Ilana-Davita

About two years ago, on one of the Jewish Internet lists I belong to, someone reminded us that when Purim comes Pesach is only a month away. For the observant Jew, Pesach means plenty of work which entails a lot of cleaning, a lot of koshering and also a lot of eating to get rid of the Chametz (Chametz or Chometz (חמץ) is the Hebrew term for "leavened bread") in the house.

Since my observance is still fairly recent (it's not even four years since I started to follow Jewish laws seriously), I fear I might still get important things wrong. So each year I purchase new books on the holidays (something I love to do) and reread older ones to refresh my memory and get new insights into the holidays as they come along.


Here's my list for this year:

New books (new for me anyway)
- Pesach Passover - Its Observance, Laws and Significance. Artscroll Mesorah Series. I was given this book last year at the onset of the holiday so I only briefly looked at it then but I now intend to read it through. It is very classical (as most, if not all, Artscroll books) but I always feel one needs to know the basics before moving on to other perspectives.
- Pesach for the Rest of Us: Making the Passover Seder Your Own by Marge Piercy, the American poet, novelist, and social activist. I expect this one will be very different from the other one, with an emphasis on women since Piercy is a feminist but I am looking forward to the challenge and pleasure I am positive this book will provide.

Older book
- The chapter on Pesach in How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household by Blu Greenberg.

One I read last year and the year before last
- The Chief Rabbi's Haggadah for its beautiful essays and commentary and emphasis on ethics by Jonathan Sacks.

We are lucky to get a long winter break here: two full weeks. So far I seem to have been quite busy: mock exams to mark, group work to mark, an aunt in hospital to visit and the usual things I do when I finally have some time, like tidying, cleaning, sorting papers, etc.

For me holidays also means cooking. I love reading cookery books and whenever I go to the hairdresser's I enjoy flipping through magazines trying to find new and exciting recipes. Obviously since I keep kosher I might have to adapt the recipes but it is not as hard as it may look to the outsider. In fact it is even challenging in a way but easy most of the time.

Here is a recipe I tried out this morning to use up leftover challah.

Slice one onion and mix it with some dill and one finely sliced celery stick.
Slice four thick slices of challah and soak them in water.
While they are soaking, add three beaten eggs, some worcester sauce, 2 tbsps of lemon, a little tabasco, salt and pepper to taste to the first mixture.
Add one tin of tuna and one of salmon (both in brine).
Finally add the squeezed challah, mix everything and put in an oven (200°) for about half an hour.

Enjoy hot or cold!