Passover

One thing I was not expecting when I moved to Swaziland was a large Jewish ex-pat community. Because of this, I have now been a part of many Jewish holiday celebrations. The most recent was Passover at Yael and Shaccar's house. Passover commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The last passover I had attended was as a child at our Catholic church. As we went through the ceremony I was surprised by the little things I had kept with me from that celebration. For those of us, non-Hebrew speakers, they had printed out an English version of the Haggadah, the liturgy of passover. We went around the room, each reading a paragraph reserving the Hebrew section for the actual Jewish people at the celebration.

Tali, Yael and Shaccar's middle son, had practiced for days and memorized one of the Hebrew songs. It was a very sweet moment. One of the important parts of passover is the seder plate. The seder plate contains:

1. Lamb shankbone-representing a sacrifice made on the seder at the Temple of Jeruselum.

2. The Egg-a holiday offering brought in the days of the Temple.

3. Bitter Herbs-often horseradish based as a reminder of the slavery the Jewish forefathers experienced in Egypt.

4. A nonbitter Vegetable-Yael used parsley. To symbolized the backbreaking work the Israelites faced in Egypt

5. Charoset-a sweet mixture of nuts, apples, cinnoman representing the mortar the Jewish slaves used for building in Egypt.

6. Lettuce-again to represent the enslavement in Egypt.

A part of passover that I was oblivious to as a child was the role of red wine. Throughout the ceremony, four glasses of red wine are consumed. Lane enjoyed this part of the evening. I am pretty sure she slept well that night!