For DIY-loving Passover celebrants
Making your own Matzah seems easy enough, if you can work quickly. The key is to get it all done before the dough has a chance to rise! We found this straight-forward video on Youtube that breaks down the whole baking process.
You’ll need:
Have you ever made your own Matzah?
Image via Youtube
2. What are your favourite parts of the seder meal?
I love the four questions. As a newish dad, I find them really moving. I love the Manischevitz. And I love the actual meal. My mom is an amazing cook and she also makes a lot of non Passover recipes that my Nanny and Bubby made, so it’s more than just a seder, it’s a historical family nostalgia feast.
Make the Jewish holiday fun and meaningful for kids without breaking your Matzo balls
The lengthy seder may not be your kids’ idea of a good time. The problem of keeping little ones in their seats has been tackled with varying degrees of success in homes throughout the world, ranging from plague performances to beating them with scallions. We looked to some of the coolest Jews we know to offer their tips on how to make seder interesting, educational and complete with some humour. But first’s thing’s first, you got to start with a cool Haggadah.
GETTING FRESH WITH MATZAH
There’s something for everyone in our 5 recipe Matzah round up. We have some seriously creative ways to make this Passover staple more kid friendly: matzo meatloaf, vegan matzo, and chocolate toffee matzoh candy. Who ever said Matzah has to be boring?
How do you decide on a Haggadah?
There are basically a million versions of the Haggadah out there so how do you choose the right one? Do you go with the holiest, most solemn and serious book you can find (no), or maybe something a little shorter and way more fun to make sure your kids are as into the seder as everyone else (yes)?
1. DIY Seder
This site lets you build your own Haggadah according to your family’s needs. All you do is answer a few questions and then print out the pages you need! And if you don’t want to print anything out, just bring your iPad to the table. As the title suggests, DIY Seder is for those who like to be a little creative, so if building a matzah house or showing your kids a Passover word cloud is the kind of thing you dig, go with this.
What role does social media have in the telling of the Exodus from Egypt? We asked Daniel Berkal, inventor of the Tweder, to tell us a bit more about that.
What led you to start the Tweder?
The initial thought behind the Tweder was that it was a way for people from all over the world to have access to a proper seder. But there was more to it… While noticing a bored relative sending text messages under the table during a seder several years back, it became obvious that the printed page seder is no longer as relevant to today’s audience as it could be. This is a time when the entire family comes together to take part in a ritual dinner that maintains the traditional structure while also being open to dramatic interpretation. No two seders are exactly the same and it changes over time. It’s part of the beauty of the holiday. It’s also an inclusive holiday… one in which everyone is supposed to take part. What better way to get involved than through Twitter?
In rounding up tales of Passover traditions, we thought it would be interesting to ask someone for whom Passover is relatively new (and probably strange). We asked Benjamin Errett, Managing Editor at the National Post and author of Jew and Improved, to tell us about his seder experiences. And since his decision to convert was based on his wife Sarah, it is only fitting that she helped him with the interview. Below is Ben Errett’s interview, as illustrated (and added to–see the ending) by his wife, Sarah Lazarovic.
Sarah Lazarovic’s illustrations are featured throughout her husband Benjamin Errett’s Jew and Improved: How Choosing to be Chosen Made Me A Better Man. The HarperCollins Canada book is now out in paperback and available here.
We wanted to speak to some famous Jews about Passover. Writer and Bad Mother Ayelet Waldman reluctantly agreed.
So, in our pre-interview discussion, you warned me that you hate Passover. Why is that?
Because I am Jewish and thus do constant battle with my bowels. The LAST thing I need is to spend 8 days ingesting cement. Plus that dinner is too damn long.
What does your family do for Passover?
We clean the Chametz out of the house, we drive ourselves insane eating nothing but cardboard ground up and reconstituted to resemble bread, cookies, cake etc., and we have a seder at which we beat one another about the head and shoulders with scallions.
What are some parts of Passover that you sort of like/are able to stand?
