For several years we have celebrated Passover. It started just shortly after Jeff began to trace his family history and found many Jewish roots. I too have them, however most of my ancestors claimed to be German, but there’s a lot of Jew there.
Each year this tradition of Passover evolves. We’ve included friends who are now carrying on the tradition even though we are apart. We still laugh the year the youngest male (an essential character in the evening) grew about three feet that year; he may have been the youngest but he was most definitely the tallest.
This year we will be making our way to Colorado to celebrate Passover with our kids and their kids. There will be almost as many children at the table as adults. Since this tradition can take several hours, we are looking for ways to make it a bit more manageable for wee ones. Finger puppets representing the ten plagues have been ordered and a rewriting of the Haggadah (the telling of the story) has been updated.
As this tradition evolves, so do I. Each year I am touch by new discoveries. It is those old and new realizations that I want to share during this week of Passover.
MATZAH There’s a lots of Matzah at Passover. Matzah is unleavened bread. It’s made from flour and water only — absolutely nothing else — that are swiftly combined, kneaded and baked before the dough has a chance to ferment and begin to rise. It looks something like a large, round flat cracker. It tastes simply delicious.
Why Matzah? Matzah took little time to prepare. The Israelites didn’t have time to wait. They had to be ready when G-d said “Go!” As they “went”, they had to travel lightly. It’s become a goal of mine to live my life this way; willing to “GO” and able to travel lightly…because I’ve left all the crap behind!