More than Matzo

For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove the leaven from your homes … you shall guard the unleavened bread, because on this very day I will take you out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day for your generations as an eternal decree.
-- Exodus 12:15-17

Richmond, VA — Passover begins at sunset Monday. Jewish households are preparing by cleaning, cooking and clearing homes of any vestiges of leavened products.

The holiday, one of the most sacred on the Jewish calendar, commemorates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

A focal point of Passover is the traditional Seder, which includes eating symbolic foods and reciting the Haggada, a booklet telling the Exodus story, with songs and blessings. The ritual is held the first and second nights of Passover, which lasts seven or eight days.

One of the requirements of observing Passover is dietary change, even for those who keep kosher year-round.

A general rule for keeping kosher during the year is that meat and dairy products can not be mixed; separate cookware should be used for each. During Passover, the major modification is the absence of chometz — grain products made with leavening agents, such as yeast or baking powder.

Allowable is matzo, a flat wafer resulting from quick mixing of flour and water and quicker baking — before any rising of dough occurs. The symbolism is easy to understand.

When the Jews fled Egypt, they did not have time to wait for the bread to rise. They mixed flour and water and baked it on heated rocks in the desert.

The mention of seven or eight days of matzo inevitably leads to groans or jokes.

But Passover is a chance for many people to reconnect with their faith and families.

Here are some Richmonders’ stories of Passover:

An experience for all

Coming soon to a school near you: the traveling Model Matzah Bakery.

Sponsored by the Chabad of Virginia and the Richmond Council for Jewish Education, the program gives about 500 children in the Richmond area the chance to make matzo in less than 18 minutes, start to finish.

That is the time the Israelites were said to have had to make their bread before fleeing.

Rabbi Chaim Litvin and Rabbi Mendy Weiss coordinated a program last week at Rudlin Torah Academy on Patterson Avenue. In the days before Passover, they take the program to area Jewish preschools and schools.

At Rudlin Torah, after the rabbis gave a brief introduction and explanation of the origins of matzo, students donned paper baking hats and went to work.

Weiss quickly mixed the flour and water in a large bowl, and the countdown began.

Students rolled the dough into balls, rolled them flat and punched small holes to speed baking time.

The matzos were baked in a small oven and distributed to the student bakers in their overturned hats.

The pre-Passover response was enthusiastic.

(Let’s hope a week’s worth of peanut butter and matzo sandwiches won’t change that.)

A time to teach others

Elaine Lichtman’s Sweet 16 falls during Passover this year.

“I won’t be able to have a birthday cake, and I’m really, really bummed,” she said.

“I’m probably going to have a nasty spongecake.”

But she doesn’t mind waiting a few extra days to celebrate with a giant cookie — or maybe ice cream — cake.

“I really enjoy Passover,” she said.

Elaine, a 10-grader at Mills E. Godwin High School in western Henrico County, said it’s also a time to teach friends about her religion.

“Last year, I brought in matzo for lunch. It was really messy and fell all over the place. My friends think it’s weird but cool.”

She even brought in matzo as a snack for her softball team last year.

Changing her eating for eight days gives her a chance to have some seasonal favorites, such as the traditional charoset on the Seder plate.

Elaine’s father, Dr. Aron Lichtman, said he values the traditions and lessons of the holiday, but he looks forward to the end of the matzo. “The first meal is going to be pasta or pizza.

”By the end of Passover, when you’ve had matzo every meal, it seems, you don’t want to see it the rest of the year.“

Freedom of sacrifice

Rabbi Ben Romer of Congregation Or Ami, 9400 W. Huguenot Road, remembers eating way too many peanut butter and matzo sandwiches in childhood.

”Growing up, everything tasted like sawdust. Now, it’s pretty good.“

One of the best parts now, he said, is his wife Karen’s macaroons (see recipe this page).

”For seven or eight days, your cooking changes. Your baking adjusts.“

A week’s worth of change is an easy sacrifice for the chance to pass on heritage and values.

”The whole idea is to get the family together and invite guests,“ Romer said.

”We share the Haggada, tell the story and branch off. There is a dynamic of having to tell your children about it. The Passover Seder is something that resonates.

“It’s an amazing little self-contained service. The whole concept is a connection with God. You can put yourself there, going from the physical and spiritual slavery to physical and spiritual freedom.”

Living kosher all year

When Ruthanne Goldsmith was a child, her family had kosher food shipped to their home in Huntington, W.Va.

Even as recently as a few years ago, she had to go to Washington for many staples. Like many local Jews, she is pleased to be able to get kosher meat and other products locally now, mainly at Westbury Market at 8903 Three Chopt Road. She and her husband, David, keep kosher year-round.

Though some might think it’s difficult to adhere to the kosher diet, it’s just a way of life for her family, she said.

“The main thing is not to mix milk and meat. It’s a way of accepting that moms have feelings for their offspring. It’s a way of showing respect for life.”

Passover, Goldsmith said, “takes a little more thought.”

A favorite dish is matzo ball soup. “I love the alchemy of water, chicken and matzo,” she said.

Preparation for Passover includes intense housecleaning and ridding the home of chometz food.

Work, yes, but well worth it, she said.

“Some of my favorite childhood memories are of Seders,” said the former teacher. “I always was welcome.

”Passover is a great teaching holiday for kids.“

A wonderful tradition

Helen Fine Griffin also keeps kosher year-round.

For years, she and husband Dana, a retired Navy commander, traveled the world.

It wasn’t difficult to find foods they could eat, she said.

”There were always fresh fruits and vegetables. When my husband was on aircraft carriers, there was always tuna and peanut butter.

“Passover presents challenges we don’t have the rest of the year, of course, but matzo we could always get.

”It’s strange, but when we were stationed in places like Okinawa, we could get kosher meat at the commissary. Stateside, they didn’t carry it.

“And in England, there was a fabulous Israeli smoked turkey breast.”

Though Griffin was with her family abroad, some servicemen and women are alone at the holidays.

She appreciates the efforts of the Jewish Welfare Board, an organization that sends out individual Passover boxes to soldiers and sailors so they can have a Seder.

Traveling was exciting, but staying in one place now gives the Griffins the chance to host an annual four-generation Seder with several dozen guests.

“It’s a wonderful, wonderful tradition. As you get older, you grasp the gift that it is.”