What dietary restrictions do Jewish people follow during Passover?

Question

I'd like to make dinner tonight for my boyfriend who is Jewish, but don't know what kind of dietary restrictions I need to respect since it is Passover. Any suggestions on what I could make?

Answer 1

All of the usual dietary restrictions apply, and then some.

Here's some of the "and then some". No whole grains of any type. No bread of any type. No bought baked goods of any type. No corn products of any type. No mustard. No vinegar. No yeast or products made with yeast, baking powder or baking soda.

But tonight (April 3) is the second Seder, so you might want to wait until tomorrow.

You might want to check some of these links.

Answer 2

You need to do the usual meat/milk restrictions ("clean" meats, according to Jewish custom, kosher-slaughtered, and NO mixing meat and dairy!)

Also, no grain products other than matzo or matzo meal. The usual substitutes are potato starch or matzo products. So, no wheat, no corn syrup (gotta use sugar--watch those labels for high-fructose corn syrup!), no corn, no rice...stick to matzos.

I suppose you could also use, say, soy flour (soy is a legume, not a grain) or non-wheat baking mixes (like, for gluten-free foods.) You'll have to check on that. I'm pretty sure beans are OK, but not, say, rice flour. Almond flour would be OK.

We had a Passover Seder and we had turkey w/fresh herbs stuffed in it (no stuffing, unless you want a lot of matzo crumbs!), gefilte fish w/horseradish sauce, matzo ball soup, "noodle" kugel (from a Manischewitz mix--not regular pasta noodles) and the Seder stuff--the eggs, charoset (that apple-nut-wine mix that is supposed to symbolize mortar), bitter herbs, kosher wine...all that stuff.

Check for kosher Coke or other sodas--they have sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup and kosher Coke is really a lot better than regular. The feel in your mouth is light and crisp, and the taste is a little lighter, too.

Or you could just make some stir-fry or chili w/no mix of meat and dairy and no grains.

Think low-carb!

Answer 3

Passover for a non-Jew, I can sympathize as I married a Jew but am Christian... this is a difficult time of year for meals because of the beliefs. You need to first - 1. Is your boyfriend very observant? My guess is probably not since you are dating him... probably only respects holidays and festivals.

What you can make:
Try a roast with carrots, potatoes, and onions... with a dab of honey to signify sweetness.

Answer 4

It is forbidden to eat chametz (leavened foodstuffs, such as yeast breads) during the holiday of Passover

* Matzo
* Matzo balls
* Matzo brei
* Matzo Farfel
* Compote, stewed dried fruits, typically including prunes as an aid to digesting matzo
* Spongecake
* Lamb
* Mufleta, immediately following Passover
* Passover Seder Plate
o Maror (Marror, Moror, Morror), bitter herbs - may be horseradish.
o Beitzah - hard-boiled or roasted egg.
o Karpas - usually celery, parsley, or lettuce.
o Salt water
o Z'roa - shankbone of a lamb.
o Charoset
o Chazeret

Answer 5

No bread, no flour (so don't bread the chicken, for example). Desserts are tough, but you can get macaroons from the supermarket that are kosher for passover -- there's usually a whole section of kosher-for-passover foods. Good luck!

Answer 6

Passover (Hebrew: פֶּסַח, Tiberian: pɛsaħ, Israeli: Pesakh, Pesach, Pesah), also called the Festival of Unleavened Bread (חַג הַמַּצּוֹת, ħaɣ ham:asʕ:oθ, Chag Ha'Matsot, Chag Ha'Matzot, Chag HaAviv, Chag Ha Pesach, Chag Ha, etc.) is a Jewish holiday which is celebrated in the northern spring. It begins on the 15th day of Nisan (on the Hebrew calendar). Passover commemorates the Exodus and freedom of the Israelites from ancient Egypt. As described in the Book of Exodus, Passover marks the "birth" of the Children of Israel who become the Jewish nation, as the Jews' ancestors were freed from being slaves of Pharaoh and allowed simply to become followers of God instead.

The two names for the holiday are a coalescence of two related celebrations. The name Passover (Pesakh, meaning "skipping" or passing over) derives from the night of the Tenth Plague, when the Angel of Death saw the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts of the houses of Israel and "skipped over" them and did not kill their firstborn. The meal of the Passover Seder commemorates this event. The name Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag Ha'Matsot) refers to the weeklong period when leaven has been removed, and unleavened bread or matzo ("flatbread") is eaten.

Together with Sukkot ("Tabernacles") and Shavuot ("Pentecost"), Passover is one of the three pilgrim festivals (Shloshet Ha'Regalim) during which the entire Jewish populace made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, at the time when the Temple in Jerusalem was standing.

In Israel, Passover is a 7-day holiday, with the first and last days celebrated as a full festival (involving abstention from work, special prayer services and holiday meals). In the Jewish diaspora outside Israel, the holiday is traditionally celebrated for 8 days (although Reform Jews celebrate for 7 days), with the first two days and last two days celebrated as full festivals. The intervening days are known as Chol HaMoed ("festival weekdays").

The primary symbol of Passover is the matzo, a flat, unleavened "bread" which recalls the hurriedly-baked bread that the Israelites ate after their hasty departure from Egypt. According to Halakha, matzo may be made from flour derived from five types of grain: wheat, barley, spelt, oats, rye. The dough for matzo is made when flour is added to water only and, according to halakha, the period from the time the water hits the flour to the time the matzo comes out of the oven has to be 18 minutes or less.

