Seder with the Steiners

Angelique Flores

The Steiner household is preparing to bring out their good china for the

Seder they traditionally host on the first night of Passover.

On Wednesday, friends and family will gather at the Huntington Beach home

to celebrate with Bruce and Nancy and their children -- Rachel, 12,

Becky, 8, and Danielle, 6. Together they’ll begin the eight-day

observance that commemorates the freedom and exodus of the Jewish slaves

from Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II.

With special foods, songs and customs, the Seder meal is the most

important event in the Passover celebration.

On the first two nights of Passover, Jewish families gather over a meal

and listen to the story of Passover as it’s retold in the Haggadah, the

Book of Exodus.

According to the story, God told Moses to ask the pharaoh to free the

Israelites. After his many pleas were ignored, God unleashed 10 plagues.

The final plague was the death of the firstborn children.

To protect themselves from this plague, the Israelites were told to mark

their doors with lamb’s blood so the angel of death would “pass over”

their homes. This is where the holiday’s name is derived.

Finally, the pharaoh freed the Jewish slaves, who quickly fled from

Egypt.

“Passover is not to acknowledge it as a historical event, but to try and

relive it as if we are the slaves,” Nancy Steiner said. “By doing this,

it gives us a new experience of freedom each year.”

The reading of the Haggadah is broken up into two parts with dinner eaten

during the middle. Steiner said she usually makes matzah ball soup, roast

chicken, Haroseth, matzah stuffing and gefilte fish.

Steiner spends about a week preparing for the holiday. With the help of

three daughters, she cleans her home and clears it of all yeast foods,

called hametz. All hametz traditionally is either eaten before Passover

begins or symbolically sold to non-Jewish neighbors and friends. Matzah

is eaten in place of leavened bread to commemorate the Israelites, who

fled quickly into the desert with no time for their breads to rise.

“We bring out things we don’t usually see other times of the year,”

Steiner said.

Steiner polishes her silver and china. Bruce Steiner said he uses silver

that he has used every Passover since his bar mitzvah. Nancy said she

brings out her special silver candlesticks, wedding china and matzah

cover -- a large cloth envelope.

At the Steiner Seder table, three pieces of matzah are placed in the

cover. Before the meal, a matzah is removed and broken in half. One half

returns to the cover, and the other, the Afikomen, is hidden. Later in

the dinner, the children look for it.

In Steiner tradition, the winner receives $2, and the lookers receive $1.

“It’s a fun, joyous time,” Nancy said,

Her daughters agree the Afikomen is the best part.

The Seder plate holds the symbolic foods to remind participants of the

Israelites’ struggle and journey to freedom.

Haroseth is a mixture of chopped nuts and apples that represent the

mortar the Jewish slaves used to build the pyramids. Parsley symbolizes

spring. It is dipped in salt water to symbolize the tears of the Jewish

slaves. A roasted egg, another symbol of spring, represents the offering

that used to be brought to the temple. A lamb shank bone represents the

sacrificial lamb offering. Bitter foods, like freshly grated horseradish,

reflect the bitter affliction of slavery.

“I don’t like that stuff,” Danielle said about the horseradish.

“You’re not supposed to like it,” replied her mom.

Passover begins Wednesday at sundown.