Spring is officially here and you know what that means... Easter's right around the corner. Followed by Passover. Growing up Jewish, I never had a problem with the end-of-the-year holidays since we got eight nights of presents on Chanukah (yeah, the last few nights were always lame gifts like socks or calendars, but still) versus the one day of Christmas. So that was fine. But Easter? Oh man. Passover just can't hold a candle to it. Don't believe me? Then I'll just have to prove it by comparing both holidays in an unbiased and highly scientific manner.
Meals
Easter - Baked ham! Rack of Lamb! String bean casserole! Deviled eggs! Droool!
Passover - Matzah. Tuna fish on matzah. Matzah pizza. You get the picture... Though during the festive sedar meal there's pot roast (sometimes yum), boiled chicken (always ick), matzah ball soup (booyah!) and bland veggies.
Sweets
Easter - Chocolate bunnies! Jelly Beans! Chocolate jelly bean bunnies! Better than Halloween I say!
Passover - Chocolate lollipops. (Depends on the brand...) Jelly rings. Jelly slices. Chocolate covered (yes, here it comes) matzah. Sigh.
TV
Easter - "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!" While watching Marcie chow down on eggshells is always funny, this classic is getting a bit stale.
Passover - "The 10 Commandments." Charlton Heston! Yul Bryner! Edward G. Robinson! Staffs into snakes!?! Rivers of blood! The parting of the Red Sea! Yeah, real tough to beat this epic.
Guests
Easter - The Easter Bunny! Big floppy ears of love and hugs as he brings kids easter baskets filled with candy and presents.
Passover - Elijah the Prophet. Sure the door's left open for him, but he just shows up, downs some wine and leaves.
Entertainment
Easter - Easter Egg Hunts! Frolicking through the backyard collecting eggs and pushing over other kids while stealing what's in their basket? Classic!
Passover - Find the Afikomen! During the sedar, kids go off looking for the hidden afikomen (wrapped piece of matzah) and the winner gets to... eat it. Awesome.
Okay, do I need to go on? With the exception of 1 movie, Easter whips Passover's butt. Course I could just go grab a couple of Cadbury Cream Eggs and cram them between two slices of matzah to get the best of both worlds...
COUPON TIME:
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6 Responses to “Springing into the Holidays”
What an awesome website! A really unique idea and style - I love it!
Andrew, you make me glad I'm not Jewish.
Just kidding. But Easter does sound much more fun! Now, can you please tell me what Matzah is? Sounds like some sort of bread.
@Sontaya - Thanks very much!
@Tish - Hah! Yeah Passover certainly isn't a "fun" holiday. Especially since it lasts for 8 days. And oh man, you seriously do not now what matzah is?!? Oy. I'm guessing most of my readers may not then, which would mean nobody gets any of this post. Sigh.
But yes, matzah is unleavened bread. Like a giant, stale, bland, crunchy cracker, only much bigger. Here's a link to some info and pics on matzah from the wikipedia for anyone who's curious.
You're absolutely right about matzah, although I have discovered that the whole wheat with peanut butter and raspberry preserves is delicious. Have you ever noticed that anyone who didn't grow up Jewish seems to adore the stuff? It's probably because they weren't forced to eat it year after year.
But you forgot two things in our favor:
Charoses is yummy, at least in our family. We make a bathtub full and snack on it all week.
Have you ever seen what the Rugrats did for Passover? It's priceless.
@Feefifoto - Wow! I've found a fellow member of the tribe!
Yeah, all my non-Jewish friends always thought I was nuts; they LOVE matzah. Which worked out great, cause I'd just give them mine. But yes, charoses is yummy (although my oldest son is allergic to nuts, so we have an altered not-as-yummy version now). As for the Rugrats, I did see that years ago and have completely forgotten it.
Thanks for the coupon hints.