Saluting the 5 Grains Duing Passover

Hello dear readers, Pesach is a holiday with many nicknames: Pesach, obviously (for Hashem passing over the Jews’ houses on the night of the tenth plague); Zman Cherutenu (celebrating our freedom following the exodus from Egypt); Chag Ha Aviv (marking the start of the spring and agricultural year). But don’t forget about the central food ...

Passover Cleaning Tips

Hello dear readers, Pesach is the holiday of the spring, so it’s a good time to turn over a new leaf, so to speak. Before pesach, that means spring cleaning, both cleaning the house of chametz but also cleaning the house in general. Here are some tips for cleaning the house before pesach arrives: 1. ...

Nirtzah, Part III: Chad Gadya

Hello dear readers, I’ve been writing about my favorite part of the seder; that relaxed, low-key part of the seder where we’re three cups of wine in and we’re staring down the fourth, where the reading is long, but the finishing songs are show-stoppers. That’s right, we’re talking about hallel and nirtzah, also known as ...

Nirtzah, Part II: Echad Mi Yodea

Hello dear readers, In my last post, I wrote about some of the reasons that I love the late-late show, also known as the hallel-nirtzah portion of the seder. Next, I will talk about two of my favorite songs in the whole seder. In this post I will write a bit about Echad Mi Yodea, ...

Nirtzah, Part I: The Late-Late Seder Show

Hello dear readers, Pesach is one of the most popular Jewish holidays, and everyone loves the seder nights. I always find it interesting, however, that different people like different parts of the seder. For the littlest kids, it’s the hunt for the afikoman. For the slightly older kids, it’s the mah nishtanah and the engaging ...

Afikoman Hiding Places for Passover

Hello dear readers, One of the key aspects of the seder is educating the next generation about the story of the exodus. Apart from the story itself (and the midrash that accompanies it), the idea is to engage the children (and everyone, really) using a variety of things: we sing fun songs (dayenu, echad mi ...

Pesach and the Desert

Hello dear readers, Yesterday I was looking at a beautiful watercolor painting of a desert that my daughter Ronit made in art class. (Also, is it weird to make a watercolor of a waterless desert?) For some reason it got me thinking about the connection between the desert and the holiday of Pesach. I know ...