A SECOND SERVING

Deana Berman, 12 of Boardman, and Sherri Garver, of Columbiana County, peel garlic while Chaia Beckerman gets water for a stew being prepared at the Ohev Tzekek Synagogue in Youngstown on Wednesday. The stew is being prepared as part of a Passover meal.

Potatoes, carrots, and parsnips for a use in a Passover meal at Ohev Tzekek Synagogue in Youngstown on Wednesday.
Preparation for Passover is rigorous because the smallest crumb of leavened bread must be eliminated.
BOARDMAN — Kashering comes before cooking in kitchens of Jewish homes that prepare for Passover.
“Kashering means ‘it’s fit,’” said Chaia Beckerman, wife of Rabbi Joel Berman of Congregation Ohev Tzedek, 5245 Glenwood Ave. And to make it fit — that is, not a crumb of leavened bread left anywhere in the kitchen, in a pot or pan or on a utensil — takes more than usual cleaning.
“The stove was blow-torched. This is to get rid of even a smidgen of leaven,” said Chaia Beckerman, to emphasis just how clean the surfaces must get. “Lots of boiling water cleans the counters and utensils.”
She was talking about the kitchen at the synagogue, where a Second Night Seder meal will be served tonight. This is the third year for the event at the synagogue.
On the first night of Passover, which was Wednesday, many families hosted a Seder at their homes for family and friends. Most Jewish families have dishes, cookware and utensils used only for Passover so that they have never come in contact with leaven.
The passage from Exodus 12:19 and 20 reads: “Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses; for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a sojourner, or one that is born in the land. Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.”
Rabbi Berman said bread is the best example of chametz, which is banned from Jewish households during Passover. Anything made from the five grains of wheat, rye, oats, barley and spelt with water added can be chametz. Foods for the observance must be “kosher for Passover,” Rabbi Berman said. “The custom is to rid your house of chametz.”
He said the synagogue collects unopened chametz, which includes pasta and many other products, and makes a donation to Second Harvest Food Bank.
Passover and its symbolic foods at the Seder and the reading from the Book of Haggadah remind the observers of the Israelites’ exodus out of slavery in Egypt.
“Passover is about freedom,” Rabbi Berman said. “In the Torah, it reads that the Israeli slaves were in such a rush to get out of Eygpt that the flour mixed with water did not have time to raise so it was matzo, unleavened bread,” he said.
Seder itself means order. The symbolic foods are: roasted egg for the sacrifices at the temple; bitter herbs such as horseradish for the bitter slavery endured by the Hebrews; shank bone as a reminder of the paschal sacrifice; salt water for the tears of oppression; parsley to dip into the salt water and symbol of spring; and charoset, a mixture of almonds, apples and wine, symbolic of the mortar used by the Hebrew slaves to build in Egypt and the sweetness of redemption.
Matzo also has a place on the table but not necessarily on the Seder plate. Other foods that have been added are an olive for peace and an orange, representing the idea that everyone is welcome at the Seder meal.
Last week, Chaia Beckerman, along with friend Sherri Garver of Columbiana and Art Einzig, a member of Ohev Tzedek, met to do some preparation and cooking for tonight’s Seder, at which about 45 people are expected.
Garver, a Christian, came to lend a hand in friendship. “I appreciate the traditions. And I like learning about them,” she said. “It helps me with my faith.”
Garver said the symbolism for freedom “is a beautiful part of the faith” and for “what God has done for us.”
Einzig, the grand-prize winner in Our Valley Cooks, planned the menu for Ohev Tzedek’s communal Seder. There will be homemade chicken soup with matzo balls, gefilte fish with horseradish appetizer, brisket braised in tomatoes and onions, shliskies (similar to gnocci) but made with matzo cake meal and potatoes, sweet kugel and flourless desserts.
“The brisket recipe has been in my family for three generations,” said Einzig, who noted he had been cooking since he was a child. Einzig said his love of cooking also has shown him that ethnic groups share similarities. “It’s cross-bred food,” he noted.
He said he liked the idea of a communal Seder after having many guests at his home on the first night. “It’s nice to be able to open the second night for even a broader group of people,” Einzig said.
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