| Goodbye Purim, Hello Pesach |
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| Written by Liz Orenstein | |||||
| Wednesday, 06 April 2005 | |||||
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On Purim, we indulge ourselves. We get dressed up as our favorite (or not so favorite) Purim characters, read the Magillah making loud noises when Haman’s name comes into play, and drink ourselves blind. But as the party winds down, we put away our costumes, drink the last of the Purim supply, and start preparing for Pesach. As a child returning from shul after hearing the Magillah or from the Purim carnival with all our little tchotchkes, I would come home to a mother already planning Pesach. How many people would be at the Seder? What would she make for dessert? (She never has to worry about what to make for the meal, as I will not let her make anything other than turkey.) How would all thirty people fit in our dining room? She always managed to figure it all out before the holiday arrived. Then again, she never had a roommate. Consider mine. Although she may consider herself “practically Jewish,” having lived with me for three years now, she does not religiously celebrate the holidays as I do. While I fast on Yom Kippur, Molly eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner; while I fry latkes on Chanukkah, Molly eats ham for Christmas; and while I eat hamentashen for Purim, Molly eats one too many Peeps. But Pesach adds an additional hurdle. Tradition tells us we must empty our houses of chametz – any products containing leavening. The Torah says: "tashbisu se'or mibateichem" – make all your sour dough rest. But that was not good enough for the sages. The sages decided that instead of just “dusting” the chametz out of the mind, one must destroy them physically. This is what causes a bit of a stir at my house, and I assume in other students’ houses where one roommate keeps kosher for Passover and the other does not. Ridding the house of chametz is not such an easy task when one can eat bagels for breakfast and the other is restricted to fried matzah. Therefore, one must take drastic measures to insure a chametz-free area for Passover foods. Instead of forcing Molly into eating matzah for an entire eight days (although I doubt she would put up a fight; she actually likes the stuff), I will close myself to the cabinet containing such “forbidden foods.” And, instead of keeping my Pesach foods in the cabinet where Molly keeps her Cheesy Shells and Wheat Thins, I store my matzah, matzah meal, Jelly Smiles (at least two boxes), and Pesach noodles in a separate drawer, opened only during Pesach (minus peeking once or twice to ensure there are no mice living amidst my matzah). While Molly enjoys her HoneyWeiss, I will sip my Manischewitz and smile. After all, Pesach is a time for sacrifice. Let your roommate eat her bagel and schmeer. You take the matzah balls and run. I wish you, your families, and friends (Jewish and/or Practically Jewish) a Chag Pesach Sameah!
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