For many Jews, every part of
the Passover seder provides a
symbolic connection to their heritage and shows gratitude for their ancestors’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. But in Arkansas, getting the right ingredients for the seder meal can be a challenge — especially for procrastinators. Passover, which begins at sundown today, is the first major Jewish festival mentioned in the Bible. The holiday is one of the most celebrated holidays on the Jewish calendar. The holiday, called Pesach in Hebrew, lasts seven days in Israel and traditionally lasts eight days for Jews outside Israel. On the first and second night of the holiday, Jewish families typically gather to observe the seder, a recitation of the story of Exodus with different foods to represent different aspects of the story, such as horseradish, a bitter herb, to represent the bitterness of slavery. The middle of the seder consists of a main meal such as chicken, beef brisket or fish. “For a lot of people, the seder is more a kind of cultural thing,” said Rabbi Jacob Adler of Temple Shalom in Fayetteville. “For them, it’s not so important that the foods meet the requirements of
Jewish law, but it’s the kind of foods you remember from your childhood or your past. For other people, it is an observance of Jewish law.”
Jewish law dictates that during Passover, food must be completely free of hametz — that is, fermented grain. The tradition is a reminder that the Israelites had to flee Egypt in such haste that their dough did not have time to rise.
That’s why matzo, unleavened bread, is a Passover staple. But not all matzo is free of leaven. If grain has been soaked in water for 18 minutes or more before it has been baked, Adler said, the natural yeast in the air has fermented the grain.
“There have been miscues,” he said. “One year Wal-Mart got in a whole bunch of matzo. But if you read the box, it said, ‘not for Passover use. ’”
Most grocery stores are better now about stocking matzo and matzo balls around Passover, Adler and others said.
Michael Lieber, who along with his wife, Eileen, helps organize Temple Shalom’s annual community seder, said stores still sometimes sell out because of rising demand from Christians.
“When Passover and Easter fall around the same time, the local churches will have their own versions of seders,” he said. “Of course, they outnumber us. They will go down and see these items on the shelves and they’ll just clean out the shelves.”
He said he and his wife begin ordering food for the community seder well in advance.
The ban on fermented grain affects more than just bread. It’s an ingredient in beer and in some vinegar, so those items are also forbidden during Passover. Although horseradish is one of the customary seder ingredients, many Jews avoid horseradish sauce because it’s made with grain vinegar.
Wine is another key part of the seder meal. Adler said many liquor stores will stock Manischewitz and other popular kosher brands.
But finding a kosher meat dish for the seder can be especially difficult in Northwest Arkansas.
Jewish dietary laws require more than just avoiding pork. The Bible in Leviticus forbids Jews to consume blood, so animals are to be ritually slaughtered and drained of blood as much as possible. Adler said major kosher poultry suppliers won’t even distribute in Northwest Arkansas because the demand simply isn’t there.
The Arkansas Jewish community is small — roughly 1, 600 — according to the 2000 Religious Congregations and Membership Study.
Many Jews don’t try to keep kosher. But it is possible to do so in Arkansas, said Rabbi Mendel Greisman, director of Chabad of Northwest Arkansas. As a Hasidic Jew, Greisman follows the traditional dietary laws throughout the year.
“In today’s day and age, when the world is a global village, it’s not hard to be Jewish in Arkansas,” he said. “You just have to plan a month ahead. You can’t go downstairs to the grocery, so you use UPS or FedEx.”
Before the Internet, he said, many traditional Jews in Arkansas would ask friends and relatives who lived in cities with large Jewish populations to bring kosher ingredients when they visited.
Lynn Greenberg, administrator of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, said planning for Passover has gotten significantly easier in recent years in Little Rock since the Kroger on Shackleford Road added a kosher section.
“My husband and I were just in Philadelphia, and we went into a store in a Jewish neighborhood to see what their Passover selection was,” she said. “Quantity-wise, it was much greater than what’s here, but not selection-wise. I was able to get pretty much the same stuff here.”
Rabbi Pinchus Ciment, director of Lubavitch of Arkansas in Little Rock, said he sees a rising awareness among merchants about Passover and Jewish dietary requirements.
He would like to have a kosher butcher and bakery. But he said it’s important to realize how far Jews in central Arkansas have come.
“The greatest ingredient I seek out in Little Rock is inviting a fellow Jew to come to a seder,” he said. “They should know there is a place at the seder for them.”
The complications of preparing a seder actually can be an advantage, said Rabbi Jack Zanerhaft of Congregation Etz Chaim in Bentonville. It helps remind people of Passover’s theme of faith in adversity.
“The things that come easy to you, often you take for granted,” Zanerhaft said. “The things that are a result of hard work, challenge and difficulty seem just that much sweeter. It means you appreciate that box of matzo more if you had to work for it.”
The congregation of Temple Shalom will have its annual Community Seder at 5: 30 p. m. April 26 the Cosmopolitan Hotel, 70 N. East Ave., Fayetteville. Menu choices include chicken, salmon and vegetarian. Prices vary accordingly. Reservations can be made by contacting Eileen Lieber at (479 ) 521-7895 today.
Jews in Northwest Arkansas without a place to attend a seder can call Greisman at (479 ) 464-7999.
Jews in central Arkansas without a place to attend a seder can call Ciment at (501 ) 217-0053. The Seder
Traditional foods of the Seder meal and their meaning matzo — Unleavened bread. It is eaten to satisfy the biblical commandment in Deuteronomy 16: 3 to eat unleavened bread in memory of the Israelites’ hasty departure from Egypt before dough had time to leaven. maror — Bitter herbs (usually horseradish ) that symbolize the bitterness of Egyptian slavery. charoset — Apples, nuts and spices ground together and mixed with wine to represent the mortar used by Egyptian slaves to build Egyptian structures. karpas — A vegetable (usually parsley ) dipped into salt water to symbolize the tears shed during Egyptian slavery. baytza — Roasted hardboiled egg to symbolize the regular sacrifice made during Jewish festivals in the days the temple stood in Jerusalem. Some Jewish authorities also have said the roasted egg is a symbol of mourning for the two destroyed temples in Jerusalem. zeroa — A shank bone is symbolic of the Paschal lamb offered as a Passover sacrifice during Temple days. Today a chicken neck is sometimes used. chazeret — Bitter herbs (such as cucumber, watercress or radish ) that also symbolize the bitterness of slavery. Chazeret is an optional part of the Seder in some Jewish households. Source: The Jewish Book of Why by Alfred J. Kolatch (Jonathan David Publishers, 1995 ).