The Ten Minute Seder, World’s Shortest Kosher Haggadah

Want a quick Seder to do with anxious relatives or kids? Presenting the “Ten Minute Seder.” This Hagaddah is two pages long and was created to be used at a Shabbat Tent Seder. Everything that MUST be said or done at the Seder is included. In addition some favorites are included like Dayeinu. Even if you will use another Hagaddah, check out the Ten Minute Seder!

THe 10 MINUTE HAGGADAH 2012
Chag Sameach

Excerpt:

PARTICIPANT

1. What’s up with the matzoh?  2. What’s the deal with horseradish? 3. What’s with the dipping of the herbs? 4. What’s this whole chilling at the table business?

PARTICIPANTS SAY TOGETHER

We were slaves in Egypt. God lifted us out with awesome miracles. Had God not taken us out of Egypt, then what? We, and our children, and our children’s children would still be slaves in Egypt! Therefore, even if we were all wise people of understanding, all elders well-versed in the Torah, we would still be commanded to tell about the Exodus from Egypt. All people who discuss the story of Passover at length are praiseworthy

LEADER

The Torah reflects upon four types of kids: One Wise, One Evil, One Simple, and One Who Doesn’t Know How To Ask. GUIDE the wise one through the obligations of Passover. TELL the Evil One, we need you to be part of our people. EXPLAIN to the Simple One, “with a strong hand God brought us out of Egypt.” ENGAGE the one who doesn’t know how to ask, make that child feel comfortable, and tell them about the Exodus.

The No Tin Foil, User-Friendly, Going Kosher for Passover Guide

You don't need a blowtorch - simple cleaning supplies can do the trick.

Please, leave the blowtorch in the garage. 

NEVER, ever, don’t even consider, using tin-foil to cover any surface of your kitchen except around burners of a stovetop. This is not NASA, it’s a Jewish holyday!

Getting your home and life Kosher for Passover shape seems complicated — maybe even dangerous — but it doesn’t have to be. Perhaps you love Passover and the Seders and want to take your spiritual journey to a new level, or maybe you try to clean for the holiday but feel that it is a totally impossible task — use this guide (and accompanying podcast classes) to get Passover Ready.

The process does not have to be crazy or impossible. Starting seven years ago I began publishing the Going Kosher For Passover One-Page Guide on my website. Since then it has been downloaded tens of thousands of times.

This year I did not make any changes from last year in terms of process, but I will add this piece of advice:

Do what you can, do it without stress, and every year aim to take your Passover koshering to the next level.

And if you are experienced in koshering for Passover you should still read this guide as it can help you do it more efficiently and effectively. While a blowtorch is a method some use – you can leave your’s in the garage.

Download this one page handy guide! going kosher for passover guide 2010

As an addition to the Guide, consider listening to several classes that I recorded previously that go into depth on Passover and koshering:

Going Kosher For Passover

Going Kosher For Passover – Seder Edition

Mystical Passover

May you and your loved ones have a joyous and healthy Passover!

Get Yo’ Matzah at Paid Dues: Jewlicious and Kosha Dillz Bring Passover to Annual Hip Hop Mega Fest

Jewlicious will be holding a Shabbat Tent Passover Seder at Paid Dues Festival lead by rapper Kosha Dillz at 6pm on April 7, 2012, in San Bernardino, California.

Paid Dues, one of the nation’s largest hip hop shows, coincides this year with the Jewish festival of Passover. With many Jewish attendees planning to attend the Hip Hop Fest, the Jewish rapper Kosha Dillz who is performing approached Chang Weisberg of Guerilla Union and Murs about the possibility of hosting a small Seder at the Festival for anyone who wants to participate.

With support from the Festival organizers, Kosha approached me about the possibility of Jewlicious and the Shabbat Tent project (www.shabbattent.org) creating a Passover Seder complete with Matzah, grape juice and a Haggadah

With so many Jewish attendees not wanting to miss out on Passover, it made sense to help create a seder at Paid Dues. Thanks to their support, the Seder will be available to people of all backgrounds.

“This might be the first time in history that anyone ever combined live hip-hop and Passover,” said Kosha Dillz who is performing with artists such as Wu Tang, Odd Future and Mac Miller. “For me it’s the only way I can play this amazing festival with family approval.”

Information on the Holiday will also be available for all attendees at the “Shabbat Tent” through- out the day, which is slated for a 6PM Seder. You may also find some of your favorite rappers in attendance.

California Hand-Crafted Plum Brandy Kosher for Passover

HAND CRAFTED PLUM BRANDY KOSHER FOR PASSOVER 2012
Enhance Your Passover With Award Winning Slivovitz

Plum Brandy aka Slivovitz is making a comeback. The spirit has accompanied the Passover celebrations for generations of Eastern European Jews and was recently discussed in a major article in The Forward.

