This year, Passover will be like no Passover before. Self-quarantined
in our homes to avoid doing harm to ourselves, our loved ones, and
society, Passover will be smaller than ever before.
But it will also be powerful. We…
The 11th Plague: 20 Influences Take on Passover and Coronavirus
The Latest
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Community Reigniting charoses traditions
Growing up in Chicago in the 1950s, mine was the only lunch bag that trailed matzo crumbs. On coming to America we lived in a Polish Catholic immigrant neighborhood so I had no friends with whom to compare seder rituals. Despite this, Passover has always been my favorite holiday. No other yontiff rituals compared to…
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Food My grandmother’s brownies make everything better
This Shabbat, we are approaching our second Passover in the pandemic. I feel hollowed out. Empty. I miss my family. I want a large rowdy seder. The unfathomable – holiday without family – has become the routine. I break out an old recipe book, the one my mother gave me at my bridal shower. I…
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Culture Was the Last Supper a ‘Seder?’ And 3 other vital Passover questions, asked and answered.
When we ask at our Seders why this night is different from all other nights, there are the stock responses and the ones we take for granted. We receive explainers on slouching, unleavened bread and why we dip our herbs. We don’t get into what Jesus’ Passover plans were in Jerusalem. In our Haggadot, we…
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Community As we approach the second pandemic Passover, thoughts on a year of plagues
When a particularly distressing topic would arise, the great Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem used to say: “Let’s talk about something more pleasant, like the plague in Minsk.” Well, now we have our own plague, and it is almost all that anybody talks about. Some feel the need to understand why we are suffering; answers range…
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Culture How to spend your entire $1,400 stimulus check on Passover food
Your $1,400 stimulus check just dropped in your bank account, and with less than two weeks left until the first Seder, you must be wondering: “How can I spend every single dollar that the government gave me… on Passover essentials?” As much as we love the dryly delectable taste of flour and water and the…
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Culture Artists confront the new plagues of Passover
Jews are uniquely equipped to ruminate on a year of plagues — from time immemorial, plagues have been our dinner conversation. But the pandemic is different. At your Seder, it may not be wise to sprinkle wine for the Makot Mitzrayim (those drips could themselves hold COVID droplets). God’s mighty hand and outstretched arm have…
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Food I like Ashkenazi Passover seders, but I love Persian ones
I was in third grade when I experienced my first Hebrew School seder. Of course I had seders every year with my Iranian Jewish family, yet everything about this seder felt so weird to me. Waxy paper cups held what they called haroset— dry chunks of chopped apples and walnuts doused with cinnamon. Haroset is…
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News After year of isolation, fully vaccinated grandparents head to in-person Passover seders
Ruth and Jerry Kirschner haven’t seen four of their grandchildren, ages 7 through 12, since January 2020. “This is the age when you want to see them,” Ruth said. “They’re young. They understand we can’t be with them, but they’re always like, ‘How much longer? How much longer?’” Thanks to the COVID-19 vaccine, the Kirschners…
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