Passover is the most important Jewish holiday because it retells the story of how we became the Jewish people. It is interactive, multimedia and hands on.
The seder is the most well-attended Jewish ritual in America, but for many, the Passover holiday is only a half-filled glass. It’s an opportunity for inspiration and life-enrichment waiting to be tapped.
As a parent of three young children and as the director of a Jewish summer camp, I am always challenged to make Jewish observances emotionally exciting and intellectually interesting. In the case of Passover, it is easy because the holiday is so rich with meaning, history, music, symbols and — of course — food.
So in preparation for Passover, here’s a short exam. You’ll need a pencil, two minutes and a sense of humor.
1. When you think about eating matzah for a whole week, you are reminded of:
a) The haste in which our ancestors fled their homes in Egypt.
b) The haste in which you made plane reservations to flee wherever you have relocated to be back home with your family.
c) The matzah ball soup your grandmother used to make.
d) The stewed prune compote your grandmother used to make, and now, after a week of nothing but matzah, you finally understand why.
2. When you resist eating leavened bread, crackers and other chametz, do you think about:
a) How good it feels to complete each and every one of the Torah’s 613 commandments?
b) How comforting it is to know that Jews all over the world are suffering just like you?
c) How silly you feel, when, during the kids’ spring break, you take them for lunch at some cafeteria and have to tell the server you want the chili, but no beans, no crackers and no cheese?
d) What’s chametz?
3. During the seder, we read the story of how Joseph came to be the most powerful man in Egypt — second only to Pharaoh — by interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, a skill he began demonstrating as a boy.
Joseph then predicts seven good years of crops followed by seven bad years. He pitches a plan to Pharaoh to stockpile during the good years and sell at a profit during the lean years. This makes you think:
a) God gave Joseph a vision of his brothers bowing down before him as a preview of the role he would someday play in Egypt.
b) Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors as a preview of the role he would someday play on Broadway.
c) Joseph sounds a lot like Sigmund Freud.
d) Joseph sounds a lot like Alan Greenspan.
4. During the reading of the Haggadah, you usually think about:
a) The timeless drama of the story of our people.
b) The tiresome drama of your cousin Louise — when will she ever get over herself?
c) I wish those little kids would be a little quieter so I can hear what the leader is saying.
d) I wish those little kids would be a little noisier so the leader will skip some pages and get to the dinner part.
5. Toward the end of the week of Passover your mind is consumed by thoughts of:
a) How grateful you are to live in a free country, not like the bitter lives our ancestors lived.
b) How grateful you are that the week is almost over and you can have that Big Mac, pizza or Chinese food (select one) again.
c) How bitter you are that you paid $5 for each box of matzah, and it’s only flour and water, and isn’t that how they used to make glue, and where’s Grandma’s stewed prunes when you need them?
d) How soon will this be over?
SCORING:
Give yourself 20 points for each (a); 15 for each (b); 10 for each (c); and 5 for each (d).
If your score was 90 to 100 points: You are the anointed one. Next New Year’s may be a very busy time for you.
If your score was 75-85: A front row seat has been reserved for you in heaven.
If your score was 55-70: You are a thinking person with many interesting questions.
If your score was 50 or below: You have nowhere to go but up. It’s all about your potential.
The quiz brings to mind a few more things to think about during the holiday.
Why should matzah consumption and chametz avoidance be the central symbols of the holiday? After all, the only meaning the Haggadah gives us for matzah is that it reminds us of the “haste” with which we left Egypt.
But what’s the big message of matzah that we should be focused on it all week? In the whole saga from Abraham to Moses, is haste so important an idea that we should be reminded of it every day?
The focus on haste is telling us that when the devil is whipping our back, we should run, not walk, to escape. Every survivor knows this. The unspoken corollary to this thought is that we must also stop running sometime. Today, in the age of the 24-hour workday brought about by home computers, pagers, e-mail, faxes, cell phones and ATM’s, we are in perpetual haste. We have to slow down or we’ll burn out, like flat, dry, crusty matzah.
Pesach can be for the year, what Shabbat is for the week. A week to free ourselves from the tyranny of haste. May you have a zeisin Pesach — a sweet Passover.