By Alex Berger
A father to a child at the Passover Seder table: “If you don’t eat, it will kill your grandmother.”
A thought at the Easter dinner table: Easter is the miracle of the Resurrection. If you don’t believe in miracles, how can you explain how Queens residents were able to survive the past winter?
A look at the calendar revealed that April 4 was Palm Sunday and April 5 was the first day of Passover. Good Friday is April 9, and Easter Sunday (the oldest and, to many Christians, the most joyful and religious of all holy days) will be celebrated April 11. Spring had already arrived to breathe new life into the world of nature. Each in its own way reflects rebirth and renewal. Don’t you agree that this month is certainly a bright and rewarding time of year?
Good Friday commemorates Christ’s death more than 2,000 years ago. Christians believe that on the Sunday following Christ’s demise, he rose from the dead. So at the dawning of every Easter Sunday, they celebrate this miracle by going to church to pray and sing hymns.
Passover, the Festival of Freedom, is also a joyous period for Jews. They recall that their people were once slaves in Egypt. God chose Moses to lead them to freedom. He instructed Moses to inform all Jewish families to mark their doorways with the blood of a lamb. They were also instructed to gather their belongings and be ready to leave Egypt at a moment’s notice.
During that night the Angel of Death visited every Egyptian home and in each, the first-born child died. The Angel of Death miraculously passed over the houses with blood on their doorways.
This was how Passover got its name.
After this terrible night, the Egyptian pharaoh reluctantly let the Jews go. They left in a hurry because they feared the pharaoh might change his mind. They did not have time to bake their daily bread, so the dough was simply wrapped up and taken with them. When they did stop to eat, the Jews baked the dough over fires. But with no leaven (yeast) in it, the dough produced a cracker-like bread known as matzoh.
Passover is a special period for the Jews. The Jewish home is scrubbed clean and special pots and dishes, used only for this holiday, are brought out. New paper lining for closet shelves, new dish towels, etc., are the order of the day. Everything must be new, and cleanliness is immaculately observed.
Traditional foods are served at the Seder table and a religious service is performed. At the Seder, the hard, flat matzoh (“the bread of affliction”) is eaten as a reminder of the Jewish people who were freed from slavery in Egypt.
Only special foods, certified kosher for Passover, are permitted in the house during the entire eight-day holiday period. Over the years other unleavened products have emerged. Kosher-for-Passover cakes, puddings and even pizza mixes made from matzoh flour are available to be served on Passover tables.
One of the highlights of the holiday is when the youngest child is designated to recite the “Four Questions.” He asks the reason Passover was different than all other nights. The answers are supplied by the patriarch of the family. This annual ritual has been recited by Jews on Passover nights for more than 5,000 years. Following the Seder, everyone sings happy folksongs.
Although strict religious practices are paramount for many Easter and Passover observers, it is also a fun period for the children. During Easter, many secular symbols have come to be associated with the holiday such as lilies, bonnets and furry chicks.
But the most popular symbol of all is the Easter bunny, which is said to hide gaily decorated eggs in houses and yards. Children traditionally question, “Who brings the colored eggs at Easter?” In the United States and Canada, they are told it is the Easter bunny.
But in other countries such as Italy, Belgium and France the answer is the church bells. This is quite logical; the children know that the bells are not rung from Good Friday through Easter Sunday. They think that they must have flown off to Rome. As the bells fly back home for Easter, they drop the many colored eggs for the children to find.
During Passover, a similar hunt is undertaken. The children are sent looking for the “afikomen,” or matzohs hidden by their parents. With secularism so prevalent today, will unleavened pizzas eventually be used instead of matzohs?
(Did you know that Italian pizzas were derived from matzohs? As per the People’s Almanac, “Pizzas were first made 2,000 years ago when Roman soldiers added olive oil and cheese to their matzohs.” They ate them plain because at that time anchovies and pepperoni weren’t available on their supermarkets’ shelves.)
Food is also very important during Easter. Lamb, a symbol of Jesus, is an Easter favorite.
In Eastern Europe, people enjoy an Easter cake shaped as a skirt. It is called a “babka,” which means “little old woman.” In Italy, Easter cakes are molded into the form of a rabbit, the symbol of birth and new life. In other countries, Easter cookie lambs are baked. Hot cross buns are an important treat on the Easter menu — the cross being another Easter symbol.
Easter and Passover are glorious holidays of rebirth and freshness. Families congregate, dress in their fineries, pray, sing songs, eat around a festive and bountiful table and enjoy the festive familial, religious occasions. I join with the many other celebrants who look forward to this time of year.
Gloria and I want to wish all my readers a happy and joyful Easter and all the sweetness of the Seder throughout the year. We wish everyone a world of love, happiness and peace.
Reach columnist Alex Berger by e-mail at timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 140.
