Burn baby burn – getting ready for Pessah

April 8, 2009 - 9:33 AM by David

The aftermath of the purging of the hametz (Photo: Matan Brinn)

The aftermath of the purging of the hametz (Photo: Matan Brinn)

Ah, it’s the morning of the Pessah Seder here. And there’s probably no more special time in Israel – rivaling Yom Kippur and the ritual riding of bicycles down the middle of the streets.

Beginning before 8 am and continuing through to mid-morning, people start bringing their left-over hametz – bread, cookies and anything made with leavening that are deemed to be off limits for Pessah – and start building bonfires.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re religiously observant or not – seems like the whole neighborhood comes out for the prayer for the burning of the hametz. It basically says that if we didn’t find every last drop of hametz in our homes in the cleaning leading up to Pessah, we won’t be struck by divine lightning.

But the main thing for the neighborhood kids is the fire – there’s another one every few feet in the undeveloped path behind our home. And those that are unsupervised by parents attempt to throw every possible item onto the blaze, including plastic bags, bottles and items that have been discarded during the pre-Pessas cleaning blitz, like Persian carpets and other environmentally unsound items that weren’t meant for burning.

Once the purge is over, Pessah afternoon takes on a tranquil quality, as families around the country get ready for their Seder. It’s the Thanksgiving of Israel, a staunch family time with extended families travelling for reunions at their parents’ homes. According to surveys, an overwhelming majority of Jewish Israelis attend a Seder – way more than the percentage of Israelis that consider themselves observant.

Most Seders last well into the night, often into the next day, with the melodies of “Echad Mi Yodaya” and “Had Gadya” wafting out of the windows. It’s times like that when the feeling exists that Israelis are really ‘am echad’ – one people.

Tags: , , • Category: History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Religion 

Comments

One Comment on Burn baby burn – getting ready for Pessah

  1. Michele Zwillinger on Fri, Apr 10th 2009 8:05 PM

    2. Thank you Larry for writing about the pre-Pesaech tradition in Israel. I had never heard about the burning of the humetz before. Your blog post reminded me that wherever in the Diaspora we are; however we celebrate, we are all essentially doing the same thing. Have a happy Passover from your AJC colleague in the U.S.

    Michele

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