Passover in Israel

April 15, 2008 - 2:30 PM by Stephanie

Every year about this time Jerusalem Diaries puts up a blog posting outlining the 18 ways you know it’s Passover in Israel. This year is no exception.

We here at Israelity figure: Why not share?

- Street scenes in Israel change every day before Passover according to what’s halachically necessary: In the days before the holiday, yeshiva students wielding blow torches preside over huge vats of boiling water stationed every few blocks on the street and in the courtyard of every mikveh. The lines to dunk cutlery, kiddush cups and the like start to grow every day, and, at the last minute, blow torches are at the ready to cleanse every last gram of chametz from oven racks and stove tops lugged through the streets.

- According to Israel’s Brandman Research Institute study, 43 million people hours will be spent nationwide in Israel’s cleaning preparations for Passover this year. How does that break down? 29 million by women and 11 million by men. Persons paid for the remaining 3 million hours cost NIS 64 million ($15.6 million).

- Most flower shops stay open all night the two days before Pesach, working feverishly to complete orders that will grace the nation’s Seder tables.

- Observant Jews mark the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot by carrying out some of the laws of mourning–one of these is the prohibition against cutting hair.

Good luck if you haven’t scheduled an appointment for a pre-Pesach/Omer haircut. You can’t get in the door at most barber and beauty shops.

- Mailboxes are full of Pesach appeals from the myriad of organizations helping the poor celebrate Pesach. Newspapers are replete with articles about selfless Israelis who volunteer by the hundreds in the weeks before the holiday to collect, package and distribute Pesach supplies to the needy.

This year, Hazon Yeshaya Soup Kitchens plan on serving 7,000 meals per day during Passover. More than 15,000 food parcels will be distributed before the holiday, just by this one organization.

Head to Jerusalem Diaries for the complete listing…Happy Cleaning!

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