h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Passover - A21271178
Author: bewilderingcazzaw - U6872388

Passover

Posted too soon! What I meant to say was:

Passover - a look at the origins, customs and laws of this Jewish holiday

You can still change the title, so don't worry. I'm just reading it, it's interesting. There'll be some work to do, though, you'll need headers and links etc.

OOOh....


Maybe mention that Passover is actually a translation of Pesach, not a garbled transliteration? Pesach means to pass over.

Also, "traditionally coincides with Easter" is slightly funny. It kind of sounds like Passover was supposed to coincide with Easter, when actually it came first.

There is, I might add, a marvelous bio of Moses in the Guide that you can link to: A13785564 So you don't need that footnote.

Might be worth mentioning (but only might) that Passover is the reason that the Jewish lunar calendar has a solar check, unlike the Chinese and Muslim lunar calendars. Passover is supposed to come out in the spring, as a holiday of rebirth and renewal.


>>for which the Jewish people should be eternally grateful.<<
- for which they are.



>>which takes place a day or two before the festival and involves a small religious ceremony in the presence of a rabbi.>>

All they do is list where their chametz is located, and the rabbi contracts it all over to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday.



>>and all crockery and cutlery used on a day-to-day basis has to be replaced with separate sets used only on Passover (which have never been in contact with any chametz). <<

- replaced give the impression that it's thrown out. It's usually packaged away and sold.


Oh, and can you put periods (full stops) in your footnotes?



>>most people will simply pack it away and store it in a room that they’re unlikely to use for the duration of the festival. <<

- usually sold.


>>While such products aren’t strictly forbidden on the festival,<<

- rice and legumes were often planted between grains because of soil-related reasons - something about returning nutrients to the soil. So They were afraid that some wheat would fall into the beans or rice and get cooked on Passover. Worth an explanation.


>>the centrepiece of which is an elaborate celebratory meal halfway through. <<
- As someone once quipped: all Jewish holidays boil down to: "They tried to kill us, we won, let's eat." (Not true, but it sounds good.)
- It isn't the centrepiece for everyone. In fact, total amount of time spend on the meal is usually less than the amount spent on the storytelling before and the thanksgiving after.

>>Merlot, since the wine used during the service is a special type of wine used in Jewish religious ceremonies.<<

- Really? Like christian bl00d? Nope, it's ordinary wine, but it's supposed to be red, for symbolic reasons.


>>The youngest person present asks four questions – known as the Manish-tanah – relating to the rituals conducted during the service, the main one being “Why is this night different from all other nights”?<<

- The actual purpose is to get everyone in the mood of asking questions. Questioning is the way to learn, and Jewish tradition is based upon questioning. Several other rituals occur throughout the meal specifically to make the kids pipe up and ask "Why are you doing that?" Since most of them have already learned in school that these things will be done so that they ask, it's a tad ironic.

When there are older people around, they will usually pose and discuss their own questions, besides the four traditional ones.


>>a roasted egg (to symbolise life),
- that's the traditional role of eggs, but in this case I believe all it represents is the festival offering that was brought in the Temple.

>>reen vegetable such as parsley (eaten at the start of the service as an hors d’oeuvre of sorts)
- parsley is no good. Supposed to be either celery, potato, radish, or carrot. I forget why. It's dipped in salt water before being eaten, to symbolize the tears shed by the Jews laboring in Egypt.

>>salt water (to symbolise the tears of the Israelites in Egypt)
- doesn't go on the plate, so far as I know.


>>A special piece of matzo, known as the Afikoman, plays a central role in the service.
- It symbolizes the Pascal offering, which is why nothing else can be eaten afterward.


>>A cup of wine is poured and prayer is said for the prophet Elijah, who apparently visits every house conducting a Seder service for a quick drink.<<
- Errr... general misconception, but so widely believed that there's almost no point in contradicting it. It's fodder for the equally widespread tradition of telling about the night the level of wine suddenly dropped.


>>The festive meal traditionally kicks off with a starter of hard-boiled egg in salt water, again to symbolise that life goes on.
- I've never heard of this one.


>>On the second night, the start of the Omer – a sad period in the Jewish calendar
- The omer itself isn't sad. It's merely a count of the days between Passover and Pentecost. However, several significant and sad events occured then, that part of it (usually the first half) is considered a time of quasi-mourning. Jewish mourners don't listen to music.


>>During the service, participants traditionally lean to the left, to symbolise the fact that as we are no longer slaves, we can sit however we like.
- Think Roman emporers pigging out... That's where it comes from...




Nice. Timely too, though it won't get in in time.

Oh - maybe mention that 'seder' means 'order' and list the standard order of events?

Um, I hope that post wasn't discouragingly long. It wasn't meant to be. I think the entry is great, there were just a few things I thought could use clarification. I didn't realize how windy I was getting til after.

Fascinating entry

I can't speak for Leo, not accurately anyway, but it is generally the case that reviewers who like a particular entry give the longest list of suggestions.

Then, it is also generally the case that other's hang back a bit until a response from the author is posted.

If this entry is just on the shelf because you're busy with other things at the moment, well and good - I'd just like to say that I sure hope you get back to it. It really is an excellent read - informative with a pleasing chatty style - as with '...because they were such a staple of the Sephardic diet in bygone days that they would have been seriously stuck for dinner ideas over the festival.' for example.

I'm with pailaway. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and would be all too happy if you came just back and replied to leo's suggestions.

Well, while this thread is active, I'll mention that I took a few questions to a couple of local experts. On this point

>>The festive meal traditionally kicks off with a starter of hard-boiled egg in salt water, again to symbolise that life goes on.
- I've never heard of this one.
<<

I was wrong. The egg is eaten at this point, though I'm unsure about the salt water part.


In terms of "does Elija visit", they were unable to find any source for it at all, which is odd in very text-based religion. On the other hand, it is a very widespread belief and may stem from something besides an unfortunate juxtaposition of events, and they were simply unable to find it.

Thanks for that, Leo

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've therefore moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Congratulations!

Yes, Congratulations