On the first night of Passover, the opening of our festival of liberation, the celebration of the birth of our peoplehood, Darby, my oldest son, will be 10 hours away at a Greco-Roman athletic competition.
He will be clad in white, which I’m told symbolizes peace between the schools, but really just makes me think of togas.
The pentathlon (complete with discus, javelin, wrestling, etc.) is a highly-anticipated rite of passage for fifth graders at this nurturing, incredibly “crunchy” school in Waldo. Darby has looked forward since third grade and has prepared all year. I wouldn’t dream of making him miss it.
When the date was announced, we encouraged the host school (an equally hippie enterprise in Austin, Texas) to reconsider the date. Surely, out of the five schools participating, we didn’t have the only Jewish child…
Surely it’s not so much to ask that secular organizations keep in mind the dates of really just three, maybe four Jewish holidays…
But that’s what I thought when, years ago, the public school carnival was scheduled for the same Jewish date. Or the next year, when picture day was set for Rosh Hashanah. Or the next when the only field trip of the semester was on Yom Kippur.
I’m not saying anything new. And I know you share my frustration, my bemusement. So, what do we do? My more traditional friends have suggestions that constantly roll around in my thoughts, but my family’s assimilated life is a rich one. It brought me, after all, the love of my life.
My answer is different: double down on home life. For your consideration, here are ways to make your home more Jewish ahead of and during the Passover holiday – even if it starts with your kid doing the long-jump in a toga:
Clean, baby, clean!
Read the PJ Library book “Izzy the Whiz and Passover McClean” to kick off the challenge of packing up, wrapping up and selling (or hiding) your Passover no-gos. Consider giving your little ones the fun of their own tiny broom or handheld dustbuster to get in the spirit, and pump up the tunes to 11. (Find “Seder Songs” and “Freedom Dance Party” on Spotify.)
Not “Elf on the Shelf,” but “Crumbs in the Corner”
The internet has no shortage of smiling toy matzah balls and rubber matzah with googly eyes. There’s still time to hide those guys in a different spot in the eight days leading up to Passover. Call it practice for cleaning out the real thing.
Make your own matzah
Flour, water and 50 swift pokes of the fork — bake it for four minutes and you’re done. But don’t exceed that magic Jewish number of 18 minutes, or it can’t be used for the holiday. To make doubly sure it’s kosher for Passover, order your shmurah flour – that will pass any rabbi’s muster.
The chametz hunt and matzah s’mores
The ceremony known as bedikat chametz is a “veritable search and destroy mission,” as Chabad.org says, to find the last remaining crumbs on the night before Passover. Hand your child a candle (or a flashlight) and find the 10 pieces of leavened bread that you’ve hidden around the house. Then go outside and throw it in the fire (don’t forget the blessing). Add an extra memory by making matzah s’mores by the heat of the fire.
PJ Library has you covered when it comes to holidays. The Passover hub at pjlibrary.org/passover is complete with playlists, audiobooks, printable activities, recipes and more to help get your home into the swing of the holiday.
Whatever is happening outside our front doors — pagan sporting events, modern day plagues, political turmoil — we have the obligation and freedom to commemorate our liberation in our own homes and abroad. It’s about the choices that we make with the things we can control. In the case of my family, we look forward to hanging up the toga and washing our hands for a non-traditional third-night Seder.
Chag sameach, everyone.