Preparing for Passover

Preparing for Passover

We added a new tradition to our Passover preparation this year, a new tradition that links Passover to yet another Jewish holiday.

Passover is linked to Tu B’shevat because, as we know, on Tu B’Shevat we plant the parsley that we will eat on Passover. Admittedly our parsley took so long to germinate this year that the plants on the window sill are still a bit sparse. It looks like we will sprinkle parsley on our Shavuous blintzes instead.

Shavuos is linked to Passover because we count the days between the two holidays (called counting the Omer.) If you are looking for a way to make this tradition more powerful, check out a new book by my college Rabbi Gavriel Goldfeder.

http://www.amazon.com/50th-Gate-Becoming-Through-Counting/dp/B003CNHVTK/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268841994&sr=8-5

His book provides a reading and practice for each day and is cleverly designed to lay open on your desk or counter.

I love how Passover weaves together the holidays preceding and following and now my kids added a third link – Purim. You see when Purim arrived, I was in the middle of a crazy two week travel stint. I was in Aspen teaching about the connection between Judaism and the environment, then leading spiritual ski days, then spirited off to Lake Tahoe to snowshoe with Reverend Karen Foster and Dr. Marcia McFee (authors of Spiritual Adventures In the Snow http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Adventures-Snow-Snowboarding-Renewal/dp/1594732701/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2  to talk about how wilderness can prepare us for the holy times of Easter and Passover. See the USA Today Article featuring our conversation >>
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-03-24-SpiritualAdventures24_CV_N.htm?csp=AdventureRabbi

Then back to Colorado to lead Purim services in Grand Junction and then back to Boulder for two Adventure Rabbi Purim celebrations, one for children and one for adults.

So all that to say, although my kids got a lot of Purim, they did not get to make my homemade hamantaschen, which Sadie has proclaimed are the best hamantaschen in the entire world. Thanks to the recipe we use from the New York Times http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/09/the-perfect-hamantaschen/

And adding Dickson’s Lemon Curd for the filling as taught to me by my friend Cassie Fishbein, I think they may well be.

I managed to buy the ingredients but, when the crazy two weeks ended, I just wanted to sleep. And then you know how it goes. One day we were finally ready to bake but we were out of eggs and the next time, well you know how it goes.

So suddenly we found ourselves on the Sunday before Passover and it was time for “the big clean.” The kids went through their drawers and pulled out the clothing that no longer fit to give away. I went though my office and sorted through papers that could be recycled and filed the rest. Finally we tackled the kitchen. I was about to toss the flour when Sadie said, “Wait, we didn’t bake hamantaschen.”

And that is how I found myself baking hamantaschen as part of my Passover preparation. Of course to make the kitchen kosher for Passover we then had to eat them all, but fortunately that was not a problem! We ate every last crumb.

Well the cleaning is done and this Thursday, Jeff the kids and I will leave for our Moab Seder, which begins on Saturday at 2 p.m. There might be a couple of spots left, so if you want to come contact us here: http://www.adventurerabbi.org/contact.htm and we will see what we can do. The Denver Post and Boulder Camera http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14776481 ran lovely stories about the trip. Thanks to Rachel Berry for pitching the story to them!

Wishing you and yours a happy Passover.
Hag Sameach!