Yes, We Still Need an Orange on our Seder Plate

This week, my colleague, Rabbi Stephen Fuchs, wrote an essay on the ReformJudaism.org site about the inclusion of an orange on the Seder plate.

To quote him in order to explain this custom:

In addition to the traditional symbols, many families and communities will include an orange on their seder plates. The most prominent myth behind this custom is that, years ago, a man confronted Professor Susannah Heschel and told her, “The idea of women rabbis makes as much sense as an orange on a seder plate."

Rabbi Fuchs reminds readers that Professor Heschel has actually debunked this "myth," and explains that her real intention was to put the orange on the plate in honor of gay and lesbian Jews who have been marginalized.

All true.

But then Rabbi Fuchs suggests that the time has come to eliminate this symbol. He says:

But I believe our focus at the seder should be on telling our story. Though that story can and should reference other struggles for liberation, our seder plate is full enough without symbols that do not explicitly reference our liberation from bondage.

And this is where I disagree. Yes. The focus at the seder should be on telling "our story."

But how can we tell that one story, that story of long ago, without connecting it directly to as many other stories that we have? How can we make this long-ago-tale of slavery relevant and understandable to each generation, to each individual participant at the table, if we don't remind ourselves of continued oppression in our midst?

I deny the idea that we have "arrived" in terms of gender equality, especially when taken on a worldwide level. I deny the idea that the presence of women on the North American Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist bima is "enough" when held up to other movements, other countries (read: Israel), and other aspects of society. Telling the story of the brave women who participated in the story of the Exodus is good. It is an important step in restoring equality to our storytelling. But merely to place those women back into the story without acknowledging how long it took to get them there? Merely to place them into the story without pointing out that their presence alone is a milestone for our people? I think this is missing the point of telling the tale of liberation.

Yes, I agree. "Our story" is important. But the seder has retained its relevance for generations exactly because we have taken the once-upon-a-time story and made it our own in every generation. I agree that the orange does not need to merely refer to women on the bima, and it doesn't even need to refer only to the LGBTQI community. But instead, it stands out as a reminder of all people that, at some point in their history, might have felt that they "didn't belong." I like that my orange has to jockey for a spot, teetering on the edge of one of the other seder plate spaces. The orange never quite fits -- yes! That is exactly the point.

The orange will remain on my seder plate, as a sign that we are always striving to help everyone to feel included, a sign that we are always looking out for those who might not feel that they "belong," and a sign that we are full of juicy vitality: always growing, always changing, and always aware, keenly aware, that our history of bondage requires us to tell those stories.

Mini Crustless Quiches {Passover Recipe}

Crustless quiches sounded like a delicious addition to our Pesach repertoire!

With thanks to Mara over at Kosher on a Budget for the inspiration, here's what I came up with, after reading a whole lot of crustless quiche recipes:

Whisk together 6 eggs and about 1 cup of whole milk. Add about 1/2 a cup of Parmesan, some nice pepper and salt. Preheat oven to 350 and spray your mini-muffin tin (24 cups) with cooking spray.

Into each cup, put a little bit of vegetables* and a little bit of shredded cheese (I used cheddar) and then pour the egg mixture over them until they're all covered. You can pour all the way up to the top of the cups.

Bake for about 30 minutes until slightly brown on top and puffed up.

As soon as they come out of the oven, run a knife around the edge of each quiche and turn them out onto a wire rack to cool. We ate ours at room temperature but they're good hot, cold, or anywhere in between!

*I used frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed out, as well as some caramelized onions. I can see how almost anything would work here. Just don't overfill the cups.

A delicious addition to your Pesach food offerings!
What's your favorite Passover recipe?

Pesach Make-Your-Own Charoset Oasis

There are many different ways to observe the holiday of Passover.

In my own personal custom, I'm pretty committed to the idea of one Seder, on the first night of the holiday. A second seder has always felt, well, secondary. It lacks the excitement, the enthusiasm, the delight (albeit short-lived) of that first taste of matzah. 

But I love a good party.

