Happy Passover!

[Bostonian]

To all my Jewish linker friends, Chag Sameach!

And may we spend next year in Jerusalem!

[ED-A-HOLIC]

Hag Sameach brother!

don't eat to much matza hahaahaha

[Lightning Fingers]

Happy Passover! I just remembered the last time I celebrated it... 11 years ago! Oy Vey!

[Darkstar]

Is that anything like "passout"?....

[FORD]

Is that anything like "passout"?....

No, but the sheep around here are really nervous right now

[Darkstar]

No, but the sheep around here are really nervous right now

Nothing to be nervous about....I'd be gentle!

[againstthewind]

Thanks for the well wishes but seeing as I am a Christian I would appreciate it if you would change the title of this thread to Happy Holiday. Thanks.














I'm just joking. Happy Passover to all the Jewish Linkers out there.

[FORD]

And now, this Passover message from our friends in Metallica.....



Creeping Death

Slaves
Hebrews born to serve, to the pharaoh
Heed
To his every word, live in fear
Faith
Of the unknown one, the deliverer
Wait
Something must be done, four hundred years

So let it be written
So let it be done
I'm sent here by the chosen one
So let it be written
So let it be done
To kill the first born pharaoh son
I'm creeping death

Now
Let my people go, land of goshen
Go
I will be with thee, bush of fire
Blood
Running red and strong, down the nile
Plague
Darkness three days long, hail to fire

So let it be written
So let it be done
I'm sent here by the chosen one
So let it be written
So let it be done
To kill the first born pharaoh son
I'm creeping death

Die by my hand
I creep across the land
Killing first born man
Die by my hand
I creep across the land
Killing first born man

I
Rule the midnight air the destroyer
Born
I shall soon be there, deadly mass
I
Creep the steps and flood final darkness
Blood
Lambs blood painted door, I shall pass


So let it be written
So let it be done
I'm sent here by the chosen one
So let it be written
So let it be done
To kill the first born pharaoh son
I'm creeping death

[ZeoBandit]

My fav Metallica song!

[seenbad]

Happy passover Jewish dudes!

[seenbad]

Actually, I had a nice perspective shared with me from a Jewish friend who's Rabbi is in the old country right now. Maybe some of you will find it interesting also. I know I did.

