Passover filled with food, frenzy for local Jews

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer

Ben Zion Hershcovich, left, and Sholem Shpigelman rid the oven of chametz, or leavened grain, at Chabad of Hawai'i. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Pearl Krasnjansky, the rabbi's wife, that is.

The yiddish comes a mile a minute, several of her seven children are swirling around in their own orbits and the rabbinical students imported to help get everything kosher turn heel every few steps under her gently insistent directions.

Passover, the most important holiday in Jewish tradition, sees a remarkable upswing in activities at the Orthodox congregation — especially if you're the rabbi's wife planning for four, maybe five Passover seders that range from the small community one Tuesday night to the big swanky one Monday night at Washington Place.

This is the second year Gov. Linda Lingle has seen a traditional Orthodox seder at Washington Place, with a glittering guest list that includes Jewish and interfaith dignitaries that this year will be eating their ceremonial seder foods off silver and pewter trays.

"I couldn't use paper plates at the mansion," said Pearl Krasnjansky in her inimitable Brooklyn accent.

Her husband, Rabbi Itchel Krasnjansky, smiles bemusedly as he watches Hurricane Pearl sweeping in and out of the kitchen right off the elevator of the Atkinson Drive high-rise.

This will be the second seder he has hosted for the governor.

"It's an honor," he said quietly.

Lenny Klompus, Lingle's senior adviser, who grew up in an orthodox Jewish home, remembers last year's seder as "religious in nature, of course, yet relaxed. ... It was traditional, but it had a really nice family atmosphere, with the rabbi's kids there."

While her husband was talking about the nature of Passover and its messages, both personal and communal, Pearl Krasnjansky was rushing back home late Wednesday night to pick up towels. The food for the governor's seder will be prepared here under the watchful eyes of a couple who used to have a restaurant in Israel, but schlepped over to Washington Place on Monday.

Part of the hot, sweaty work that it takes to kosher a kitchen is pouring boiling water over all surfaces that haven't been blow-torched, to rid it of all chametz (pronounced with a guttural "ha"-mets), or leavened grain products. That includes bread, cookies, cake, pastries, noodles, pasta, beer, whiskey and liquor.

Taking turns at the inside of the oven with a hand-held blowtorch were Ben Zion Hershcovich and Sholem Shpigelman, ages 19 and 20, respectively, who attend the Rabbinical College of Canada.

"We burn it so no crumbs of bread mixes with unleavened bread," explained Hershcovich, who is in his last year of yeshiva.

It's important to rid the house of chametz. The story of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt is at the heart of this ritual: When Jews were told to flee, they were in a great hurry, with no time for the dough to rise.

"Because we keep to the highest standard of kosher, it would be a betrayal to offer anything less than the best," she said.

The Krasnjanskys point out that the cleaning and activity helps them to turn their minds toward the Exodus story.

The removing of the chametz isn't the only ritual cleaning. For Passover, the entire house gets a good vacuuming. Cars, including the trunk, are cleaned, closets are scrubbed. Plates and utensils to be used for the Passover seder will be given a mikvah, a purifying ritual bath. Part of their day Wednesday was spent at the beach, immersing the plates for their mikvah, then bringing them back to the cleaned closet of the Chabad.

But let's move to the room off the elevator.

The kitchen is probably the hardest job," said Hershcovich, mopping his brow. "Some families have a second kitchen."

The word "seder," Pearl Krasnjansky notes, means order, and they follow a specific order for the rituals of the ceremonial meal.

The rabbi points out that the holiday itself repeats every year.

"It needs repeating to let it

sink in, but also because we're in different stages of development," he said. "What the holiday speaks to us one year is different the next year."

But this year, at the eye of Hurricane Pearl (Klompus calls her "a bundle of perpetual energy"), there's a problem. She's about to close up the Chabad to head home and rest up for the next phase of koshering, when she discovers a stash of equipment that didn't get its mikvah.

"Barry!" she yells with a whine that would make Fran Drescher proud. "We've got to kosher all that!"

Reach Mary Kaye Ritz at 525-8035 or mritz@honoluluadvertiser.com.

On the menu

Menu for the seder Monday night at Washington Place with Gov. Linda Lingle:

Traditional seder plate: egg dipped in salt water, a roasted lambshank or neck bone, a vegetable (parsley or celery), charoset (a mixture of fruit and nuts) and bitter herbs. Also: wine and three pieces of matzoh covered by a cloth.

Dinner:

• Baked salmon and gefilte fish
• A Moroccan carrot salad
• A green salad
• Baba ghanoush
• Roasted chicken or beef roast
• Baby potatoes
• Moussaka
• Fruit salad with chocolates and macaroons for dessert

Source: Pearl Krasnjansky of Chabad of Hawai'i