Preparing the House for Passover: What Must I get rid of?

Preparing the House for Passover: What Must I get rid of?

The object of this exercise is to get rid of anything that may have leaven, or chametz in it. “What constitutes leaven?” you may ask.

The rabbinic authority in Ashkenazi tradition has created three basic groups for us to understand Passover foods: foods permitted for Passover, Pesadic; foods that are not exactly forbidden by Torah for Passover, but are not traditionally eaten, Kinyot; foods that are forbidden for Passover, Chametz.  

According to Chabad.org, Chametz is defined as, “...any food product made from wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, or their derivatives, which has leavened (risen). Our sages have determined that flour from any of these five grains that comes in contact with water or moisture will leaven, unless fully baked within eighteen minutes.” 

Kinyot are legumes, bean, rice, peas and corn. They were prohibited in the Ashkenazi tradition because in certain forms they can be confused with chametz. Sephardic Jews permit eating kinyot on Passover. Aside from kinyot, fruits, vegetables and meats are kosher for Passover.

Can Messianic Jews eat kinyot? Kinyot are not strictly forbidden for Passover, so technically yes. It is important, however, to stay true to your family traditions. If you were raised Sephardic, eating rice and beans over Passover, by all means, continue to do so. If your family was Ashkenazi and even eliminated kinyot, abide by those rules. I think, however, that Jewish observance has changed over the years in that Sephardic and Ashkenazi are no longer the only choices in family upbringing. I would stipulate, (many would disagree with me, possibly your local rabbi!), that if you were raised Reform Ashkenazi, then you should continue in that tradition as well. There’s no reason that your favorite Passover lunch of peanut butter and jelly on matzah shouldn’t be passed down to your children(Peanuts are kinyot). If you are unsure or don’t have a tradition to draw from, ask your local rabbi.

What about the use of separate dishes? Once again, I think it is important to stay true to family traditions. If it is a meaningful tradition to take out Passover dishes and completely turn over the kitchen for the week, do so. If you are not observant in this way during the rest of the year, I find it more meaningful to focus on what we can do for Passover without stressing me out. I do have a set of china that I use during the week. Using the china reminds my family that this is a special time, and we use special dishes to commemorate.

One of my favorite resources is the MJRC Standards of Observance. Although I don't agree with everything in the document, I think it is a good document to read when you are learning about Messianic Judaism.

Armed with knowledge, we are ready to move on to cleaning.

To help you with this, I created a downloadable file that you can use as is, in a .pdf, or adjust to meet your need, in a Word document. Go here to download the Passover Cleanup Checklist.

Messianic Times: A Practical Passover Preparation

A Practical Passover Preparation

It’s mid-March, and I am thinking about Passover preparation. As soon as Purim passes, the next few weeks fly by. If I get organized the week before Passover is much less crazy than it could have been. My preparations focus around three major areas: Home preparation, Menu preparation (including the Seder menu) and Spiritual preparation.

Home Preparation

The object of the game is to get rid of anything that may have leaven, or chametz in it. The kitchen and dining room areas are most important because that is where food is. If you already have rules about where food goes in your house, then there’s no need to clean there. Many people use this time as an opportunity for a comprehensive spring cleaning, but this is not necessary.

I make a list of things that need to be cleaned for Passover. I wipe each shelf down, getting rid of crumbs. I run a self-clean on the oven and clean the stove. I wipe the outside of the cabinets, and give the entire downstairs a good vacuum. Ideally, I also give the car a once-over.

Around this time in March, too, I start taking inventory of my pantry, and start to use up the chametz. I also start watching the sales. Our local grocery store often has coupons for matzah and great discounts on grape juice and all things Jewish.

Read the rest over at the Messianic Times. If you are intersted in my Passover Checklist, click here. For what I've written in the past about Passover, click here. Stay tuned for more Passover content tomorrow!

Passover Cleaning Checklist 5775 (2015)

I know that I make lists and lists all the time to get things done. There is something about a list that someone else starts that is comforting - they have to list the same things you do to get it done! So, here is my Passover Cleaning Checklist for this year.

You can download the .pdf file here:  Passover Checklist5775.pdf

You can download an editable Word file here: Passover Checklist5775.docx

Let me know if the links don't work. This is the first time adding a download to the website! Email me at fingerprintsinthedust@gmail.com.

Passover is Coming!

Have I ever mentioned that Passover is definitely up at the top of my favorite Jewish Holiday list? The whole turing your life upside-down for God for a week helps make my faith tangible.

Here are a few posts about Passover from last year. I hope you enjoy them! As I reread some of my work, I see that I repeat myself. I think I really mean these things that I say!

Path to Passover Series:
Not Perfect: In which I first outline my Passover ideas

Passover Pantry Challenge: Last year's pantry challenge to myself.

Last year I was honored to put together a couple of lovely interviews with women within the Messianic Jewish world. Read these lovely interviews and learn how different people observe Passover. Interview with Miri, and Interview with Michelle Schiffman.

When I say you Passover doesn't have to be perfect, here is the perfect example! Also could be titled, "What to do when sickness hits your house in Passover." The Perfect for us Passover Seder.

Shabbat Shalom dear ones!

Musing about this Blog

As I think about writing in this space, I constantly wonder what my focus should be. There are so many things that interest me, so many things I could write about. It has just about always been a challenge for me to choose between things that I love doing and that I am good at doing. In this space, I am now declaring it a place where I do not have to choose.

I may write about my family, my music, my faith, the medical challenges I have encountered. All of these things are part of me. In all of these things, I can find miracles - large and small.

I am reminded of my first 31 day writing challenge. I wrote 31 Days of Being Me. I rambled about this and that - the things that happened in my life. I will probably continue with that train of thought, perhaps with less rambling.

So don't be surprised to see posts about all sorts of different things. Life as a mom of a child with a g-tube, perhaps. Or, From Behind the Piano. Or How to get ready for Passover. Maybe even [insert number] Reasons I love Dr. Who.

Thanks for coming around. And Yay for warm-er weather!!!

It's been a while

It has been quite a while since I have posted. I fell apart during the October 2014 30 days challenge. I thought I had a system all together, a whole month planned out for the challenge, but somehow I fizzled out.

Since then, I have pretty much ignored this blog, finding other things to do with myself. I sewed up a storm during December.

I have been writing monthly at the Messianic Times. There is an archive of my work on the right sidebar. You can scroll down to find my name. The other project taking some time is my work with Achot, the UMJC Sisterhood. I have been editing the newsletter for quite some time now, and since January I have been working on updating the Achot website.

Working on the website, thinking about an editorial calendar, planning out pages, made me think of this, my little home base. So here I am writing again.

Hi :)

Getting Ready for Writing

It seems to me that whenever I start a project, family matters overcome them. I have a hard time finishing through my writing when I'm continuously with my family. We were in Vermont last week, and I was so consumed with doing activities with everyone that my 31 day writing challenge got away from me.

I suspect I need to create quick rituals for getting ready to write. For instance, right now, I'm taking the cue of my children having TV time to tell me to get my fingers moving across the keyboard. I set a timer, and go.

I guess my question to myself is, "What do I need to get ready to write?" And, "How can I make it fit in to days when the kids are home from school?" Because right now, most of my writing happens when I'm alone.