Much like Yom Kippur and Chanukah, even otherwise quite secular Jews celebrate at least some of the holiday observances. Most Jews (and even some non-Jews with close Jewish friends) attend at least one seder night and observe the positive Torah commandment of eating matzo on the first night of Passover at the Passover Seder. Even Jews who do not otherwise keep kosher during the rest of the year often follow to at least some extent the Torah prohibition against eating or owning chametz which includes any leavened products — such as bread, cake, cookies, beer, whiskey or pasta (or anything made from raw dough that had been left alone for more than 18 minutes, as it then begins to ferment) — for the duration of the holiday.

Korban Pesach
When the Temple was standing, the focus of the Passover festival was the Korban Pesach (lit. "Pesach sacrifice," also known as the "Paschal Lamb"). Every family (or, if the family was too small to finish eating the entire offering in one sitting, group of families) was required to offer a young lamb or kid at the Jewish Temple on the afternoon of the 14th day of Nisan (Numbers 9:11), and eat it that night, which was the 15th of Nisan (Exodus 12:6). The offering could not be slaughtered while one was in possession of leaven (Exodus 23:18). It had to be roasted (Exodus 12:9) and eaten together with matzo and maror (Exodus 12:8). One had to be careful not to break any bones from the offering (Exodus 12:46). None of the meat could be left over until morning (Exodus 12:10, 23:18).

Because of the Korban Pesach's status as a sacred offering, the only people allowed to eat it are those who have the obligation to bring the offering. Among those who can not offer or eat the Korban Pesach are: An apostate (Exodus 12:43), a servant (Exodus 12:45), an uncircumcised man (Exodus 12:48), a person in a state of ritual impurity, except when a majority of Jews are in such a state (Pesahim 66b). The offering must be made before a quorum of 30 (Pesahim 64b). In the Temple, the Levites sing Hallel while the Kohanim perform the sacrificial service. Men and women are equally obligated regarding the Korban Pesach (Pesahim 91b).

Women were obligated, as well as men, to perform the Korban Pesach and to participate in a Seder.

Today, in the absence of the Temple, the mitzvah of the Korban Pesach is memorialized in the form of a symbolic food placed on the Passover Seder Plate, which is usually a roasted shankbone. Ashkenazic Jews have a custom of not eating lamb or goat during the Seder in deference to the absence of the Temple. Many Sephardic Jews, however, have the opposite custom of eating lamb or goat meat during the Seder in memory of the Korban Pesach.


Matzo
Main article: Matzo
A commandment to eat matzo on the first night of Passover, and to only eat matzo during the week of Passover Exodus 12:18. The eating of matzo figures prominently in the Passover Seder.

There are several explanations for the eating of matzo on Passover. Some suggest that it is because the Hebrews left Egypt with such haste that there was no time to allow the bread to rise and thus flat bread, matzo, is a reminder of the Exodus[1]. Other scholars teach that in the time of the Exodus, matzo was commonly baked for the purpose of traveling because it preserved well and was light to carry. They suggest that matzo was baked intentionally for the long journey ahead. Matzo has also been called - Lechem Oni - or poor man's bread. Passover is a time to be humbled and remember what it is like to be a poor slave. In this explanation, matzo serves as a symbol to appreciate freedom and avoid the puffed ego symbolized by leavened bread[2].

A widespread practice amongst Yemenite Jews is to make the blessing over bread over a matzah and a half throughout the entire festival, in accordance with the Talmudic explanation (Berakhot 39b): All admit that on Passover a piece is placed on (or in) a whole one, and then blessed and eaten. What is the reason for this? Because it is called 'bread of affliction.' Passover was taken to mean all the days of the festival, and not only the Seder eve. [3]


Chametz
Main article: Chametz
Chametz (חמץ, "leavening") refers to either a grain product that is already fermented (e.g. bread, cake, and pasta) or a substance that can ferment grain products (e.g. yeast or sourdough). During Passover, the only grain product that can be owned or eaten is one in which flour and water have not combined for more than 18-22 minutes—i.e. matzo.

The Torah commandments regarding chametz are:

To remove all chametz from one's home (Exodus 12:15). (This is normally done before Passover, either by consuming, physically destroying, or selling one's chametz.)
To refrain from eating chametz or mixtures containing chametz during Passover (Exodus 13:3, Exodus 12:20, Deuteronomy 16:3).
Not to possess chametz in one's domain (i.e. home, office, car, etc.) during Passover (Exodus 12:19, Deuteronomy 16:4).

Maror
Main article: Maror

3 types of maror—left to right: grated horseradish mixed with cooked beets and sugar (known as chrein in Yiddish); romaine lettuce; whole horseradish rootA commandment to eat Maror, "bitter herbs" (typically, horseradish or romaine lettuce), together with matzo and the Passover sacrifice Exodus 12:8. In the absence of the Temple, Jews cannot bring the Passover sacrifice, according to Halakhah. The commandment to bring the Korban Pesach is fulfilled today, at least symbolically, by the eating of Maror both by itself and together with matzo in a Koreich-sandwich during the Passover Seder (also known as a Hillel sandwich after the most famous rabbi of that name).


Recounting the Exodus
On the first night of Passover (first two nights outside Israel), a Jew must recount the story of the Exodus from Egypt. This commandment is performed during the Passover Seder.


The Four Cups of wine
There is a Rabbinic obligation to drink four cups of wine (or pure grape juice) during the Seder. This applies to both men and women. The Mishnah says (Pes. 10:1) that even the poorest man in Israel has an obligation to drink. Each cup is connected to a different part of the Seder: The First Cup is for Kiddush, the Second Cup is connected with the recounting of the Exodus, the drinking of the Third Cup concludes Birkat Hamazon and the Fourth Cup is associated with Hallel.