It is April 15, the 105th
day on the calendar, and it is a special day for lots of people for a variety
of reasons.
First off, I want to wish my nephew Brandon and my long-time friend, David, a great birthday today. Many happy returns to both of you.
Today is also normally tax day, when you have to pay the piper for working so hard during the previous year. But I want to remind anyone who hasn’t paid their taxes that today is not the end of the line for them; they get three more days to pay their taxes, and from what I hear, there will not be any further extensions this time around—so pay your taxes now!
And today is the anniversary of the opening of the first McDonald’s restaurant, Ray Kroc’s brainchild that almost singlehandedly created the modern fast food industry.
I would imagine that there are other celebrations on this day, but today has much more meaning to many of us.
Today is both Good Friday, leading up to Easter Sunday this weekend, and later today, the first night of Passover, and when there is a confluence like this, it becomes a period of contemplation, remembrance, and solemnity for a good part of the population … all at pretty much the same time, showing how Easter and Passover are so intertwined.
I scoured through my previous Rants related to the holidays aligning themselves like they do, and here is, in edited form, what I wrote about this confluence Rant #2,113, on March 30, 2018:
“Today is Good Friday, leading up to Easter Sunday. Easter, one of the holiest periods on the Christian calendar, honors the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Tonight, at sunset is also the first night of Passover, an eight-day celebration centered around the plight of Jews and their liberation by God from enslavement by the Egyptians in biblical times.
It is amazing that these two holidays from two different branches of religion can basically fall at the same time, and in the case of Good Friday and the first night of Passover, the same day.
But it is not as unusual as you might think. I believe this phenomenon last happened in 2015, and before that in 2012, but whatever the case, it does happen, and it is happening this year.
And let's remember, that famous painting of "The Last Supper" is actually one showing Jesus and his disciples at a Passover seder, so yes, the holidays--and the religions, to a certain extent--are intertwined, in particular around this time of year.
I remember as a kid, even though my family is Jewish, we did color our eggs around this time of year. When I was a little kid, my mother would buy the Paas egg-dye kit, and we would dye a couple of eggs. It was fun, but messy as anything, getting into everything, but yes, it was fun.
And before people got hysterical about such things, we used to do the same thing in school, as well as color pictures of Easter bunnies, and hang them on our class walls.
But being Jewish, our holiday was Passover, and I have some great memories of the holiday, from the very religious seders we would have with my paternal grandparents, to the less solemn ones we would have with my maternal grandparents.
I read the traditional Four Questions--"Why is this night different from other nights ... ?”--at both seders, and it was done in Hebrew, but let me tell you, each and every word had to be correct at my paternal grandparents' seder, and my sister and I would study the words before we got to the seder, and we would breathe a sigh of relief when we had performed it correctly.
But the onus was clearly on me--being the male child, the first child, the first grandchild, and the one who would carry on the name--to perform it correctly, and I made sure I did just that.
It was because we revered and loved our paternal grandparents so much that we did not want to make an error. My grandmother would have smiled and laughed it off. My grandfather, on the other hand, would not have taken too kindly to it, or at least we didn't think he would.
My sister and I also read it at my maternal grandparents' seder, but really, the pressure was off during their seder. If we made an error, it was no big deal, although I do think they were happy that we were generally able to pull it off year after year without a hitch.
Now, as parents ourselves, my sister and I really get into our own kids reciting the Four Questions, and maybe one day, we will feel the same about our grandkids if we ever become grandparents, something that is not in the offing anytime soon.
I also remember the food, and the lack thereof, when I was a kid.
No, we had plenty of food to eat during the actual seders--too much to eat in fact--but after the seders, what could you munch on when you just felt a wee bit hungry during the other days and nights of Passover?
There was nothing, and I do mean nothing. You could eat matzoh all day, but the dreaded "matzoh stomach" would then rear its ugly head in your stomach.
You could eat chocolate matzoh and macaroons all day, but I wasn't really a candy eater, so this didn't do much for me.
So, what was a poor boy to snack on?
In about 1965 or 1966, Kosher for Passover potato chips finally made the scene. I am only using those dates because it was when I was eight or nine years old when I first saw them and tried them on for size.
They were chewy, laden with salt, but let me tell you, they were soooooooo good!
And to finally have something to munch on in between meals during the holiday was simply revolutionary!
First off, I want to wish my nephew Brandon and my long-time friend, David, a great birthday today. Many happy returns to both of you.
Today is also normally tax day, when you have to pay the piper for working so hard during the previous year. But I want to remind anyone who hasn’t paid their taxes that today is not the end of the line for them; they get three more days to pay their taxes, and from what I hear, there will not be any further extensions this time around—so pay your taxes now!
And today is the anniversary of the opening of the first McDonald’s restaurant, Ray Kroc’s brainchild that almost singlehandedly created the modern fast food industry.
I would imagine that there are other celebrations on this day, but today has much more meaning to many of us.
Today is both Good Friday, leading up to Easter Sunday this weekend, and later today, the first night of Passover, and when there is a confluence like this, it becomes a period of contemplation, remembrance, and solemnity for a good part of the population … all at pretty much the same time, showing how Easter and Passover are so intertwined.