anyways-

>It was a gorgeous sunny day along the Tel Aviv beach today, not a cloud
>in the sky, while the temperature remained seasonably cool. There were
>plenty of walkers and joggers along the Tayelet/ the lovely promenade
>along the waterfront and a few who thought it warm enough to lay out on
>the beach.
>
>Before we left Portland we endured the annual loss of an hour when we
>pushed the clocks forward, making Israel 9 hours ahead of the West coast
>instead of 10. Tonight all Israel pushes her clocks ahead, meaning that
>we will lose another hour tonight. (If you can work it out, I suggest
>timing a visit to Israel in the fall such that you can gain an hour at
>home and then get another hour here in Israel.) In the U.S. we make
>this change each year on a Saturday evening. In Israel the change is
>scheduled for a Thursday night since Friday is either a full day off or
>at least a short day, so that everyone can get ready for Shabbat.
>
>Surely that is not to imply that all or even most of Israel sees itself
>as religious. It doesn't. If I am not mistaken, those who identify
>themselves as dati/ religious are something like one in five Israelis.
>Nonetheless Shabbat is a day of leisure and family for virtually
>everyone. Israelis do major shopping on Fridays and gather around a
>festive table on Friday evening regardless of whether the traditional
>Shabbat rituals are observed. Saturday for the "non-religious" is a day
>of visiting family or friends, outings, exploring, sports or lying out
>at the beach.
>
>20% of the Israeli citizenry is Arab (Muslim or Christian), meaning that
>some 80% is Jewish. But Judaism in Israel is more complicated than
>American Jews might imagine. Though it is easier to be religiously
>observant in Israel than anywhere else in the world, religion also
>represents the greatest divide among the populous. Simply wearing a
>Kippah places one in the religious camp implying all kinds of
>assumptions, and men for the most part either wear a Kippah all the time
>or not at all. (Married religious women do not wear a Kippah as many do
>at Neveh Shalom, but have their own distinctive garb.)
>
>Wearing a Kippah means that you will only eat in restaurants certified
>kosher by the rabbinical authorities in that area. It carries with it
>assumptions about strict Sabbath observance, prayer, family life, often
>social and political attitudes. Religious families frequently live in
>religious neighborhoods, send their children to religious public schools
>and often socialize exclusively or at least primarily with other
>religious Jews, often themselves divided between modern Orthodox,
>Hasidic and/ or Haredi/ Ultra-Orthodox. (All Hasidim are considered
>Haredi, but not all Haredi Jews are Hasidic.) The reverse is of course
>also true. Non-religious Israelis often do not know or interact with
>religious Israelis. For all too many the first time a non-religious
>Israeli gets to know a religious Israeli is when they meet in the army.
>And even then Haredi Jews choose to be exempted from military service.
>(The entire Israeli army is under rabbinical supervision. I can't even
>imagine what that means for Passover preparation. Someone told us that
>no hametz is available in military installations for an entire week
>before Passover!)
>
>Our daughter Marissa has chosen what is a surprisingly unusual living
>situation. She is renting an apartment with two other Israeli graduate
>students, both of whom grew up in non-religious homes, one who grew up
>on a kibbutz near Tel Aviv. Compromises on everyone's part had to be
>made to accommodate Marissa's desire to keep kosher. One roommate finds
>Marissa's religious practice a curiosity. The other is simply irritated
>that it cramps his style. He also struggles to understand Marissa since
>she breaks many of his stereotypes. For example she wears pants, is
>politically liberal (like him) and she is completely egalitarian.
>(Marissa's apartment building has but one elevator, which runs as a
>Shabbat elevator beginning at candle lighting time, stopping on every
>floor going up and down, so that religious tenants do not have to push
>any buttons. However the result is that it is so slow that everyone,
>religious or not takes the stairs.)
>
>This week we have been traveling along the coast north of Tel Aviv able
>to visit areas with which I am less familiar. In Haifa the hotel clerk
>struggled to recommend a restaurant, seeing my Kippah and unsure which
>establishments had rabbinical certification. Relatively few in Haifa
>do. When Marissa made a reservation for us in Zichron Yaakov, the woman
>at the hotel felt it necessary to inform us that the hotel was glatt
>kosher. Our assumption was that since it was kosher everyone could make
>full use of the facility. Instead what we discovered was that only
>religious Israelis patronize this particular establishment.
>Non-religious Israelis go elsewhere. In fact some might say they
>wouldn't be caught dead in such an environment!
>
>When Carol and I went on a self guided tour of the dig at the Southern
>Wall in Jerusalem, I wandered past several tour guides providing
>explanations. The tour guides are extremely knowledgeable so I would
>occasionally listen in (if the tour was in a language I understood).
>One guide was explaining about the ancient sacrifices that took place at
>the Temple. A tourist asked about the origin of our set prayers.
>Without hesitating the tour guide turned to me and said to the tourist
>why don't we ask him, meaning me. He's religious, an assumption based
>on my wearing a Kippah. This particular guide of course was not
>religious.
>
>It's a fascinating country with all kinds of surprises around every
>corner.
>
>We return to Jerusalem tonight to bring in the Shabbat and do all of the
>preparation to get ready for our Seder.
>
>Shabbat Shalom to all and Hag Sameach v'Kasher/ A joyous and meaningful
>Passover to everyone.

[seenbad]

