Passover is a time of spiritual and physical renewal, Liberty rabbi says

By LINDA M. LINONIS

linonis@vindy.com

LIBERTY

Rabbi Joseph Schonberger of Temple El Emeth likened the intense preparation for Passover to the spiritual and physical renewal that is the essence of the spring festival.

Passover begins at sundown tonight.

“It is a fresh start personally, spiritually and culturally,” the rabbi said. The eight-day Passover observance celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.

At the temple and in Jewish homes, all trace of chametz (leaven) has been removed. Leaven is any substance, typically yeast, added to dough to make it ferment and rise.

At the synagogue, that removal was accomplished through ardent cleaning in the kitchen including using a blowtorch to burn away any bit of leaven material in the ovens. In the social hall, fabric on chairs and carpeting was steam cleaned twice.

“This is spring cleaning to the extreme,” the rabbi said.

Rabbi Schonberger said the temple uses glass dishes and cups because the material is non-absorbent, and no leaven could be left behind after washing. A locked cabinet stores utensils and pots and pans used only for Passover. Yellow tape bars opening cabinets that might be accidentally accessed and leaven introduced into the cleaned kitchen.

The intense process of cleaning is known as kashering. Temple El Emeth’s “Guide to Pesach” notes that the “process of kashering utensils depends on how the utensils are used.” So, utensils used in cooking are kashered by boiling; specific guidelines apply to silverware, pots and ovens.

“To clean pantries, people should start at Purim to prepare for Passover,” Rabbi Schonberger said. (Purim is a joyous holiday in March that remembers when Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination. The story of Purim is told in the book of Esther.) The temple guide book lists permitted foods; rules also address medicine and detergents.

Since the Torah prohibits having chametz during Passover, it is transferred to a rabbi, who sells it to a non-Jew for a nominal amount. The transfer is known as mechirat chametz. This is done if there are products that families don’t want to discard. After Passover, the rabbi buys back the chametz.

Rabbi Schonberger mentioned that Mazon, a national, nonprofit agency that provides food assistance to hungry people of all faiths and backgrounds, evolved out of the custom of ridding a Jewish household of leaven. Food was donated.

The rabbi said as the spring brings new growth of grains, it is time to “get rid of the old grains.” For Passover, no leaven is allowed. “Nothing that is fermented or soured is permitted,” Rabbi Schonberger said. Yeast prompts the chemical reaction that causes the mixture of flour and water to rise.

At Passover, matzah is eaten at Seders (ritual meals) at private homes that take place today; a second Seder will be Saturday at Temple El Emeth. Matzah is unleavened bread. It recalls that the Israelites quickly fled Egypt in the Exodus to freedom and didn’t have time to let their bread rise.

The ke’arah, a large platter, contains the foods unique to the Seder. They are: baytzah, roasted egg representing the festival offering; zeroa, roasted bone, a memorial of the paschal lamb offered on the night of Passover at the temple; maror, the bitter herb, karpas, green vegetable, salt water and charoset, a sweet mixture.

The meal also includes four cups of wine that recall four expressions of redemption in Exodus 6:6-7.

“Seder means order and reflects the order that God created in the environment,” Rabbi Schonberger said.

He added this is an important “family time” for the customs to be practiced and passed on to younger generations.