Dana Bushee'
College student Dave Khalili left his job at the Costa Mesa-based Bureau
of Jewish Education of Orange County last weekend to help his family with
spring cleaning.
The cleanup effort is not because of the change in season, but to prepare
for the eight days of Passover. Khalili, 19, will rid his home of food
products with flour, grains and yeast.
"It's very hard, especially for a college student," said Khalili, a UC
Irvine student. "I like fast food, but I'm not going to be able to eat
any of that this week."
At sundown tonight, Jewish families across the nation will gather to
light candles, sing, pray and reflect on the Hebrews' exodus from Egypt
more than 3,000 years ago. They must also eliminate breads and pasta-type
foods from their diets.
This sacrifice honors their ancestors who were unable to take flour and
yeast for bread as they fled from Egypt, said Beth Slavin, director of
marketing for Temple Bat Yahm in Newport Beach.
Some Orthodox Jews may have begun the cleaning weeks before Passover,
Slavin said. Tonight before sundown, some families may inch through the
house together in darkness with a candle and a feather, cleansing the
closets and cupboards of any last leavened products.
"They actually go into their kids' closet to make sure there are no
crumbs," Slavin said. "It's very serious."
A symbolic Passover feast, called Seder or "order", is commonly served
tonight and Thursday night with family and friends.
"It's a very important time for Jews to gather around the table and
retell the story of the Israelites," Slavin said.
The story is read from the book Haggadah and is linked with ceremonial
food items placed on the Seder plate, Slavin said.
Those items include flat unleavened bread, called matzah; a shank bone
symbolizing the Hebrews' sacrificial lamb; bitter herbs to represent the
bitterness of slavery; and haroset, a mixture of apples, nuts, cinnamon
and wine that represents the thick mortar the Hebrews used to lay bricks.
Khalili, who teaches teens Judaism at the bureau, said his family has
been spending Passover together for 28 years, celebrating and acting out
the historical passages.
"My favorite part has always been the family time," Khalili said. "It's
nice to come home and see my family and we're all there sitting together
at the dinner table."
Of course, an extra place setting will be waiting for the prophet Elijah,
who is believed to visit after the Passover meal for a glass of wine.
Slavin said every year her children look into the extra wine glass as the
door is opened to watch for bubbles.
"I'm amazed each year that I actually see bubbles," Slavin said. "You're
almost led to believe Elijah is really drinking from that glass of wine."
