Oh No! It's Almost Passover
Three words that some people dread: It’s almost Passover! I would like to suggest that if we begin our anticipation for the holiday that celebrates the birth of the Jewish people with feelings of doom, then we are doomed to have an unpleasant experience. Yes, it can be challenging to come up with creative recipes to cover at least eight days of meals. With a plethora of foods available, including the newly proclaimed superhero food quinoa, there is no reason why every member of the family cannot eat delicious, nutritious meals every day of Passover. Our attitudes approaching the holiday set the stage for what our children will do in the next generation. If you really want to turn your children and grandchildren on to Passover, then a positive outlook is most important. Just as you might recall the joy of a large family squeezing into a small dining space as bubbe continued to bring out platter upon platter of wonderful food, don’t you want to be able one day to sit at the table of one of your children and continue to enjoy this rich tradition? Assuming that your answer is a definitive, hearty “yes”, then the time to invest in our collective future is now. Here is how:
Speak only positively about the holiday.
Involve your children in the preparation through the following:
Cleaning and searching for hametz.
Cooking and preparing food.
Setting the table
Arranging the items for the Seder plate.
Mixing the salt water “just right”
Singing/leading parts of the Seder (you can find out from Karen Morris what your child learned this year).
Praise your children for all of the above.
Speak glowingly about the present, wistfully about the past, and hopefully about the future.
While life can never provide us with guarantees, nevertheless, with the appropriate effort, you will set the stage for a joyous celebration of Passover for generations to come. I hope that twenty-five years from now, while seated at your child’s table, he or she will speak fondly of what you did. It is worth the investment and pays great dividends.
Janice, Rachel, Aaron and I wish each of you a zissen Pesach.