So I don't usually turn down the idea of a second-night-of-Passover Party.

Oh, and since I also love to teach and discuss and enjoy traditions, I don't mind throwing a few of the Seder customs into that second-night-of-Passover party.

Often, our second seder is somewhat experimental. 

So this year, we tried a few new things.

First, we set up a tent in our living room. Our living room isn't very big, so the tent took up most of the space. But it did allow us to ask a fifth question - "what's with the tent!?"

I had hoped it would spark a discussion of what it would be like to wander in the desert, what we would pack if we had to leave on a moment's notice. Alas, it wasn't quite as sparky as I'd hoped. But the kids loved having a tent. And Big Bear loved having a room of his own.

The more successful innovation was this Make-Your-Own Charoset Oasis:

(As named by my friend Rabbi Anne Persin, who says, "we're traveling in the desert and we stopped at this oasis for some charoset!")

I put out bowls of chopped nuts, chopped apples, chopped pears, mandarin oranges, toasted coconut, and raisins. I pre-soaked the apples and pears in wine, and I left a little extra wine on the table for those who like it extra-mushy. We also put out honey and cinnamon (not pictured). Even my kids who don't usually like charoset got into the fun, and adults did too. (Bananas came up as a suggestion, and I waited to cut them until the last minute and then I forgot. Oops.)

I think it might be fun to ask people to suggest their own ingredients, or to ask them to bring a bowl filled with a charoset ingredient and its significance toward the lessons of Passover. Either way, I think I've created a hit with this one! 

In case you're interested, we also watched some of our favorite Pesach videos and had a little discussion about freedom, slavery, and plagues. Yael said the four questions (even though she got both giggly and shy) and I quizzed all the kids about all that they knew about Passover. And of course, we ate a yummy meal! We celebrated with friends and family and I consider it to be a wonderful and fun success!

How were your Seder experiences? 

Did you try anything new? Please share....I'd love to learn from you!

Matzah Meal Popovers {recipe}

1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup of oil
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups matzah cake meal
7 eggs

Combine water and oil, bring to a boil. Remove from heat, stir in the dry ingredients until it pulls away from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool slightly. Beat in the eggs one at a time, until well blended. Allow to rest for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a muffin pan, and fill the cups. Bake for 30-40 minutes until brown and puffy. Remove from oven and turn out onto a towel to cool. Serve warm with butter, or make sandwiches with tuna, or whatever you like!

Yum!

What's your favorite Passover recipe?

The 15th of Nisan Approaches

Three hundred years ago a ship called the Mayflower set sail to the New World. This was a great event in the history of England. Yet I wonder if there is one Englishman who knows at what time the ship set sail? Do the English know how many people embarked on this voyage? What quality of bread did they eat? Yet more than three thousand years ago, before the Mayflower set sail, the Jews left Egypt. Every Jew in the world, even in America or Soviet Russia, knows on exactly what date they left – the fifteenth of the month of Nisan; everyone knows what kind of bread the Jews ate. Even today the Jews worldwide eat matzah on the 15th of Nisan. They retell the story of the Exodus and all the troubles Jews have endured since being exiled. They conclude this evening with two statements: “This year slaves. Next year, free men. This year here. Next year in Jerusalem, in Zion, in Eretz Yisrael.” That is the nature of the Jews. - David Ben Gurion, 1947

Wishing you and your family a Chag Sameach, a sweet and healthy Passover holiday! 

New American Haggadah {review}

I was very excited to receive the my review of the New American Haggadah, especially after this piece in the New York Times, which made me giggle a little.

And then I opened it. It is gorgeous.

It's hardcover, with beautiful illustrations. The translation is very interesting and literal, and the commentaries are creative and actually add something new to the text, which I truly appreciate. There's a very interesting timeline of Jewish history running throughout the book.

It is a fantastic study document, and I recommend it to all Seder leaders. You will learn something new, you will gain different and lovely insight into the Haggadah text, and you will be able to enhance your family's Seder with these ideas.