I scoured through my previous Rants related to the holidays aligning themselves like they do, and here is, in edited form, what I wrote about this confluence Rant #2,113, on March 30, 2018:
“Today is Good Friday, leading up to Easter Sunday. Easter, one of the holiest periods on the Christian calendar, honors the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Tonight, at sunset is also the first night of Passover, an eight-day celebration centered around the plight of Jews and their liberation by God from enslavement by the Egyptians in biblical times.
It is amazing that these two holidays from two different branches of religion can basically fall at the same time, and in the case of Good Friday and the first night of Passover, the same day.
But it is not as unusual as you might think. I believe this phenomenon last happened in 2015, and before that in 2012, but whatever the case, it does happen, and it is happening this year.
And let's remember, that famous painting of "The Last Supper" is actually one showing Jesus and his disciples at a Passover seder, so yes, the holidays--and the religions, to a certain extent--are intertwined, in particular around this time of year.
I remember as a kid, even though my family is Jewish, we did color our eggs around this time of year. When I was a little kid, my mother would buy the Paas egg-dye kit, and we would dye a couple of eggs. It was fun, but messy as anything, getting into everything, but yes, it was fun.
And before people got hysterical about such things, we used to do the same thing in school, as well as color pictures of Easter bunnies, and hang them on our class walls.
But being Jewish, our holiday was Passover, and I have some great memories of the holiday, from the very religious seders we would have with my paternal grandparents, to the less solemn ones we would have with my maternal grandparents.
I read the traditional Four Questions--"Why is this night different from other nights ... ?”--at both seders, and it was done in Hebrew, but let me tell you, each and every word had to be correct at my paternal grandparents' seder, and my sister and I would study the words before we got to the seder, and we would breathe a sigh of relief when we had performed it correctly.
But the onus was clearly on me--being the male child, the first child, the first grandchild, and the one who would carry on the name--to perform it correctly, and I made sure I did just that.
It was because we revered and loved our paternal grandparents so much that we did not want to make an error. My grandmother would have smiled and laughed it off. My grandfather, on the other hand, would not have taken too kindly to it, or at least we didn't think he would.
My sister and I also read it at my maternal grandparents' seder, but really, the pressure was off during their seder. If we made an error, it was no big deal, although I do think they were happy that we were generally able to pull it off year after year without a hitch.
Now, as parents ourselves, my sister and I really get into our own kids reciting the Four Questions, and maybe one day, we will feel the same about our grandkids if we ever become grandparents, something that is not in the offing anytime soon.
I also remember the food, and the lack thereof, when I was a kid.
No, we had plenty of food to eat during the actual seders--too much to eat in fact--but after the seders, what could you munch on when you just felt a wee bit hungry during the other days and nights of Passover?
There was nothing, and I do mean nothing. You could eat matzoh all day, but the dreaded "matzoh stomach" would then rear its ugly head in your stomach.
You could eat chocolate matzoh and macaroons all day, but I wasn't really a candy eater, so this didn't do much for me.
So, what was a poor boy to snack on?
In about 1965 or 1966, Kosher for Passover potato chips finally made the scene. I am only using those dates because it was when I was eight or nine years old when I first saw them and tried them on for size.
They were chewy, laden with salt, but let me tell you, they were soooooooo good!
And to finally have something to munch on in between meals during the holiday was simply revolutionary!
Today, there are so many things that are Kosher for
Passover that you really can choose what you want from so many different items.
Every snack imaginable has been co-opted and made Kosher for Passover, all different types of chips are around for your stomach's content.
There are all different types of "value-added" matzoh, including white chocolate matzoh, and there are as many different types of macaroons as there are cookies.
And once you have one, you have to have another and another.
These things are not just Kosher for Passover, but they taste good too!
And I also become a tuna-holic during this period, eating tuna fish and matzoh for every lunchtime meal. But before that, for breakfast, rather than eat new Kosher for Passover cereals, I eat matzoh and cream cheese.
Oh, what delights! they all taste so good!
So anyway, as we go into this year's sort-of conjoined holiday period, let me wish everyone a happy Easter and a happy Passover.”
It all still holds true, and I do look forward to the celebrations, the matzoh, and my three favorite Kosher for Passover add-ons: Temp Tee cream cheese, Coca-Cola with real sugar, and, of course, U-Bet chocolate syrup!
Again, have a great holiday, whether it is Easter or Passover.
Speak to you again on Monday, and have a good weekend.
Every snack imaginable has been co-opted and made Kosher for Passover, all different types of chips are around for your stomach's content.
There are all different types of "value-added" matzoh, including white chocolate matzoh, and there are as many different types of macaroons as there are cookies.
And once you have one, you have to have another and another.
These things are not just Kosher for Passover, but they taste good too!
And I also become a tuna-holic during this period, eating tuna fish and matzoh for every lunchtime meal. But before that, for breakfast, rather than eat new Kosher for Passover cereals, I eat matzoh and cream cheese.
Oh, what delights! they all taste so good!
So anyway, as we go into this year's sort-of conjoined holiday period, let me wish everyone a happy Easter and a happy Passover.”
It all still holds true, and I do look forward to the celebrations, the matzoh, and my three favorite Kosher for Passover add-ons: Temp Tee cream cheese, Coca-Cola with real sugar, and, of course, U-Bet chocolate syrup!
Again, have a great holiday, whether it is Easter or Passover.
Speak to you again on Monday, and have a good weekend.
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