this year in jerusalem

passover, which is coming up very soon, is one of my favorite Jewish holiday. it’s got it all. food, family, and great content … it’s the ultimate jewish social justice holiday.

in fact, many things that i know about life, i learned from passover:

• all who are hungry should enter and eat.
• every person should see themselves, and then be seen by others, as if he (or she - in my version of the haggadah) had personally come out of egypt.
• it’s important to ask questions. four is never enough.
• in business, diversification is key. bonus points if it’s good for the jews. why else would a coffee company, maxwell house, continuously publish haggadot since 1933?
• one goat is worth two zuzim (very useful for talmud …)
• there are multiple types of slavery. including, physical, emotional, and spiritual.
• slavery still exists in our world today.
• my grandma makes the best matzah ball soup. you could argue with me, but then you’d be wrong.
• rabbi josé lived in the galilee (at least according to how his name is spelled in the maxwell house haggadah).
• don’t celebrate the downfall of your enemies.
• there are way too many products made with high fructose corn syrup.
• remember to be thankful, dayenu.
• pay attention to springtime and the cycles of nature.
• manischewitz is not real wine.
• you may really like the social justice passover supplements, from tikkun magazine, but your family may not.
• my father was a wandering aramean.
• kitniyot. no one’s really sure what they are, and why they’re prohibited, but ashkenazi jews make sure not to eat them (except in israel, where it’s apparently ok).
• the number of dishes that you can make with matzah meal, matzah farfel and matzah cake meal is only limited by your imagination.
• ometimes it’s important to taste the bitterness of oppression.
• matzah pizza is surprisingly not that bad…. my dad often enjoys his with pepperoni…
• playing games is fun – you’re never too old to search for the afikomen.
• remember to hope. a better world is always possible.
• god is on the side of freedom, not oppression.
• there are thirteen attributes of god, twelve tribes, eleven stars, ten commandments, nine months of pregnancy, eight days until the bris, seven days of the week, six books of mishnah, five books of torah, four mothers, three fathers, two tablets, and one god.
• it’s never to late in the seder to open the door for elijah.
• and for some of us, it’s finally going to be … this year in jerusalem.