That said, I cannot imagine ever using this Haggadah at my family's seder. Firstly, there are no transliterations. Its sheer size and bulk make it really unreasonable to use as a family Haggadah. The commentaries are on their own separate pages and you have to turn the book to read them, and the timeline also requires you to turn the book, but the opposite way! I know that much has been made of the design of this book, and it is so beautiful, but it really doesn't seem like it would be a very realistic book to use during a Seder, itself.

In addition, I have spent most of my life struggling with translations that are masculine-based. In fact, I put my own Haggadah together many years ago in order to restructure the translation into something gender neutral. It's really not that hard, yet Nathan Englander chose to translate using masculine language. I'm disappointed, really, since I would imagine that a New American document would be a little more gender sensitive. (According to that same New York Times article, even the Maxwell House Haggadah has become gender-neutral.)

So, I definitely recommend that this book grace your shelf. It is beautiful to behold and there are new insights, definitely. But I recommend that you find a different Haggadah to use at your Seder table, if you are still looking.

What Haggadah does your family use?
P.S. Today over at my other blog, the #blogExodus prompt is Redemption, and I talk about my family's Haggadah...

Using up the Chametz {recipe}

So it's that time of year when I'm using up the chametz.
And I am trying so hard not to buy any more.

So when Sam asked for French Toast, I was so excited to remember that I had a challah in the freezer just begging to be sliced up.

I love French Toast, but I just don't always have time to stand at the stove and flip the bread. (Um...4 kids!?) And many years ago, I discovered the overnight baked French Toast deliciousness. But sometimes, I don't plan ahead...and then I figured out how to make baked French Toast without the overnight part and...voila...French Toast is a basic, easy to make meal!

I adapted the recipe from here....

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons honey (I don't measure. I just squeeze it in the pan.)
2/3 cup orange juice (or milk if you don't have any)
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (who measures?)
1/4 teaspoon salt
glug of vanilla
6 (1/2- to 3/4-inch) thick slices of Challah

Heat oven to 375.
Spray a 9x13 glass baking dish with cooking spray and then put butter and honey into then pan. Heat in oven until butter melts and honey is bubbling, about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and stir well.
While it's heating, in a large wide pan, whisk together juice, eggs, spices, and salt. Dip bread in, turning it once to coat it well, let it soak about 2 minutes per side, then carefully set each piece of bread into the honey-buttered pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until well-browned. Before serving, flip over each piece so the honey-butter side is up.

It smells and tastes amazing.

What do you do to use up the chametz in your house?

Looking for #BlogExodus? Check it out over here.

Tasty Manischewitz Treats {review}

Back in January (!) I received an awesome box from Manischewitz, with the following contents:

My kids were so excited, they immediately opened the container of (Sugar Free) Macaroons and consumed half the package before I even realized it. And then they proceeded to eat them over the next few weeks. "The best macaroons!" they pronounced them. I must admit, that was a good enough review for me and I didn't get even one! (Do you like macaroons? This is a love-hate thing, I've found. I found a recipe for Pesadik brownies that uses chopped up macaroons...now that's delicious.)

Then, I made a whole (almost) Pesadik dinner for the family. I used the gluten free pasta to make a baked pasta dish, and I made the Red Velvet Cake. First...the pasta dish:

I didn't tell them it was gluten free pasta. It was a little gummy while cooking, and it definitely isn't the same as the "regular" pasta that I usually make, but my kids ate it with no complaints at all! My brother-in-law, who often eats gluten-free products, said that it was quite good gluten-free pasta. High praise!

 

Then, the cake:

Now, if you've been around here before, you've noticed that I'm a baker.

So I don't usually buy mixes like this, on Pesach, or ever! But how could I not try it out? 

 I must admit, it smelled like matzah meal and I didn't have high hopes as I mixed it up.

 And I thought the frosting had an odd flavor when I tasted it....

But my kids ADORED it. In fact, Sam asked if I would make it for his birthday next year.

Uh-huh. Totally not kidding.

Which doesn't mean that he's going to get it for his birthday. But I thought that was amazing praise.
It actually tasted quite good...like real red velvet cake! Impressive for a Pesadik baked good that came out of a box.

