Around mid-April I promised to write about Passover. To many of my non-Jewish or not observant friends
it was supposed to be an interesting post.
It can be mind-boggling, and, at times absurd to hear about two layers
of surface covering, burning, or selling your bread or dunking your china in
the river.
Yes I did all that!
No, I never did that before. Yes,
it is tedious, exhausting, and confusing.
As strange as that would sound, I now understand a friend, who said that
clinging to Kosher kitchen helped her when life totally unraveled and threw her
punches one after another.
Kosher details take your mind of a lot of things. You can not concentrate on your misery when
you are reciting a prayer you are not familiar with and performing a ritual for
the first time. You forget about those
that wronged you, or those that are far away when you are deciding which dishes
to keep and store away, which to throw away, and which you absolutely have to
buy.
Many things have happened before and during Passover. I did not have a chance to write about them
or stop to think. They will find their
way into other blogs at some point.
So here we are. May 9th
2019. Today is V Day. 74-years ago the WWII was won. Today is Israeli Independence day, 71-years
ago the Nation of Israel was formed.
Both of these days are extremely personal and important for
me. I am in the middle of new mini-series about WWII. We are all glued to social media and news outlets
to keep up about the latest news from Israel.
I am pressured to post my opinion about it all.
My child, meanwhile is fighting nap time. She can run three miles and come back to open
every drawer looking for chocolate. Nap
will still be replaced with a dance or a march after that. Maybe that’s why I am still concentrating on
Kosher and I may voice an opinion about the state of affairs in Israel after
the Eurovision 2019 has come and gone. I
may write about my grandfather’s soldier story long after all the songs about
the V Day have ended and all the concerts are forgotten.
I am not even sure when I will get to the list of things
about Kosher Pesach I am willing to implement for life and which I will deem
too out of date for 21st century.
This year I learned a lot about
the immersion of vessels to accept Jewish ownership of them.
My husband and I have purified out belongings in three places. We have done it in the Shul Mikvah supervised
by a Rabbi. We also went to a Mikvah
used for Tevilat Keilim, or for vessels only.
A note to everyone new to Kosher living:
Never be deceived by appearances. Sometimes the pure rain water mikvah
that makes your dishes ready to use can be positioned next to a dumpster. Kitchen exits of a Synagogue does not always look
too appealing or is equipped with a parking lot, but it still does the job.
After these few attempts we learned that Synagogue mikvahs
are good when an observant Jew makes a new purchase. It is not the best way to go if you are overhaling
your entire house. A Mikvah used by
people is an expensive place that functions on a schedule. It is run by volunteers who donate the most precious
thing anyone of us poses – time. Only a
few well-to-do Synagogues have a 24-7 Tevilat Kelim Mikvah, or the one for your
dishes that you can visit at leisure. We loaded a car and drove for an hour to visit
one.
So, naturally, I started thinking about what my great grand-mother
used to do. I am sure not all Ashkinazi
Jews had an access to a Mikvah. They
used a natural water source to Toivel their dishes. After consulting with the Rabbi, we started
going to Accotinc Creak. My husband is
now equipped with a bucket full of holes.
We submerse class and porcelain we can’t take to the Mikvah used by
people. We make it a work out, now schlepping
dishes in a wagon to the creak.
Passover has come and gone.
My house is now Kosher for the year. To some it still may be
questionable. For me it is a giant step
forward. We still have a cabinet of
things to Toivel. It is a work out and a
date. One of these days, my daughter
will stop pealing off “Meat” “Dairy” and “Pareve” stickers off my
cabinets. Something tells me that by
that time we will not need them anymore because my husband will stop making mistakes.
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