The Jewish Holidays: A Guide and Commentary

By Michael Strassfeld

The coeditor of the vastly well known Jewish Catalog "help[s] readers comprehend extra absolutely the which means of our vacations and thereby to watch those gala's . . . with a better devotion and joy."--Rabbi Alexander M. Schindler

About the author
MICHAEL STRASSFELD is the rabbi of the Society for the development of Judaism, a synagogue. He lives in ny along with his spouse, Rabbi
Joy Levitt, and their 5 children.

Originally released in 1985.
E-published in 2011.

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Whether you devour egg matzah in the course of Passover, all gurus agree you won't be pleasurable the commandment pertaining to matzah if you happen to use it on the seder. Egg matzah is visible as “rich” matzah that's greater tasting and more uncomplicated to consume and may basically be used on the seder by way of those that relatively can't digest commonplace matzah. a few humans like to use matzah shemurah (watched matzah) for the seder. those are made up of flour/grain that has been watched from the time of harvest to avoid any attainable touch with water, that may bring about leavening. general matzah is watched merely from the time the grain is flooring. whereas such a lot matzot are the sq., machine-made style, there are hand-baked matzot which are around and feature a different caliber all their very own. For instructions to bake your individual matzah, see the 1st Jewish Catalog, p. one hundred forty five. in case your variation says the temperature required is 2000°, you have got one of many extra attention-grabbing blunders of the catalog because this can be the temperature used to warmth metal. the right kind temperature is six hundred° to 800°, so that you nonetheless may well locate it tough to bake matzot in a typical oven. WINE “Kosher for Passover” wine is required for the 4 Cups. considering the fact that everybody is needed to drink 4 cups, each person must have his or her personal glass. The ingesting of the 4 cups is a mitzvah (of rabbinic origin), no longer an patience try out. because it is critical to be totally wide awake on the seder, instead of sleepy or tipsy, you could use “Kosher for Passover” grape juice rather than wine. If, for purposes of wellbeing and fitness, you can't drink grape wine or juice, raisin wine or any drink you are going to serve visitors can be utilized. there isn't any one transparent the reason for this is that we've got in particular 4 cups of wine on the seder. the most typical rationalization connects the 4 Cups with the 4 expressions of redemption present in Exodus 6:6-7: “I am the Lord. i'm going to loose you from the burdens of the Egyptians and bring you from their bondage. i'll redeem you with an outstretched arm . . . and that i will take you to be My humans. . . . ” i've got discovered from a chum that the kittel is worn to represent a brand new starting, as at the excessive Holy Days, once we repent and obtain a brand new probability in lifestyles. the daddy of a infant boy wears a kittel on the brit millah, performing as proxy for the boy who's getting into the Covenant. A bridegroom wears a kittel, beginning a brand new lifestyles for himself and his potential relations. once we die, we cross into existence everlasting buried in a kittel. At Pesah, we every one unfastened ourselves from Egypt, and, as befits this renewal, we put on a kittel. E. GR. one other organization: This garment, linked to loss of life additionally, means that any profound transition calls for the loss of life of the previous because the new is being born. The older iteration from Egypt perishes within the wilderness because the new iteration methods the land; previous attachments needs to die earlier than new ones can boost; previous rules perish in order that new ones can determine themselves. Liberation, itself a transition, consists of a demise and rebirth, the loss of life of the outdated because the new comes into being; consequently it really is scary.

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