And a part II

Sights, Sounds and Smells of Jerusalem (and other curiosities),
>
>
>
>Monday morning, Erev Pesach:
>
>Carol and I just returned from Mahane Yehudah, the extensive fruit and
>vegetable market that extends for blocks beyond the crowded main covered
>street. Calling it a fruit and vegetable market is itself a misnomer,
>though that's how most people think of it. It's the place to go to get
>freshly butchered meat and fish, spices and mixed teas of every sort and
>variety, dishes, glassware, table cloths and bed linens, flowers and
>Judaica tschotchkes and so much more. It's one of the more colorful
>places to rub shoulders with the Israeli populace. Today's task for us
>was last minute things like strawberries that we did not purchase
>yesterday or the day before. (I also bought myself a new Kippah and
>Kosher for Passover candy for Tot Shabbat and Shabbat Kids at Neveh
>Shalom next Shabbat. We depart for home this coming Thursday evening
>and by gaining ten hours we will arrive in Portland midday on Friday.)
>The spirit was one of increased excitement and anticipation as each
>transaction ended with a greeting of Hag Sameach. The market and every
>shop that bothered to open today will close at or around noon as the
>country goes into last minute home preparations for tonight's Seder.
>
>
>
>On our way to Marissa's apartment the smell of fire and smoky air was
>unmistakable as some gathered around individual or communal fires for
>the traditional burning of Hametz. At the relatively new traditional
>egalitarian Minyan, named Kedem, that we attended this past Shabbat
>morning, attendees were encouraged to bring whatever Hametz, opened or
>otherwise, that they needed to get rid of before Pesach for a potluck
>Kiddush. There was everything from beer to bread sticks shared
>communally. On the Ben Yehudah Midrachov/ the broad walkway in downtown
>Jerusalem, Habad had set up a stand for people who wanted to authorize
>Habad to sell their Hametz. (Marissa sold her Hametz on line! Before we
>left I authorized Rabbi Greenstein to sell ours...)
>
>
>
>Earlier this morning I attended Minyan and a Siyum at the Fuchsberg
>Center for Conservative Judaism. As a first born I am traditionally
>obligated to fast on Erev Pesach in recollection of having been saved
>from the tenth plague in which all Egyptian first born died. The Siyum,
>a celebration requiring eating (doesn't every Jewish celebration assume
>eating?) attendant upon the completion of the study of a tractate of the
>Talmud for all those present, breaks the fast. A young female student
>at the Center had been part of a class that had studied the Mishnayot of
>the tractate Kilayim. She taught the congregation allowing the rest of
>us to eat with her and continue on our way. (Rabbi Greenstein conducted
>the Siyum at morning Minyan at Neveh Shalom.)
>
>
>
>Yesterday in various parts of the city and probably in neighborhoods
>throughout the country religious groups set up cauldrons of water set to
>a boil over an open fire. People brought their various dishes and
>silverware to be kashered by dunking in the boiling water. Only objects
>made out of certain materials such as metal can be kashered. Wood or
>ceramic crockery, which are porous, cannot be kashered. (Certain
>utensils such as frying pans can only be kashered by being heated
>directly in the fire.) Already on Saturday bread disappeared from the
>daily buffet breakfast at the hotel and was replaced by matzo. I
>overheard a conversation this morning in which an Israeli Arab, who is
>one of the hotel kitchen staff, did his best to explain to a non native
>English speaking Christian why there was matza instead of bread. I wish
>I could have taped their conversation. In the grocery stores yesterday
>large sheets of plastic were installed covering all the shelves that
>have non kosher for Passover products with signs in large letters that
>say, "HAMETZ, DON'T TOUCH!" So, you can't buy it even if you want to.
>It's simply not for sale.
>
>
>
>One of the additional curiosities is watching primarily Ashkenazi/
>Central and Eastern European Jews carefully reading labels. The reason
>for this is that there is a tradition from medieval times that prohibits
>Ashkenazi Jews, but not Sephardi Jews from eating Kitniyot/ legumes and
>rice. So many products are marked Kosher for Passover and then in small
>type it says whether the product is free of Kitniyot. A recent trend
>among some observant Jews is to adopt the Sephardi custom.
>
>
>
>In Israel Passover is observed for the Biblically mandated seven days,
>rather than the eight we observe outside the land of Israel. Israelis
>also only observe one Seder on the first night of Pesach rather than our
>customary two. Although there are some who claim that if you
>permanently live outside of Israel, even if you are here on a visit, you
>should still maintain your usual practice, since we are here we had no
>intention of attending two Sedarim. However old dear friends of ours,
>whose daughter began kindergarten with Marissa, are in town with their
>children and their new spouses. Boris and Halina, Mexican Jews, who
>with their children had attended our Seder every year when we lived in
>New York, invited us to their second Seder. It was an invitation we
>couldn't refuse, but we made our attendance conditional upon there being
>plenty of good food and a lot of singing. We searched in all the gift
>shops for a suitable gift to bring and decided on Hebrew aprons for all
>the men,
>
>our not so subtle reminder that they can't let the women do all the
>work.
>
>
>
>In the entire Passover hubbub, it must not be forgotten that this is
>also Christian Holy Week, with a great deal of ceremony and ritual in
>the Christian community most particularly in the Old City. Yesterday
>was Palm Sunday. Though we were too busy to see the festivities, many
>years ago we saw the many Christian pilgrims and clergy make their way
>through the ancient streets waving their large palm fronds.
>
>
>
>Marissa has invited 14 for Seder tonight in her apartment. Her Israeli
>roommates took off to be with their respective families. The 14 consist
>of friends whose parents have made their way to Jerusalem to share
>Passover with their children. I am coming as a guest and I am looking
>forward to the experience.