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A happy Passover to our Jewish staff and our local Jewish communities

Hazel Melnick

We'd like to wish all our Jewish staff a happy Passover, which starts this evening. Covid-19 means celebrations will be very different this year, with many friends and families separated; Jewish people will not be able to invite others to join them for the Seder meal, and with Easter and Ramadan fast approaching, the same dilemma will be faced by Christians and Muslims too.

A headshot of Hazel Melnick, in greyscale Our Deputy Director of Communications and Engagement, Hazel Melnick, told us a little about the history of Passover, and what she’ll be missing most:

There are many things we’re missing with friends and families. One of those events for me is Seder night this weekend, where we would usually get together en masse, the story of Passover told in turns from books called ‘Haggadahs’, and lavish amounts of food eaten that my mother is probably breathing a sigh of relief at not having to cook this year.

Passover is a seven day festival celebrating the Jewish people being led out of slavery in Egypt by Moses (*cue Charlton Heston….). The 10th in a series of plagues on the Egyptians and their cattle, that included delights such as frogs, pestilence, and locusts, saw the Jews offer a Passover sacrifice of a lamb or a kid (goat, not child) and sprinkle the blood on their doors so that the Angel of Death passed over their houses.

A Seder plate is made up, with foods that have a special significance to the story. For example, horseradish (called ‘maror’) represents the bitterness and harshness of slavery; ‘charoset’ (a blend of grape juice, almonds, apple and cinnamon) represents the cement of the bricks and mortar the slaves used to build. And as part of the service there is also salt water to represent the tears. Sadly, the symbolisms of Seder this year feel more significant than before.

I will miss being in my mother’s kitchen, my sister, brother and I fighting over who is going to eat the last cinnamon ball or coconut pyramid; she’d be making the egg lokshen (think thin strips of omelette that go in the chicken soup) I’d be making charoset and knocking back some pretty horrific kosher wine (you have to be a true connoisseur to spot the difference between a Palwin no.4 and no.10). And this year would have been my new niece’s first Seder. On the bright side I don’t have to listen to my Dad singing after dinner.

Oh, I nearly forgot - the other bit I guess I should tell you about is the matzo - or unleavened bread. They left Egypt in such a hurry, there wasn’t time for the dough to rise, and so matzo is eaten for the seven days of Passover – basically no bread, or products made with flour.

I accept my whistle-stop tour isn’t quite the same as the one the Rabbi would give you. Honestly though, you can always Google if you want to know more.

And while I’m sad that there won’t be a Seder with my family and friends (again) this year, or for many others, it’s an opportunity for us all to reflect, to be grateful for who and what we have in our lives more than ever, and to note the fragility of it all. It’s why we need to continue to make the sacrifices now so that we can be together later. So I‘ll forgo the chicken soup – I’ve got some in the freezer anyway. Plus there’s much nicer wine in my collection than Palwin.

And as we say at the end of the Seder - ‘Next year in Jerusalem’….or wherever your Jerusalem may be.

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