Bringing food to enjoy at the Community Seder?

All food must be vegerterian and Kosher for Passover. Wine must be kosher for Passover. Please read the guidelines below to plan before bring food to Nahalat Shalom’s sanctuary.

POTLUCK! You may bring vegetarian/pescatarian (kosher fish only) to share.

You may bring Kosher for Passover wine and/ or grape juice for the Kiddush and the meal (grape juice will be provided by Nahalat Shalom)

Please bring your own ritual items for the Seder plate that you can share with your friends and family at your table as well. For instance, you may want to bring a seder plate with charoset (from the Hebrew word “harsit” meaning clay - is usually a sweet apple and nut mixture symbolic of the mortar we were forced to use as slaves), roasted egg -or grapes for vegans, roasted beet -or “paschal yam” (instead of a shank bone for vegans), parsley, bitter herb (horseradish), and Kosher for Pesach matzah (unleavened bread).

The synagogue will provide table cloths, paper goods and cutlery. An eco-kashrut alternative is to bring a washable place setting from home for your own use. The synagogue will provide salt water, a Haggadah for each person (the seder booklet which includes the re-telling of the story of our Exodus from Egypt), Kosher for Pesach matzoh and Kosher for Pesach grape juice. If you prefer wine, please bring your own Kosher for Pesach wine.

If you want to take pictures and share with us for our website and Facebook page, that would be most appreciated!!

What’s a seder without lots of children? Children are always welcome and they are invited and encouraged to participate along with our Cheder (Hebrew school) students in the singing of prayers and songs from the Haggadah as well as our favorite Passover folk songs in Hebrew, English, Ladino and Yiddish. After the meal and before the conclusion of the seder, all children are invited to search for the special hidden piece of matzah called the afikomen (dessert). Every participating child will receive a small gift, and there will be a special gift for the child who finds it.

QUESTIONS???

What’s the difference between Ashkenazic and Sephardic food that is kosher for Passover??

Our Community Seder is vegetarian/kosher-pescatarian. There are different Jewish cultural groups that have different traditions and halachic laws about food for Passover. Most of us follow the traditions of one of the two main Jewish ethnic groups: Ashkenazic [Germanic, Eastern European, Russian, …] and Sephardic [Jews from the Iberian Peninsula: Spain and Portugal, and also from Amsterdam, Southern France, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, …]. The Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East and Asia [Syria, Egypt!, Iran, Iraq, India, Uzbekistan,…] — as well as the Yemenite and Ethiopian Jews — follow closer to the Sephardic laws, but they may also follow their own special dietary traditions and laws.

No matter where your families came from, most traditions allow fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs and dairy products during Passover. To commemorate the matzah that our ancestors ate as slaves in Egypt and also the dough that didn't have enough time to rise on the morning that they fled from their oppressors, observant Jews avoid any foods that have leavening [yeast] or corn syrup in them, as well as foods that are made from wheat [excluding kosher for Passover matzah, matzah meal, etc.]. We also avoid anything made from barley, oats, spelt and rye.

In addition to these grains forbidden by both groups, many Ashkenazic Jews also refrain from eating rice, corn [corn starch, corn syrup], millet, buckwheat, beans, soybeans and legumes (including peas and lima beans), during Passover, while most Sephardic Jews do eat them and many consider these foods special legumes on Pesach called kitniyote.

If you are bringing or using pre-packaged foods or ingredients for the potluck meal such as pastas, cakes, cookies, candies or crackers - please be sure that they have the special “Kosher for Passover—or Pesach” certification marked on the package - this includes your box of matzah.