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YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE JEWISH
TO LOVE PASSOVER!
A commonly repeated statistic is that 90% of American Jews—whether they are religious in some fashion or just in search of some sort of spirituality—attend a seder every Passover. They are frequently accompanied by family, friends, and partners who are not Jewish at all; or hosted by other religious groups that find meaning in this holiday of liberation. The seder may be the only Jewish ritual a person engages in all year long. Marge Piercy's Pesach for the Rest of Us: Making the Passover Seder Your Own is a book that attempts to make the elements of the seder rich with contemporary meaning so that everyone who participates, Jews and non-Jews alike, are awakened to something in them that connects them to a sense of holiness and community. (Not to mention the fabulous food.)
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| First Chapter
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WHAT KIND OF BOOK IS THIS AND WHO IS IT FOR?
Pesach is a very important holiday for me. Every year, I lead a seder with a haggadah I have been working on for twenty years. Mostly the same people come from Boston, from New Jersey, from Arlington, Massachusetts, from two miles away and from a quarter of a mile– we all gather gradually in my small Cape Cod house. Over the years, a couple and their children moved to Chile; some people tried it and it was not their kind of seder. One young woman grew up and now brings her husband. Children have been born and joined the seder. But basically we’re pretty much the same core group year after year.
Like many Jews, Pesach is my favorite holiday and the one where I find the strongest personal meaning. I came to studying it earlier than Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, perhaps because it is pre-eminently a holiday to share with family and friends. In this little book, I will make my way through the ritual one item and one practice at a time. I am looking for a significant contemporary interpretation, rather than an emphasis on what is strictly “correct” or traditional. I want to encourage you to fashion your own seder in a way that speaks honestly and powerfully to you and your circle, whoever they are – family, friends, an organization...
READ THE ENTIRE FIRST CHAPTER (FOR POEMS & RECIPES)
MORE ABOUT THE BOOK |
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| Recipes |
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CARROTS AND ALMONDS
Peel and slice your carrots – not too thick with the slices.
2 TBL virgin olive oil
1 TBL lemon juice
chopped chives
½ or more cups sliced almonds, briefly sautéed
freshly ground nutmeg
salt
¼ cup fruit juice – orange juice, pomegranate juice or apple juice
Sauté the carrots in the oil for twelve to fifteen minutes. Watch so they don’t burn. Then add the fruit juice. It should be quickly absorbed by the carrots. Then stir in the almonds, lemon juice, and seasoning. Cook, stirring, for another minute.
Lots of recipes for meat eaters and vegetarians alike, such as spinach-potato casserole, eggplant burgers, pot roasted chicken, almond macaroons, pineapple kugel, seven different kinds of charoset, stovetop brisket, and many more. Hungry yet? |
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| Passover Poems |
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Every year Marge writes new poems for her Passover seder. There is one for every item on the seder plate, of course, and many others that enhance the meaning of the ritual. We pass the book around the table and read all the poems aloud. Here's one that has a resonance ranging beyond the evening itself.
Peace in a time of war
A puddle of amber light
like sun spread on a table,
food flirting savor into the nose
faces of friends, a vase
of daffodils and Dutch iris:
this is an evening of honey
on the tongue, cinnamon
scented, red wine sweet
and dry, voices rising
like a flock of swallows
turning together in evening
air. Darkness walls off
the room from what lies
outside, the fire and dust
and blood of war, bodies
stacked like firewood
burst like overripe melons.
Ceremony is a moat we have
crossed into a moment’s
harmony, as if the world paused --
but it doesn’t. What we must
do waits like coats tossed
on the bed, that we’ll rise
from this warm table
put on again and go out.
Copyright, Marge Piercy, Middlemarsh, Inc. 2006
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| Purchase the Book |
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Brimming with favorite dishes, anecdotes, Passover poems and alternative blessings; with practical advice and histories of the delicious things we take for granted; and with a hearty appetite for life and learning, PESACH FOR THE REST OF US is a unique and enchanting invitation to the seder table.
Pesach for the Rest of Us: Making the Passover Seder Your Own
Available Now
Schocken / Random House
ISBN: 0805242422
/ 304 Pages
Click Here to Order this Book:
Pesach for the Rest of Us: Making the Passover Seder Your Own
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WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
"When poet and novelist Marge Piercy shows us how to prepare for, partake of and run a Seder, it feels like a good neighbor has taken us under her wing...Like any good friend, Piercy is passing along her accumulated knowledge in this smart Seder companion. Take advantage.
--Hadassah Magazine
"Finally, a book I can recommend to people who are trying to wrestle with how to bring their sedarim to life and at the same time hold onto the wisdom that resides in the tradition. Piercy frees us up to be creative and alive. The book is a gift and a blessing."
–Rabbi Alan Ullman
"" The traditional Passover seder is dissected, reinterpreted and given a contemporary and feminist bent in Piercy's guidebook to making the haggadah more readable and meaningful to today's unaffiliated Jews...The histories of the origins of wine, horseradish and other seder foods are fascinating."
--Publishers Weekly
"An extraordinary examination of what should be an extraordinary ritual event … This unexpected treat from an acclaimed poet and novelist belongs on the table of everyone interested in making a Seder meaningful."
--BookPage
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