As you can see from the picture above, we also got some White Chocolate Covered Matzo - which we thought was too sweet, and some Mediterranean Matzos, which I think will make awesome Matzah Pizzah.

The other notable thing in the package were the Guiltless Gourmet Crunches - a sweet, crunchy cashew snack food that was really delicious. I would definitely eat that year round.

Thank you to Manischewitz for the samples!

So....as you head on out to do your Pesach shopping, these are some of the new offerings you might find on your shelves! What new products are you going to try this year?

(Disclosure: I received the package from Manischewitz and we tasted the food. I was not compensated in any other way for this review!)

P.S. If you're looking for #BlogExodus, head over to my other blog, rabbiphyllis.blogspot.com, and if you're looking for #Exodusgram, head over to my tumblr, imabima.tumblr.com.

#BlogExodus and #Exodusgram

There's always a lot to get done to prepare for the holiday of Pesach.
Not only do we have to get our homes ready for the week of leaven-free dining, there's an important spiritual aspect to preparing ourselves for the experience of the Exodus.

Luckily, there are a couple of weeks prior to Passover in which to get ready!

A few years ago, I participated in Tweet the Exodus. It was one of the most fun online projects I've ever participated in! I'm not sure we could reprise it even if we wanted to!

So onto new and different projects.

This year, I'm inviting YOU to join me (yes, you. The person reading this post...friend, family, colleague, blogger, reader...) in two projects during the first part of the month of Nisan, the month in which Passover falls. You can do one or both...or just jump in at your whim!

The first is #BlogExodus. This is pretty simple. I've provided topics for each of the first 14 days of the month of Nisan...just write a blog post about that topic on the assigned day! Use the hashtag to share your post, even in your title. This might be a great way to kickstart your blog (are you new at it?) and it might be a great way to get yourself ready for the themes and ideas of the holiday! I've decided to post my #BlogExodus posts over at rabbiphyllis.blogspot.com - my "rabbi" blog. (But I'll tweet them at @imabima!) If you don't blog, and want to participate, maybe you want to tweet the topics, or use your Facebook posts to explore these themes...

The second is a little more...blurry. Or...open to interpretation. I'm totally into Instagram (I'm imabima, of course) on my iPhone. I have noticed all sorts of fun daily challenges on Instagram, and I've decided that I'm going to take photos related to these themes. I think this will be far more challenging than merely writing about the themes and I'm hoping that it is a fun challenge. Also, if you don't have a blog or don't feel like writing...take a picture instead! (And you don't have to use Instagram to share your photos, you can share them on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Tumblr (I'll admit, I have one but I don't use it, any ideas?)...whatever makes you happy!) Whatever you do, don't forget to tag it with #Exodusgram so we can all share.

The themes are totally up for your own interpretation! I tried to think broadly about what the general themes of Pesach are, and how they would translate into blog posts, photos, etc.

Feel free to grab the picture above and share it....and use it in your posts, etc.

Are you going to play along? Let me know! Leave me a comment here, send me a tweet, or send up a signal fire...
(And yes, I know that some of the dates are Shabbat. I don't blog/tweet/Facebook on Shabbat but I will post after Shabbat is over. I'm good with that....you can do it any way you like.)

Snippets of Seder

Yael helped me to make the charoset. No one else wanted to help...

They did help to spoon it onto the Seder Plate, though.

And put out the matzah...

I seriously could have written a blog post just of the out-takes from this family photo...but maybe next time.

The annual wearing-of-the-plagues.

And playing with the froggies...

Ima's little matzah ball - isn't he delicious?

My Four Children

It was recently pointed out to me that I have FOUR children.

And then I thought about it and did a big ol' head smack. Right! I have FOUR children. Just like in the Seder.

The wise.
The wicked.
The simple.
And the one who doesn't know how to ask.

So...all week, I've been musing about whether or not my four children fit into the model of the Big Four. Do I have one of each?