California is blessed with some of the best plums in the country, which have gone into making Mosby Slivovitz. Harvested from a small orchard in San Benito County, California. These perfectly ripened plums were artfully fermented and distilled by Bill Mosby under the careful Rabbinical supervision of Rabbi Yonah Bookstein.

This exceptional brandy was awarded a Silver medal at the 2010 International Review of Spirits, and a Bronze medal at the San Francisco Chronicle spirits competition

Damson Plum:$55, Wild Plum $75

For more information and to order contact Rabbi Yonah Bookstein 310-277-5544
For delivery outside of Los Angeles please visit https://mosbywines.com/store/

Passover Detective

Passover is a joyous time of year. Recounting the Exodus is good times, followed by delicious meals with plenty of wine to wash it all down. Passover is fun.

Passover is also a time of year when companies and stores prey on un-savvy shoppers.

Last year I posted a photo of a particularly deceptive package of candy made by Streit’s. But the photo has not had any effect it seems, as an abundance of mega-packaging candies still fill the stores.

Shopkeepers are also charging premiums of food that is kosher for passover and all year round. Except for a few loss leaders, prepared and packaged foods are sold at a huge premium.

So to add some consumer activism to repretoir, infused with some humor, I present a short series entitled “The Passover Detective.”

Let My People Eat Quinoa

Quinoa Real grown near Uyuni on the Bolivian Altiplano (3653 m). Mt. Tunupa in the background.

The NY Times just picked up on the debate about quinoa on Passover – and if this mushy stuff from the Andes is fit for consumption on Pesach.

The article missed the major point of contention about the entire quinoa issue. There is no scholarly rabbinic dispute about whether or not quinoa is a grain (in halachic terms) and hence chametz, and totally forbidden for consumption, possession, and benefit on Passover. The only question is whether it is KITNIOT (pronounced kit-ne-ot) or not, i.e. grain type foods that Ashkenazi and some Sephardic Jews do not consume on Passover.

The Oral Torah, codified in the Mishna, specifies that only five types of grain can become chametz: wheat, barley, spelt, rye, and oats. These items and food made from them with the exception of matzah, are forbidden the entire holiday. The question is really whether this quinoa grain-type food is classified along with rice.

A legitimate and significant concern that the NY Times did pick-up, is about the factories that process quinoa. These processing plants, generally in rural areas, also process other grains, and there is the problem of contamination of the quinoa with wheat and other grains.

One does not need to be a certified rabbinic authority from Chicago or New York to be concerned about contamination of bagged dry products. It is common practice among many people who run a kosher kitchen —or any careful chef — that you always check grains, rice, beans and even flour for hitchhikers.

The problem is that during the rest of the year, if someone comes across a rock in a batch of rice, or an odd object in a bag of barley, its no big deal. On Passover however, that grain of barley becomes kryptonite.

The Chicago based CRC certifies quinoa based on the places where it is processed, the OU doesn’t according to and Baltimore’s Star-K says that it fine, according to the NY Times article.

CalKosher (the certifying body that I supervise) after consultation with one of the leading halachic authorities in the world, is of the opinion that quinoa is not kitniot and hence OK for consumption on Passover by Ashekanazi and Sephardic Jews alike.

One doesn’t need a trip to the remote Andes to know that quinoa is a great substitute for rice in sushi, and a carb-neutral alternative to barley in tabouli. Vegans absolutely worship quinoa because it is a complete protein.

So enjoy your quinoa. Make sure to check it before Passover to eliminate any wheat-type grain that got in there and have a joyous and festive Festival of Freedom.

Kosher For Passover: A Step-By-Step Guide

You don't need a blowtorch - simple cleaning supplies can do the trick.

Please, leave the blowtorch in the garage. 

Getting your home and life Kosher for Passover shape seems complicated — maybe even dangerous — but it doesn’t have to be. Perhaps you love Passover and the Seders and want to take your spiritual journey to a new level, or maybe you try to clean for the holiday but feel that it is a totally impossible task — use this guide (and accompanying podcast classes) to get Passover Ready.

The process does not have to be crazy or impossible. Starting seven years ago I began publishing the Going Kosher For Passover One-Page Guide on my website. Since then it has been downloaded tens of thousands of times.

This year I did not make any changes from last year in terms of process, but I will add this piece of advice:

Do what you can, do it without stress, and every year aim to take your Passover koshering to the next level.

And if you are experienced in koshering for Passover you should still read this guide as it can help you do it more efficiently and effectively. While a blowtorch is a method some use – you can leave your’s in the garage.

As an addition to the Guide, consider listening to several classes that I recorded last year that go into depth on Passover and koshering:

Going Kosher For Passover

Going Kosher For Passover – Seder Edition

Mystical Passover

May you and your loved ones have a joyous and healthy Passover!