On April 28, 2024, members of our Club gathered at the home of Betty Newman (a friend of the Club) to celebrate Passover with a Seder, the special dinner in which family and friends gather to retell the story of Exodus: how the Jews fled from slavery in Egypt. Betty described the cleaning that she had done to prepare her house for the Passover holiday. She also talked about the separate set of dishes used only during Passover.
At the table was a Seder plate with items that symbolize different aspects of Passover:
- A roasted lamb shank bone represents the sacrifice of a lamb, which was performed at the Temple when it stood in Jerusalem.
- A roasted egg represents the circle of life.
- Bitter herbs represent the bitterness of slavery.
- Charoset (a mixture of sweet wine, nuts, and apples) symbolizes the mortar used by the enslaved Jews to construct buildings for Pharaoh.
- Parsley represents the rebirth of spring.
- A bowl of salt water serves as a reminder of the tears and sweat shed during the slavery in Egypt.
During Passover, observant Jews refrain from eating chametz ‒ food with leavening or certain grains, including flour, such as bread, cookies, or pasta. Instead, matzo was served throughout our dinner to symbolize how the Exodus took place so swiftly that the dough had no time to rise. Of interest was the ceremony involving the three matzot and the hiding of the afikomen (a piece of the ceremonial matzo).
Club Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scott Plakun led the service, where everyone in attendance had a turn to share their Rotary background, discuss what they know and wanted to know about Passover, and read from the Haggadah, the book that includes a narrative of the story and the rituals around it. The Haggadah reminds us of how the salvation of the Jews from slavery creates a personal responsibility to make the world a better place and to be welcoming to strangers.
Our host, Betty, a friend of Past President Christopher Wiseman, used to write a regular cooking column in the Jewish Bulletin. In addition to providing her beautiful home for the event, Betty cooked the matzo ball soup, braised beef brisket, roasted chicken, and prepared many other dishes with the help of her friends.
This was our Club's second Passover celebration with Betty, but it was my first Passover ever. While I have grown up celebrating many holidays in other cultures with food that is symbolic of historical events, it was fascinating to learn about and taste the symbolic foods served at Passover.