David could be the Wise child. After all, he is the oldest. He is really bright and seems to know a lot. He remembers what we have taught from year to year and he's excited to show off his knowledge. He is also wise in the sense that he is excited to teach it all to his siblings.

Solly is obviously the one who doesn't know how to ask. Too young to do much more than drool or nap through the Seder, he will certainly gain the capacity over the years, God willing.

That leaves the Wicked and the Simple children. And I must admit that neither of my remaining little people fall into these categories...all the time. I can certainly consider various times that both of them might be considered the "wicked" one - the times when they refuse to participate, when they throw back to me comments that are meant to hurt, knowing how important this all is to me. Statements like, "I don't want to learn how to say the four questions," or "Do we HAVE to go to Seder?" are clearly designed to get my goat (Passover pun alert) but I also know that they are young and will probably turn into the Wise children as time goes on...and sometimes they are both the Simple children. They don't quite know exactly what this is all about, because they are young and it seems so complicated. So for them we must make the Seder fun and engaging, so that their memories of the Seder are warm and welcoming, so that in time they will WANT to learn more, to grow more, to be more and do more.

So maybe I've got it all wrong. It doesn't seem quite right to categorize my children in such a definitive way. After all, even though I said that David could be the Wise child, he also has the capacity for refusing to participate, for challenging and questioning the whole foundation and purpose of the Seder. And it seems unfair to categorize Solly before he's even half a year old, for goodness' sake!

I think what the Seder is getting at with this idea of Four Children is the same lesson that I try to remind myself of every day as I interact with my children: each of them are unique in their own way. I have to meet them where they are, at the place and time that they are. Some days, it might be in a wise place. Some days, it might be a simple place. Some days, it might even be a wicked place. And some days, they might not even know what to say or how to ask.

And then I just hold them tightly and tell them I love them.

Chag sameach...a zissen Pesach. 
May this holiday bring blessings and joy to you and all your loved ones.

Grover Does Passover {DVD Review}

The Shalom Sesame videos have been getting a lot of play in my house. This month, we're watching the Passover video, with what might be my favorite new musical parody:



Now, frankly, my kids don't get why this one is funny at all. They would prefer to watch Grover and that little pink furry character run around looking for the Maror. They like to hear the Count count in Hebrew, and watch the monsters run around teaching the numbers up to four.

But I am a big fan of seeing Jake Gyllenhaal hide the afikoman and the teaching about Mimuna, a Moroccan celebration at the end of Pesach. They weren't as enamored of these sections as I was. But it's okay, it kept us all entertained!

And my favorite part? The Seder table was presided over by three women. Even though we didn't actually watch them conduct the Seder itself, I still liked the idea that a Seder can have many different appearances and still be a Seder.

You can get your own copy of Shalom Sesame: It's Passover, Grover here or at Amazon.


Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this DVD for the purposes of review.
P.S. Mara is giving one away over at Kosher On a Budget!

Getting Ready for Pesach

While getting ready for Pesach in the real world, I started reading back over my old Pesach posts from previous years. (There were a lot!)


Some highlights:
Cookbooks for Pesach
Our Favorite Music for Pesach
My favorite Pesach recipe
Pesach tips and tricks
Matzah Brei variations
Pesach books for kids
Making huevos haminados with my oldest
My award-winning Pesach Seder poetry
How to get your kids to love Pesach

There might be some other Pesach posts ruminating in the next few days...stay tuned!

Passover in Pictures

Better late than never, right?

A quick recap of Passover in pictures...

See more great shots over at Tracey's place.

How to Get Your Kids to Love Passover

Many many of my friends and their families have a hard time with Pesach. I know, it seems like a tricky holiday. After all, there are so many rules and things that we can't eat.

And I know that some people reading this can't quite relate to the way that I keep Pesach - since I'm not overly stringent about certain things and I do eat kitniyot. But this is what my family does to keep Pesach and how we make it as interesting and fun as possible...because I want my kids to LOVE Passover as much as I do.

So here goes, my get-kids-to-love-my-favorite-holiday rule:
say YES to as many things as you can.

