Bukharan Passover Seder Overture

No holiday is more colorful when it comes to customs than Passover. I thought I had covered all the customs in my book Passover Around the World, published in 2006. No way! I keep on discovering new, fascinating and fun traditions.

Today, I'm going to transport you to Bukhara, a Central Asian city located on the ancient Silk Road.  Its Jewish community claims they are descendants of the lost tribes of Naphtali and Issachar. They have a developed a tradition that I call the Passover Seder Overture. All the females tie packages of matzah to their backs. They choreograph a simple dance and sing the words (in Tajik -- the Persian dialect that is their native language) With Haste We Went Out of Egypt. What a wonderful opening act to the Seder night. Want to get a glimpse of a Bukharan Jewish song and dance? Have a look.
Want to continue the play? Read one of my earliest posts on Passover customs and you'll see that Seder night has a lot of home-made Broadway potential.

I'll be back with some more customs that will get you thinking.













Photo credit

Algerian Jews Connect Purim with Hanukkah

It's always fascinating to find out how some Jewish communities around the world connect different holidays through customs. In the past I've written about Jews in Portugal giving Purim "gelt" to their children. Now I've discovered an additional Purim custom connecting this holiday with Hanukkah. Algerian Jews have a custom of children lighting candles on Purim. Unfortunately, I don't know how many but let's assume there's one candle for every major character in the Purim story.

You're probably thinking "Cute, but how can I connect this to classroom or home activities?" Here's the answer. I've googled and there are simple candle making instructions for kids. Create different sizes and colors for each character, light them and watch them burn. I'm placing my bets on a short, red colored candle for Haman with a caption "Burn Baby, Burn."
Sound right to you?






Photo credit

Origins of the Purim Masquerade Custom

Have you ever wondered when the Purim masquerade custom began?

The honest truth is that it's embedded in the Book of Esther, but we'll get to that later. If we want to stick to global custom origins, the first recorded source of dressing up in costume on Purim is a 15th century German document discussing women wearing men's clothing, drunkenness and other related Purim issues.

Any other global connections? There is a school of thought connecting Purim masquerades with the Carnival of Venice which dates back to the 11th Century. By coincidence, the calendar date of this festival famous for superb leather, porcelain and glass Venetian masks is not all that far from Purim. Hmmm...many Jewish customs have been "borrowed" from Christian neighbors, so this sounds like a definite possibility.

Speculation aside, let's take a look at the Book of Esther -- a story chock full of disguises.

The most obvious example is Queen Esther herself, depicted in this mosaic. Hiding her Jewish identity by competing in and winning Achashverosh's beauty pageant was the biggest masquerade of all. Even the name Esther, possibly taken from the Persian name Ishtar, is part of the cover up. Esther's given Hebrew name? Hadassah -- as in the name of the women's organization.

The carnival of poses doesn't end with Esther. Let's take her husband, the mighty king Achashverosh. He wears the mask of a strong ruler when actually his advisors -- most notably Haman -- rule him. Mordechai hides behind the mask of a loving uncle when he really is a mastermind pulling strings in order to save the Jewish people.

Haman? Is he as smart as he presents himself to be? Indeed, the story of Purim is one big charade. Speaking of which, maybe a good old fashioned game of charades should be part of this year's Purim curricula or family Purim feast? Not only does it enhance the masquerade custom, it sets the stage for it.

What do you think?


Mask photo credit

Queen Esther mosaic photo credit

From Planting Trees on Tu B'Shvat in Israel to a Bible Tree Quiz

While listening to the radio yesterday, I heard about a tree contest being run for Israelis by the Jewish National Fund. Citizens are asked to send in a photo of their favorite tree in Israel along with a detailed history. Naturally, the competition is being held in honor of Tu B'Shvat and I'm wondering if it will lead up to a traditional Tu B'Shvat tree planting event as well.

The announcement got me thinking about your running a Bible/Israel tree quiz for your family/friends/students. I've done some of the leg work to get you started, so here we go.


1. Two different trees stood in the Garden of Eden. Name them.

2. Trekking through the desert, the Children of Israel reached an oasis in Elim where there were water springs and trees. What kind of trees?

3. Among the laws handed down to the Children of Israel, the law of Bal Tashchit deals with preserving trees in times of war. What kind of trees?

4. Which of the seven species grow on trees?

5. What type of trees did King Solomon buy from the King of Tyre?

Now it's your turn. To help you branch out and develop more questions, read this article on some of modern-day Israel's ancient trees.

Enjoy the mental climb!


Answers
1. Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge
2. Palm trees
3. Fruit bearing trees
4. Olives, Pomegranates, Dates & Figs. Grapes grow on vines.
5. Cedar trees

Photo Credit

A Tall Tree Tale for Tu B'Shvat from Choni Hama’agel

Is there a Jewish equivalent to Rip Van Winkle? Yes and his name is Choni Hama'agal. A wise man who lived in the 1st Century BCE, Choni was famous for drawing a circle -- ma'agal --  in the ground during a terrible drought and vowing that he wouldn't step out of it until God answered his prayer for rain -- which is how Choni acquired his sur-nickname.

