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Passover

by Michelle Weisblat-Dane

Samantha came running into the house with Becky trailing behind her. “Momma, Momma,” She yelled. She found her mother in the kitchen, slicing up apples for the charsoses (har’ ō sĕs). Dressed in a flowery house dress and apron, she looked down at Samantha. Samantha grabbed two slices of apples and gave one to her friend Becky. “Momma can Becky come to Passover dinner tonight?”

“Sure, if it’s okay with Becky’s parents.” Mrs. Danofsky said.

“I’ll ask, but I’m sure it’s okay,” Becky said hesitantly, “Uh, what is Passover?”

“Passover is a story we tell every spring about how the Jews left Egypt, so that they were no longer slaves.” Mrs. Danofsky continued, “You’ll understand better tonight when we tell the story.” Samantha grabbed two more pieces of apple from the bowl, as they ran off to play, leavening Mrs. Danofsky to finish cooking.

Later that evening, just before sunset, Samantha came down the stairs in her blue velvet dress.  Her father had laid three tables end to end across the family room to make one big table. Her mother was in the kitchen still cooking. Her Aunts were franticly rushing around trying to set the table with china plates and crystal glasses. Two candle sticks with white candles were placed at one end of the table. At the other end were two plates, one with a white cloth wrapped around three pieces of Matzo, large flat crisp bread. The other plate had a lamb bone, a sliced egg, parsley, slices of onion, charsoses, and a bowl of salt water.

The door bell rang. “I’ll get it,” Samantha yelled. Becky stood in the doorway. “Come on in, we’re all just sitting down,” said Samantha as she grabbed Becky’s hand. They ran to the family room. Samantha introduced Becky to her family and they all sat down.  Uncle Harvey sat next to Becky on one side and Samantha on the other. Uncle Harvey was a short fat man with a long beard and a yarmulke (yă’ mŭl kăh), a little Jewish hat he always wore. Mr. Danofsky, a tall skinny man, sat down on the end of the table with the plates. Mrs. Danofsky lit the candles and said a prayer, before she sat down at the other end. The rest of Samantha’s aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, sisters and brother took seats around the very large table. Books called The Haggadah (Hă god’ ăh) were placed in front of everyone.

“We sit here lounging at the table as our fathers did, and their fathers did, for thousands of years,” Mr. Danofsky said catching his breath, “We tell this story to our children, so they can tell there children, how our ancestors were helped by God to leave Egypt. They would no longer be slaves to the Pharaohs.”

Pointing to the plate next to him he continued, “Each of these things on this plate has a meaning. The lamb bone shows, that we no longer sacrifice animals. The egg represents fertility and new babies. The parsley is the new growth of spring. The onion is the bitterness that the Jews suffered being slaves. The charsoses is the mortar they used to build the pyramids. The salt water is the tears the Jews wept. We eat a piece of parsley dipped in salt water. We then eat a piece of onion dipped in the charsoses; mixing bitter with sweet.” He passed the plate around.

Mr. Danofsky began to read from the book, alternating between English and Hebrew, while breaking the Matzo and passing it around. Samantha and Becky tried to follow. Uncle Fred started snoring at the table and Aunt Marcy elbowed him in the side to wake him up. “Now we dip our finger in the grape juice,” continued Mr. Danofsky, “And then drip the grape juice on your napkin as we say the names of each of the ten plagues that God, sent to the Egyptian.”

William, Samantha’s little brother, knocked over his juice. Becky and Samantha started to giggle. Mr. Danofsky went on, “After the last plague the Pharaoh let the Jews leave Egypt. They were no longer slaves.”

“So then what happened?” asked Becky.

Uncle Harvey answered, “They quickly packed everything they could carry. They were in such a hurry; they didn’t have time to let the bread rise.”

“That’s how we got Matzo,” yelled William proudly.

“Okay, everyone hungry? Let’s eat,” said Mrs. Danofsky. Afterwards they played a game of finding the Matzo. Becky got to exchange the Matzo for money. They ended by singing a funny song about a goat and money. This was Samantha’s favorite part.

“Well did you have a good time Becky?” said Mrs. Danofsky.

            “Yes,” replied Becky, “Can I come back next year?”

            “Yes,” said Mr. Danofsky, “Everyone is invited back, every year.”