Chocolate cereal that mom won't buy any other time of year (even tho it's the matzah stuff)? Yep, it's Pesach!

Potato chips for snack? Yep, it's Pesach!

REAL maple Syrup AND chocolate chips on your matzah meal pancakes? Why not? It's Pesach!

Ice cream for a snack (or...even, gulp....breakfast)? Yep, it's Pesach!

Israeli chocolate spread on matzah? (or even...on a spoon) Yep, it's Pesach!

Basically, I make it about what you GET more than what you don't get.
I make as many playdates at OUR house as I can, I bake brownies and offer chocolate spread on matzah for any meal they want.(Oh, and I clear the house of all chametz, of course. So it's just not there if they ask. They can look in the cabinet and take anything they see...out of sight, out of mind.)

Meals are simple - we do eat a lot of fish and potatoes, but everyone likes my Farfel-Cheese Casserole which I make at least once. I always make a few batches of matzah brei as well, which goes over pretty well. We eat eggs for breakfast and sometimes for dinner or lunch. I don't worry as much about nutrition except for one key element: lots of fruit. I splurge and get as many kinds of fruit as my kids will eat. (Gotta keep them...um...regular.) I make sure that every meal has a piece of fruit attached to it and while I'm happy to offer all that junk food they want, I still suggest a pear or apple as the FIRST idea for a snack. Sometimes they take me up on it!

This year we went to the zoo, and we packed a picnic, which we ate before we went in. This worked because even though I put all the stuff in the cooler, it was pretty hot and I would have worried about it if we tried to leave it in the car while we walked the zoo. The kids had matzah crackers with cheese, carrots, macaroons and clementines. I brought a big bag of potato chips and salads for the grownups. It worked great and no one went hungry. (Including the goose who tried to crash our picnic. He got the leftovers...)

We are not as absolutely strict as some people so I usually schedule one trip to New York Slices where they make matzah pizza and one trip to Max and Benny's for their Pesach menu (we didn't get there this year) which breaks up the monotony of eating at home, too. But even if you don't do that, my method would still work well.

The other problem is that so many other people around my kids don't actually keep the holiday. I generally solve this by doing as much fun stuff as a family as we can (want to watch a movie? Sure, it's Pesach!) and inviting other kids to our house for playdates instead of the reverse. The other kids don't seem to mind matzah with cream cheese and it keeps my kid away from having to explain anything.

Side note: This year I made THESE amazing brownies from Marcy Goldman's great Jewish Holiday Baking cookbook and I plan to make them every year....so good. Seriously. You wouldn't believe they're Pesadik.
 

At the end of the day, Passover is my favorite holiday. Yes, it's a challenge, but I love that. It helps me feel special and different, it helps me think for a whole week outside the box, it helps me create something that my kids remember from year to year. And I think that while they might not love Pesach quite yet, they don't mind it at all. And that's good enough for me at this point. I can only hope that as they grow older, they'll love it as much as I do.

 

I feel connected to the story, I truly feel that I walked out of Egypt and I get choked up as we read the lines from the Haggadah..."and you shall say to your children on that day, this is because of what God did for US when WE went forth from Egypt."

 

We've watched Prince of Egypt at least 3 times this Pesach and I find my eyes get moist each time we are freed from slavery. And each time we watch it, I ask my kids "who are those people leaving Egypt?" and they've learned to answer, "that's us."

 

That's what I want.

 

So...What do you do to make Pesach special in your house?

Passover Crumbs & Laughs

The story is wrapping up at TweetTheExodus - come by for the final words....


My newest favorite Pesach joke:
There once lived a king who had an favorite advisor. The other advisors objected because he was a Jew.
The King accepted their argument and ordered him to convert. The advisor obeyed the king, and converted along with his whole family. But it made him so depressed and despondent, that he went to the king and said, "I'm a Jew. I can't change who I am. Do whatever you want with me but I've gotta go back." The king had no idea that his advisor felt so strongly, so he told him to go ahead and be a Jew again. "Your counsel is just too valuable to me to lose." The advisor, overjoyed, ran home to tell his wife. "We can be Jews again!" he shouted. His wife looked at him and said, "Couldn't you have waited until AFTER Pesach?"

