Father Goof's Pesach Hit Parade

Pesach is a big Jewish holiday, the favorite and probably the best known. It is loaded with tradition, has a great story, lots of songs, and – of course – food. Father Goof has written many times about the Goof family traditions, so here is compilation from Pesach pasts.

One of our traditions is watching the Cecil B. DeMille class, The Ten Commandments. My social worker mom (Bubbe Goof) says subjecting children to this is overwrought and overly long film is a form of child abuse. But the little Goofs insist.

For Jews of Eastern European descent, Yiddish – the funniest language ever and a consolation prize for living in Russia surrounded by Russians – has a certain romance to it. The Goofs do their bit keeping the language going with a traditional Pesach song, but in Yiddish, not Hebrew.

Pesach is a wonderful holiday, but one of its central elements is its special dietary requirement of no leavened bread and nothing made with a leavening agent (and a whole bunch of other things like peas and peanuts.) Lots of foods are specially made for Pesach – for example soda, which is often made with corn syrup (which is out), is specially made over Pesach with sugar. It is actually a real treat. But this means no beer and most liquor is out (although wine is no problem.) Still, man doth not live by wine alone – sometimes alternatives are needed. Most kosher for Pesach liquor is slightly more palatable then rubbing alcohol. But Father Goof found an alternative.

Finally, at the end of the Seder we sing “Next Year in Jerusalem.” So I tried to start a little tradition. Judaism’s holiest site, the Wailing Wall is in Hebrew called the Kotel. So, as I sing I bring out a wall mode out of boxes of Kosher for Pesach jello.

Maybe you have to be there...