Jewish history seasons annual meal.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

When it comes to preparing a Passover seder meal, Rabbi Asi Spiegel is adept with most any kitchen tool at hand: stirring spoon, whisk, spatula, blowtorch.

The latter utensil may not be found in most kitchens, but then most cooks aren't concerned with the strict dietary laws that Spiegel must follow to ensure that not only the food served at Passover but the kitchen in which it's prepared is kosher.

For Spiegel, the 33-year-old rabbi of Chabad House in Eugene, that means making sure all kitchen accoutrements - from stoves and ovens to pots and pans and knives - are boiled, scalded or otherwise superheated before the seder meal. The intent is to ensure that previously cooked meats, breads and other restricted foods don't come in contact with the meal in any way. Sometimes, Spiegel says, that means taking a blowtorch to oven racks and other kitchen elements that might not otherwise reach the necessary temperatures.

It's all part of following kashrut, the body of Jewish law dealing with what foods can and cannot be eaten and how those foods must be prepared and consumed. "Kosher" describes food that meets those standards.

The various restrictions - ranging from how animals are slaughtered to a prohibition on eating meat and dairy products at the same meal - are partly a reflection of ancient health regulations and partly of unknown purpose or reason, beyond the fact that the Torah says it is so. Many Jews believe that the laws teach self-control and obedience to God.

It can seem confounding to outsiders, but Spiegel says there's a clear connection between a person's spiritual health and physical health. "The Torah teaches us that everything we eat affects us, and that is why we are so careful about our dietary rules," he says.

Spiegel and his family arrived in Eugene in September to establish the Chabad House, which is affiliated with a branch of mystical Judaism known as the Chabad Lubavitch movement. The movement combines traditional teachings of Jewish law with a nonjudgmental approach that seeks "to reach Jews wherever they're at," Spiegel says.

The idea of preparing kosher Passover seder meals for 200-plus people in Eugene - a town with no kosher restaurant or commercial caterer - might faze a lesser rabbi. But not Spiegel, a man who on seven occasions has prepared similar Passover meals for as many as 1,000 people - in Katmandu, Nepal.

To pull that off, Spiegel and his helpers would ship two tons of kosher food from New York. In the first years, it was virtually impossible to find burners or propane tanks, and the food was cooked over wood. Another challenge was finding commercial refrigerators large enough to store all the prepared food.

"I remember when we cooked for a whole day, then had everything in big buckets," he says. "We talked to a man who not only said he had a restaurant with a commercial refrigerator, but then actually drove us there. It was by pure coincidence or pure miracle that this man helped us."

In Eugene, at least, Spiegel will also have the help of a catering service - though one better known for preparing barbecue ribs than matzo. Spiegel says he decided to go with West Bros. Catering after they indicated a strong interest in learning how to prepare kosher food and a kosher kitchen.

"He was willing to educate us as much as we wanted to be educated," catering director Jeanie Loomis says. The business has invested about $500 in special kitchen equipment - including six metal tongs, three chopping boards and 20 plastic containers - that will be used at this week's two Passover seder meals and then stored away, to be used again only at future kosher events.

Meal preparation is a challenge - flour and most spices are prohibited, for example - but the menu will still include such offerings as sauteed chicken breast, portebello mushrooms and apple sponge cake, Loomis says.

Passover, which this year begins at sundown Wednesday, celebrates the liberation of the Jews from slavery 3,300 years ago when they rushed out of Egypt with no time for their bread to leaven.

Jews are instructed not to eat bread or anything with leavening during Passover, because rising bread symbolizes ego or vanity, Spiegel explains. Flat matzo, sometimes called "the bread of poverty," represents humility and communion with God.

Part of the reason behind superheating all utensils is to guard against any bread crumbs or other leavening ingredients touching the seder meal.

In this tradition, the level of precaution is greater for a Passover seder than at any other mealtime in the year, Spiegel says.

Tin foil, for example, will be wrapped along all exposed areas of the stoves and other appliances used to cook the seder meal. But that, Spiegel says, won't happen until after he's done with the blowtorch.

Passover Seders

Ahavas Torah: Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Eugene Hilton. Cost: $18 to $35, sliding scale. Reservations required. Call 232-5033.

Chabad House: Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m., River Ranch Event Center (behind Quality Inn Motel), 2123 Franklin Blvd. Cost: $18 to $36, sliding scale. Reservations required. Call 484-7665 or visit www.chabadofeugene.org online.

Temple Beth Israel: Thursday, 5:30 p.m., Temple Beth Israel, 2550 Portland St. Reservation deadline passed. Call 485-7218.

CAPTION(S):

Following the strict Jewish dietary laws for Passover Seder, Rabbi Asi Spiegel utilizes a blowtorch to prepare the kitchen. By superheating the oven racks, Spiegel ensures that previously cooked restricted foods don't come in contact with the meal. Passover, which this year begins at sundown Wednesday, celebrates the liberation of the Jews from slavery 3,300 years ago when they rushed out of Egypt with no time for their bread to leaven. Kosher: Most spices, flour are prohibited Continued from Page C1