How does Choni parallel Rip? I certainly don't want to rain on his parade but another Choni legend, which some would dub a sleeper, puts the snooze into Choni. Actually it's a tall tree tale that is used as an explanation of why we eat carob on Tu B'Shvat.

In this fable Choni travels on a road when suddenly he sees a man planting a carob tree."How long will it take this tree to bear fruit?" he asks. "Seventy years," answers the man. Taken aback, Choni asks: "do you expect to live that long?" The man smiles. "Of course not. I'm planting this tree for my children and children's children, the same way my ancestors planted a carob tree for me."

Satisfied with the answer and hungry, Choni sits down right then and there to eat. Satiated from the food, he gets drowsy and -- you guessed it, he goes to sleep for 70 years. No one notices his state of slumber because a rock formation grows around him, hiding him from view. Sure enough when he wakes up he sees a familiar looking man picking carobs off the tree. "You mean you managed to live long enough to pick the fruit?" asks Choni. The man laughs, answering "I am the grandson of the person who planted this tree."

What's the Tu B'Shvat connection? Fruit-bearing trees are a sign of continuity. The New Year of Trees, Tu B'Shvat, celebrates our continual attachment to the land. That's wisdom worth handing down to your next generation(s).

Photo credit

For North African Jews the 7th Hanukkah Candle Marks the Beginning of the Daughters Festival

Who says that Hanukkah is only about miracles and heroes? This holiday is marked by heroines as well, which is why North African Jews have tapped the 7th night of Hanukkah as the beginning of Chag Ha'Banot --  the Daughters Festival.

While in the West the story of Hannah and her seven sons is a favorite tale attached to Hanukkah, Jews coming from Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco place the focus on Judith. The Heroine of the Book of Judith -- a book in the Apocrypha bearing the same status as the Book of Maccabees -- Judith single- handedly saved her people by killing Holofernes, the Assyrian general determined to destroy Judith's home town of Bethulia. Her victory is associated with the Maccabean revolt, to the point that she is depicted on many medieval menorahs.

The North African tradition of Chag Ha'Banot coincides with Rosh Chodesh Tevet. It's a logical combination since traditionally, Rosh Chodesh is a holiday associated with women. The difference is that while Rosh Chodesh originally marked a mini-rest from household chores, Chag Ha'Banot has a host of customs associated with it: mothers give their daughters gifts; mothers also go to synagogue to kiss the Torah and pray for the health of their daughters; it's also a time of reconciliation between girls at odds with each other, and a time for women old and young to come together and hold a joint celebration -- usually a feast marked by cheese dishes because legend has it that Judith fed Holofernes salty cheese that made him thirsty enough to consume huge quantities of wine, fall asleep and get beheaded (by Judith of course).

What to do with these customs in practical, contemporary terms? In addition to putting women on an equal heroic footing, personally I like the idea of reconciliation, especially in this day and age of school bullying.

Here's another suggestion from my son Avihai -- a wordplay that ties in nicely with reconciliation. Take the Hebrew words Habanot (daughters) and Havanot (understanding). Spelled in Hebrew without vowels they look identical -- הבנות. Clearly, reconciliation is the big winner of this celebration.
Chag Ha'Banot Sameach!


P.S. For Jewish trivia lovers, Hanukkah is the only holiday that takes place during two different months. It starts in Kislev and ends in Tevet.

Girls Hugging Photo Credit

Photo Credit: Painting of Judith beheading Holofernes

There's No "December Dilemma" If You Adopt & Adapt This Hanukkah Custom From Gibraltar

I will admit that the phrase "December Dilemma" is new to me. It's the type of disconnect that happens after living 35 years in Israel. I first heard it two weeks ago from a friend in Rockville, Maryland, explaining how her synagogue's sisterhood invited a speaker to talk on the topic. My initial reaction was clever copywriting, but since that conversation I've seen the phrase appear in several articles.

Gift giving seems part and parcel of the "December Dilemma." Why feel that you have to keep up with the Christmas stocking? This year give the gift of light every night by adapting a Hanukkah custom from Gibraltar.  While it calls for lighting one Menorah using wicks and oil for the entire family, the best part is reciting a different phrase every night from Tehilim that connects with light.

How does this solve the "December Dilemma?" Here are my thoughts. Let kids earn their gifts. Turn them into Bible detectives and ask them to find a different source each night using the word light. Try this for a jump start: go to the book of Genesis and Let there be light.


Want an American connection as well? That's simple and it's even Jewish.


Our lady of liberty represents a guiding light to freedom -- a wonderful tie-in to the story of the Maccabees.

And what about the famous poem connected to the Statue of Liberty?
It may not actually use the word light, but the concept is embedded in its words. The Jewish connection? Emma Lazarus, of course. While today she is famous for her poem "The New Colossus," during her lifetime she was known for her work "Songs of a Semite." It was written after experiencing a reawakening of her Jewish heritage. Something to contemplate this year while "battling" the "December Dilemma".

Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah Candles Photo Credit
Statue of Liberty Photo Credit