AREA FAMILIES GATHER FOR PASSOVER : DINNER COMMENCES JEWISH HOLIDAY.Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer Jewish families throughout Ventura County lighted ceremonial candles as the sun set Monday to mark the beginning of Passover, the seven-day holy holiday commemorating the Jews' flight from Egypt more than 3,000 years ago. In many households, days of preparation ended with the Monday night Seder, a ritual meal during which family and friends eat symbolic foods while telling the story of the night the Jews escaped a life of slavery in Egypt. ``I cooked the matzo ball matzo ball n. A small dumpling made of crushed matzo. Noun 1. matzo ball - a Jewish dumpling made of matzo meal; usually served in soup matzah ball, matzoh ball soup last night, but decided I needed more vegetables for the meal,'' said Ellen Smith, as she prepared to host a Seder in her Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. home. ``But I still have to prepare the Seder plate and polish the candlesticks.'' In Israel, families celebrate with only one Seder, but Jews in other countries often attend a family Seder the first night of Passover and a community Seder the second night, said Rabbi Michele Paskow-Cohen of Congregation B'nai Emet in Simi Valley. An estimated 6,000 families in the Conejo and Simi valleys gathered together Monday for the symbolic meal. Smith, and her husband, Andrew, celebrated the beginning of Passover with two other couples and their children. The Smiths looked forward to the Seder as an opportunity to educate the children about Jewish history Jewish history is the history of the Jewish people, faith, and culture. Since Jewish history encompasses nearly four thousand years and hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes. and tradition. ``The meal has a lot of symbolic foods and there's a lot of show and tell,'' said Ellen Smith, who spent much of the day preparing the foods. ``You read from the Haggada and stop to eat a special food like the roasted egg or the charoset. Throughout the meal, there's a lot of little things to keep the children involved.'' The Smith family's Seder plate included roasted egg, symbolizing sym·bol·ize v. sym·bol·ized, sym·bol·iz·ing, sym·bol·iz·es v.tr. 1. To serve as a symbol of: rebirth and spring; charoset, a mixture of apples and nuts symbolizing the mortar Jews used to build with as slaves; and lamb shank shank (shangk) 1. leg (1). 2. crus ( 2). shank n. The part of the human leg between the knee and ankle. , to symbolize the lambs sacrificed before Passover. Ellen Smith also would serve matzo, or unleavened bread, as a reminder to modern Jews of their ancestors' harried flight from Egypt. The story, as retold re·told v. Past tense and past participle of retell. in the Haggada, the ceremonial Seder book, recalls that the Jews could not wait for bread to rise, so they left Egypt with only unleavened, or flat, bread. Some families burn leftover, leavened leav·en n. 1. An agent, such as yeast, that causes batter or dough to rise, especially by fermentation. 2. An element, influence, or agent that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole. tr.v. bread before Passover begins, because eating leavened bread is prohibited after that. ``We have the children hide about 10 pieces of bread in the house, then the father has to find it and burn it,'' said Rabbi Yitzchak Sapochkinsky of Chabad of Westlake Village. ``The idea is to find every crumb of bread and remove it from the house before Passover begins.'' Conservative and Orthodox Jews living outside of Israel celebrate Passover for eight days whereas it lasts only seven days for Reform Jews Noun 1. Reform Jew - liberal Jew who tries to adapt all aspects of Judaism to modern circumstances Reform Judaism - the most liberal Jews; Jews who do not follow the Talmud strictly but try to adapt all of the historical forms of Judaism to the modern world . In Israel, Passover lasts seven days. All the holiday rituals serve to connect the next generation to Jewish history and culture, said Paskow, who will celebrate Passover with her family, including her father, Rabbi Shimon Paskow of Thousand Oaks' Temple Etz Chaim. ``It's a family-centered holiday that emphasizes going through the rituals together,'' Paskow said. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: (Color) Daphne daphne, in botany daphne, common name for, and genus name of, certain low deciduous or evergreen shrubs native to Eurasia. In the United States several naturalized species are cultivated for their handsome foliage and fragrant flowers, e.g., D. Shye of Ventura sets the table for Seder with her family Monday night. The ceremonial meal honors the Jews' exodus from Egypt. Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News |
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