Some more jokes:
Why did the matzah quit his job? Because he didn't get a raise.
Who is behind Pharaoh's evil empire? Darth Seder
What did the Red Sea say to the Jews when it parted? Nothing, it just waved.
What's the difference between Matzah and Cardboard? Cardboard doesn't leave crumbs on the rug.

(Many adapted from Bangitout's Seder Sidekick)



Here's a great video from G-dCast



Some of my old Passover posts, worth a visit:
Great Passover Books for Kids
Haggadah Wordle
YouTube for Pesach
Matzah Brei Variations
Misc Tips and Tricks (including my other favorite Pesach jokes)
Award-winning Seder Poetry

May you have a zissen Pesach, a sweet Passover, and may your celebration bring joy and freedom.
Help end modern-day slavery with Free the Slaves.

It's OUR Story: TweetTheExodus

My dear friend and pie-maker, FrumeSarah, said it best:

The way we approach the Exodus story is bibliodrama at its finest. In each generation, we turn the story over and over, looking for ways to insert ourselves into the story.
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav taught that “the exodus from Egypt occurs in every human being, in every era, in every year, and even on every day.”
How do we understand the Exodus? And what if we were to experience the Exodus in our own day, in our own time? And how would we transmit the story? We’ve moved beyond tablets. 

Oh yes we have.
We're Tweeting the Exodus, and let me tell you, it's quite a ride so far!

I woke up this morning to these alerts in my Google Reader:

It's like a dream - I can't believe my name popped up on the Wall Street Journal website. It's a great article, even though I think that the point of TweetTheExodus is a little bigger. This isn't just about fun, but it's really about creating something new, about expressing ourselves in a way that speaks to our generation, and find new meaning in the story.

I'm proud to be a part of this experiment in telling an old story in a very new way, and I think that it has such a great potential. So far, as I write this, there are 780 793 (it changed while I was writing this post!) followers of the @TweetTheExodus account, and I really believe that's a lot of people thinking about the ancient story of freedom - and for many of them, they might not have thought about that story at all, or they might not have related it to their own lives at all.

Some of the TweetTheExodus press:
Passover Meets Twitter - Wall Street Journal
A Bunch of People Are Tweeting the Exodus - NY Mag
Tweet The Exodus - Boulder Jewish News
Oy Vey, as it Turns Out, My Rabbi's Tweeting the Exodus
Tweeting the Holiday of Passover - New York Daily News
Twitter: A New Passover Tradition? AOL News
Exodus Twitter Feed: Twexodus? - Guest of a Guest
Exodus Hits Twitter - Tablet Magazine

So join me and a bunch of my friends and colleagues and tweeps as we tell the story, live the story, build the story, feel the story....we ARE the Children of Israel, and we are going forth from Egypt...from darkness to light, from slavery to redemption, from the narrow place of Mitzrayim to the wide open spaces of our own potential and possibility.

And it's going to be amazing!

Kosher Cooking Carnival #52: Rosh Chodesh Nisan

I am very happy to be hosting my first ever Kosher Cooking Carnival. Let's start, as we usually do, with the links to previous editions: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, KCC Meta Carnival, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51...and here we are at #52!

The next one, #53, will be on Rosh Chodesh Iyar (April 15), hosted by Shimshonit.
(Submit posts through Blog Carnival here.)

Now, onto the posts!
Batya: Fussy About Food
G6: Broccoli Cheese Potatoes
Yisrael Medad, husband of the great Batya: Cooking (roasted oven fries - sound yummy!)
Mrs. S.: The end is nigh (turkey stew)
Batya: Is Purim Really Over? Only Thirteen Lunar Months Till The Next TimeFrume Sarah: Made a Pi(e) (and I think it's somehow my fault :-) )
Jew and the Carrot: Watch that Lox it Might Not Be Kosher

Halacha

Batya: Defining Kosher as Ethical (halacha and ethics - interesting questions!)

