Passover celebration more somber this year

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT BEACH -- Rabbi Reuben Mintz spent Wednesday morning delivering

a Seder meal to senior citizens in rest homes. He hoped to include them

in what is perhaps the most significant holiday of the Jewish religion,

he said.

By sundown, when Passover really began, Mintz was back at his Corona

del Mar home preparing the tables for the first Seder meal of the

holiday. Another Seder meal is scheduled for this evening.

Mintz, wearing a yarmulke with a matzo bread print, described the holy

meal.

The holiday, Mintz said, evokes the history and lore of the Jewish

people found on the ancient pages of the Old Testament, also known as the

Torah.

It’s a story that began more than 3,300 years ago, when Moses led the

Jews out of slavery in Egypt. As the story goes, the Jews left their

enslavement so quickly that they didn’t have time to finish their bread.

It baked on their backs and became known as matzo.

Then, for 40 days, the Jews crossed the desert. During what is viewed

as a miracle, Moses parted the Red Sea and the Jews passed into the Holy

Land. Once they reached Mt. Sinai, Moses was given the Ten Commandments

by God, Mintz said.

Passover is “one of the oldest celebrated holidays in the Jewish

calendar,” Mintz said. “The message is freedom. We celebrate it in the

sense that we have chains around each and every one of us.”

Mintz had also prepared a Seder plate for each of the four tables set

up in his home. He hosted the dinner in his living room.

On the plate, Mintz placed six foods symbolic of the Jews’ journey to

freedom.

The plate included a leaf of lettuce, dollop of horseradish and

charoset, sliver of onion and a hard-boiled egg. Most of the items, Mintz

said, are meant to remind participants about the bitterness of the

slavery endured by their forefathers.

The egg, Mintz said, symbolizes the circular nature of life. Despite

any hard times, everyone is bound to circle around to the top, he said.

Passover, which runs for 10 days, took on a more somber tone this

year, Mintz said, because of the ongoing violence in the Middle East.

On Wednesday, at least 19 Jews were killed in Netanya, Israel, while

they were eating their Seder meal. The Palestinian group Hamas claimed

responsibility for the suicide bomber.

“It crystallizes the message of Passover,” Mintz said. “We have not

yet achieved freedom from war and aggression and bloodshed.”

* Paul Clinton covers the environment, John Wayne Airport and

politics. He may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail ato7

paul.clinton@latimes.comf7 .