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.

Orthodox and Conservative Jews outside of Israel celebrate for eight days, while Reform Jews and Jews in Israel celebrate for seven days.

The Seder

On the first night of Passover, and for many Jews outside Israel, the second night as well, a special family meal prescribed by ritual is observed: the Seder.

Among the Seder rituals are blessings, hand-washing, the drinking of four cups of wine, the breaking and eating of matzo (one piece is set aside) and a retelling of the story of the flight from Egypt.

A tray of symbolic foods, to be consumed before the actual meal, includes:

•“Maror,” bitter herbs such as romaine or horseradish (symbolizing the bitterness of slavery), dipped into charoset.

•“Chazeret,” another bitter herb, which must be different from the one used for “maror,” eaten in a sandwich with matzo.

•“Charoset,” a spiced fruit, nut and wine mixture (symbolizing the mortar the Hebrews used in the hard labor of building during slavery).

•“Zeroa,” a roasted shank bone (symbolizing the sacrifice in the Temple and the protective arm of God), which is not eaten.

•“Beitzah,” a roasted egg (also symbolic of the Temple sacrifice, as well as a symbol of mourning and rebirth), also not eaten.

•“Karpas,” a vegetable such as parsley or celery (symbolizing the lowly origins of the Jewish people), dipped into salt water (symbolizing the Hebrew slaves’ tears).

At the end of the festive meal the “afikomen,” the piece of matzo set aside earlier, is eaten. In many families the “afikomen” is hidden and the children search for it at the end of the meal, or the children “steal” and hide it and the adults ransom it back at the end of the meal.

Everyday kosher

“Kosher” refers to “kashrut,” or “kashruth,” the dietary laws that govern what observant Jews may eat. Though they vary somewhat among Jewish communities and traditions, especially between Ashkenazim (those from Eastern and Central Europe) and Sephardim (from the Mediterranean and Middle East), here are some general guidelines:

Meat and dairy may not be eaten at the same meal; foods that are “pareve,” or “parve,” such as fruits, vegetables and grains, are considered neither and can be eaten with either meat or dairy.

Among meat animals, only those that have cloven hooves and chew their cud are allowed, ruling out pork and rabbits.

Most poultry and other birds are considered kosher, with exceptions that include birds of prey. Poultry is considered meat and cannot be eaten with dairy.

Meat and poultry must be slaughtered in a specific, humane manner, drained of blood and salted. With cattle, sheep and goats, internal organs must be inspected for any forbidden abnormalities, and certain fats, sinews and nerves must be removed.

Dairy products from kosher animals may be eaten, unless they contain animal products. Some authorities consider rennet in hard cheeses an animal product.

Fish with fins and scales that can be removed easily are considered kosher. Processed or prepared items must be certified kosher under rabbinical supervision.

Kosher for Passover

Cooking for Passover, or Pesach, involves a more complicated set of stringent dietary laws.

•Chief among them, stemming from the unleavened bread the ancient Hebrews hurriedly baked before their flight from Egypt, is a ban against consuming any leavened, or fermented, grain products — called “chametz” — during the eight-day period.

The only bread that is eaten is matzo, made from flour but baked under specific conditions — no more than 18 minutes can elapse between its mixing and baking — so that leavening cannot take place. No other dishes can be made with flour, because fermentation begins to occur naturally when any flour and liquid mixture sits long enough.

•Five grains, including wheat, spelt, rye, barley and oats, are universally forbidden; in Ashkenazi traditions, so are other non-“chametz” grains, including rice, millet and corn, as well as legumes and seeds, a category known as “kitniyot.”

•Before Passover the house is supposed to be stringently cleaned to remove all traces of “chametz,” and strict observers will conduct a ritual search to make sure no “chametz” remains in the household at nightfall on the evening before the day Passover begins.

•The Orthodox Union has a one-stop Web site for Passover-related questions, including a list of kosher-for-Passover products, at www.oupass over.org. Once on the site, if you don’t find an answer to your question, you can e-mail a query to the “Webbe Rebbe.”