Jewish Shabbat and Holiday food

Home Shuling: Could these be any cuter? (mini hamantaschen, even though Purim is over, these are so cute)
Batya: Yes, I Baked Challah!! (and even raw, it looks delicious!)
Leora Wenger: Kira's Potato Leek Soup (Check out the really cool way it looks!)
mominisrael: Gluten-Free Products on Passover | Cooking Manager (very useful for the GF people in your life)
Chana Rubin presents Healthy Kosher Eating With Chana: Passover (She has a ton of Pesach posts, I couldn't choose!)
Batya: And What Do You Serve At The Seder Meal? (I'm just the opposite, Batya, I like all the side dishes instead of the main course!)
Mordechai Torczyner: Is Quinoa Kosher for Passover? (really great halachic discourse)
Israeli Kitchen: Thinking About Passover Cooking (I'm with you - no more fake matzah products than totally necessary!)
Ima on and off the Bima (that's me): Lots of Hamantaschen Recipes here
Ilana-Davita: Gato de Muez de Pesah (a yummy looking cake, which is not what I thought it was since I read gato=cat...ha ha)
The Shiksa in the Kitchen: Spinach Matzo Mina and this PIE for Passover (plus a contest)

Restaurant Reviews

Batya: It Sure Paid To "Window-shop" (Check the Prices) The Breakfast Deals 
Batya: Yes, A Sports Bar and Grill in Jerusalem!

In other Kosher Cooking News...
@koshereye hosted a Passover Twitter Party, hashtag #passoverpty - will there be another one before the big week?

That's all from here. I'm sure that next month will be full of Pesach posts and post-Pesach posts. Hard to imagine what "post-Pesach" will be like while we're in the throes of preparing! 
A zissen Pesach...may your Passover be joyous and sweet!

Craft for Welcoming Guests

One of the biggest mitzvot of the Passover Seder is to welcome in guests.

Let all who are hungry come and eat.

I found this adorable project from Just for the Mitzvah, and we made them in my Shabbat class this past week. In case you can't quite tell, it's a coat hanger.

What a lovely way to help your kids welcome guests into their home.
How do you teach your kids about hospitality?

From Slavery to Freedom...

We've had a great Passover around here.

Our Seder was a lot of fun! (we actually did two Sedarim, the first with our family, and the kids made it through that one entirely. So I really consider that to be our "real Seder." The second night, I helped lead the Seder at the synagogue. My kids didn't really make it through that one....)

 Our Seder table, featuring the huevos haminados that I made with David. They were beautiful but interestingly enough, didn't taste any different from regular hard-boiled eggs!

 

  

My kids had a great time with the plague masks. I felt that the lice plague was most fitting for them...

Everyone always wants to know if I conduct our family's Seder, being a rabbi and all. Nope. My dad (who wrote my omer counter) has always done it and he does a great job! I pipe up occasionally with new ideas and comments, and sometimes move things along...

 

Each year, we open the Seder with a reading from Mark Twain's "Concerning the Jews." My 93-year-old grandmother offers this reading, which she found many years ago and brought to the Seder.

And....David offered the Four Questions:

The rest of the week has been relatively uneventful. Sam has persisted in asking each day for waffles. I'm quite sure that he did not eat a single bite of matzah in protest. Luckily, he's only 3 so it doesn't matter too much. Our digestive tracts were, um, healthy all week. We made popovers, toasted farfel, grilled fish, potatoes, eggs, tuna, and ate a lot of babaghanoush and cream cheese on matzah. I think I made matzah pizza 4 or 5 times and I made matzah brei twice. (For the Matzah Brei cookoff at the shul, I made Matzah Brei Italian - with marinara sauce, onions, garlic, basil and mozzarella - garnished with Salad Caprese. A huge hit!)

The dishes are packed away, the crumbs are swept off the counter, and another Pesach has come and gone. So much work to prepare and it all seems to end so quickly. But it really is one of my favorite weeks of the year. It is a total change of routine and behavior that consumes us and reminds us with every mouthful of the meaning of freedom.

How was your Pesach?