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"For me, the real countdown to Pesach didn't start with cleaning—it started with the almonds.
My mum’s holiday baking relied almost entirely on ground almonds, but we never bought them in a bag. Instead, we’d tip kilos of whole nuts into a giant bowl of hot water, sitting side-by-side to "pop" the skins off one by one. There was something so satisfying about seeing those "naked" white almonds piling up on the kitchen roll, ready to be dried, roasted, and ground into our own homemade flour.
I’m so lucky that I still get to celebrate Pesach with my mum. When she visits now, the ritual has come full circle: it’s her, me, and my daughter all sitting at the table together, popping almonds and sharing stories. To this day, that nutty, toasted aroma is the scent of our beloved festival."
Anna Dyson, AJRCA Rabbinical Student
"Some of our family's Pesach traditions include:
- A variety of charoset from different Jewish communities around the world
- An assortment of different haggadot to discuss how each of these treat different parts of the Seder,or translate, a little differently
- Grinding our own horseradish "
Dr. Barbara Gereboff, AJRCA Faculty
"Our family has hosted chocolate seders for families with kids who are unfamiliar with the traditions of seder. The kids get so creative picking chocolate items that represent each seder item - a small chocolate lamb for the shank bone, a creme egg, chocolate milk in chocolate goblets. It's a Zisn (Yiddish for "sweet") Pesach for sure!"
Allison Kestenbaum, AJRCA Rabbinical Student
"For the Mintz Family, it has become traditional for us to write our own Maggid in the form of a parody. This tradition began over thirty years ago, with one of our sons and me doing the writing and now the joy of writing has been taken over by two of our adult grandchildren. This year's Maggid is "The Lyin' King". The torch has been handed to the next generation."
Rabbi Yocheved Mintz, AJRCA Almuni
"Rabbi Steve (AJRCA Founder) and I have 2 customs at our Seders both reminders of our role in redeeming others. 1. We leave Eliyahu’s cup upside down during the Seder and upon rising from our seats to welcome and sing Eliyahu Hanavi a child takes the empty cup around the table and each person pours some of their wine into the cup of Elijah, symbol of each person’s adding to the redemption of the world. 2. When the Afikomen is found the child/adult who finds it must auction it off raising funds to be disbursed to an agreed upon charity by those at the table, again contributing to redemption of others. Our guests/congregants are for warned and come prepared."
Rabbi Cantor Eva Robbins AJRCA Alumni & Faculty
"For the past 10 years, Open Temple hosts an Experiential Seder Crawl through Venice, CA. Stepping into the Seder’s Past, the past of where we live, as well as the modern day cognates of the Exodus Story, the Haggadah comes to life through music, wonder, movement, meditation, surprise and more. We put Quest into the Four Questions and always end with “Pharaoh placing the ‘host matzah’ into the mouths of the participants as Aifikomen” as the bread of redemption is a founding and shared tradition that we believe is best expressed through the teaching “your ‘enemy’ is actually your partner in Redemption.”
This year, I want to invite everyone to experience the Seder Crawl, Second night, April 2 at 4 pm in Venice. Dress ready to dance and move in surprising ways."
Rabbi Lori Shapiro, AJRCA Alumni
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