dreamer_easy | Passover

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religion: the view from babylon

Passover

O that the Everlasting had not flx'd His canon 'gainst soybeans!

Tonight: vege curry, with additional sweet potato soup for Jon and rice for me. (We women of Babylon have no shame.)

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Soybeans aren't kosher?

For Ashkenazi Jews, they're kitniyot, so out for Passover - along with vegetarian staples like tofu, soy sauce, chickpeas, and lentils. I hope you appreciate this, Yahweh! :-)

Soybeans are kosher... but if you come from Europe they are not Kosher for Passover. If, however, you came from the Middle East, Morocco... etc then they are Kosher for Passover...

Actually it's really quite complicated. It does make a sort of twisted sense, but I think you need to be Jewish, and possibly stark raving mad to understand it.

That said, Google is wonderful when it comes to understanding weird Jewish ritual.

Anyway, I love it... no bread for 8 days...

Seeya,

Mondy

Well, I am Jewish (Ashkenzi) but was brought up a very relaxed Reform and then turned atheist, so I don't really keep track of the specifics with kosherness. But I do agree that food rules like this are rather random.

no bread for 8 days...

Jon's ravenous. No pasta, no rice, none of those filling carbohydrates! The humble spud is our best friend. It does help that I'm a fallen vegetarian and now include fish in my diet (the combined pressures of lactose intolerance and diabetes proved too much for me).

Jon doesn't actually keep kosher the rest of the year, but makes a very determined effort at Passover, which I admire very much - it ain't easy. I'm completely boggled by Mondy's determination and ability to stick to kosher meals 24:7:365! (Weren't you carrying an Esky around at Worldcon?)

I Googled up a page which reckoned that anything that could be chametz masquerading as kosher got banned - rice flour vs wheat flour, for example.

The most impressive woman I ever met is an Observant Jew (her terminology) who keeps the Sabbath even when attending events like WorldCon. The convolutions she and her husband go through as a routine would drive me farking insane.

-Royce, lapsed Methodist

Everybody - convert to Paganism, and then, on religous grounds, you can go through some really amazing convolutions with your husband. >:-)

*running*

There's actually nothing inherently wrong with things like rice and beans etc on Passover. The problem the Rabbis had was that when ground down, these substances might be confused for flour...

You see, bread products are not allowed on Passover, however *you* are allowed to keep flour in the house on Passover, along as you don't use it. So the Rabbi's of 500 years or so ago were worried (they worry alot) that someone would reach out for ground down rice, but pick up flour instead. So the Ashkenazi Rabbi's decided to ban all substances that might look like flour when ground down...

HOWEVER...

This rule never reached the Sephardi Community (places like Spain and Turkey and Morrocco (bad spelling)). So they have no problem in eating these things. This means that I couldn't eat at the house of a Sephardi. And the problem grows larger when a Sephardi marries an Ashkenazi and so on and so forth...

(Now you might ask... why didn't they just rule that flour was banned. Just chuck out your flour.

Simple reason. It would be wasting food, and that's a big no no. It's hard enough keeping Kosher, but having to throw out all your food for 8 days would make life impossible. So you could keep the flour on the premises - but you had to (and still have to) sell it to a Non-Jew. And then buy it back after the festivities.)

I love my faith. Really. Its bizarre complexities like that that make me coming back from more. I enjoy learning about how the Rabbi's would tie themselves up into these knots... you always get the impression that they're actually trying to make it easier for people, by in fact making it harder.

But it's not impossible to keep these laws. I do it everyday. And yes, Kate I did bring my own food with me to Worldcon. And I also catered for myself at Gallifrey.

Seeya,

Mondy

And the problem grows larger when a Sephardi marries an Ashkenazi

Ha! They have it easy compared to a lactose intolerant diabetic pescan* married to man who won't eat tomatoes. :-)

I also catered for myself at Gallifrey.

Respect is due. (But how did you manage it!)

* Fishetarian

Went on the internet, found the closest Kosher Deli in the LA area and then begged and borrowed for a lift to said Deli. Stocked up, buying lots of stuff that just needed water. Oh and beef jerky.

Seeya,

Mondy

Very similar to the Great Vegetarian Web Search accompanying our OS trips! (Follow Your Heart is a pretty neat restaurant, but a little too far from the hotel - I was fooled by the fact they were on the same street. :-)

*wonders if Spanikopita would be on the 'banned' list since it involves feta cheese*

Alas - Spanikopita would be on the "banned" list since it involves phyllo pastry. :-)

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