Passover has been celebrated in North Carolina for more than 200 years, at least. Across centuries, the state’s Jews have found new ways to mark the holiday.
In 1805 Samuel Mordecai of Richmond noted in his diary that he had sent matzah to his family in Warrenton. During the Civil War Union soldiers raiding the home of David and Isaac Wallace in Statesville were disgruntled not to find bread but matzah, which they tossed away as “hardtack.” Many North Carolina homes hold vintage photographs of family gathered around long tables—sometimes in a kitchen or a hallway to accommodate the crowd—with the elders seated at one end and younger members along the sides.
Over centuries, Passover has evolved from the meal eaten in haste while standing with a staff in hand and sandals on our feet, as described in Exodus, to the leisurely Greco-Roman banquet we now observe.
Your Haggadah may be traditional replete with Talmudic debates on days and nights or the number of plagues, or it might be contemporary, emphasizing Zionism, veganism, feminism, gay rights, or environmentalism.
Passover in North Carolina continues to reinvent itself in the age of social media and the internet.
Last year, the newly organized North Carolina Jewish Clergy Association published an online supplement with commentaries from North Carolina rabbis present and past. Rabbi Lucy Dinner of Raleigh’s Temple Beth Or published a poem addressing the plague of Covid and the plight of refugees, with a special emphasis on Ukraine. Rabbi Judith Schindler of the Stan Greenspon Center at Queens University spoke to interfaith relations among Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Rabbi Eric Solomon of Raleigh’s Temple Beth Meyer Congregation points out that we left Egypt as a “mixed multitude,” which reminds us that the Passover message speaks to our obligations to others. Rabbi Marc Cohn of Winston-Salem’s Temple Emanuel also addressed the universal search for justice, noting that the war in Ukraine has startingly brought to our attention the plight of the oppressed. Two voices from the past, of blessed memory, also speak in the supplement. Rabbis Sidney Unger of Asheville and Joe Asher had been civil-rights activists. Rabbi Ungar reminds us that present at our seder are “guests” who are not present, that the holiday evokes the totality of our history. Rabbi Asher contrasted his childhood in prewar Germany to the racial liberality in his Greensboro congregation, recalling a personal meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., that was transformative.
This year the NCJCA will celebrate its first anniversary at 12:00, March 30, with a Pre-Pesach Learning on Zoom. Rabbi Avi Killip of Yeshiva Hadar will speak on “Kol Yisrael Haverim—What Pesach Cleaning Can Teach Us about Building a Community of Radical Trust.”
Congressman Jeff Jackson and Congresswoman Kathy Manning will offer remarks. Visit https://tinyurl.com/2zd4ds2s
It’s been a long time since our out-of-town relatives had to send us matzah to remind us of the holiday.
Chag Semeach.
