Everything must be washed, boiled, vacuumed, steam cleaned. The whole house becomes “kosher for Passover.”

The shelves in my refrigerator and my kitchen counter tops are covered in aluminum foil. Even my faucets have special sleeves covering them. There are a lot more products here in Israel than in the U.S. to prepare for the holiday. I think I have bought them all.

Not only is there “kosher l’Pesach” (kosher for Passover) food to eat, but toothpaste, makeup, shampoo, dish washing and hand soap, and cleaning products are made especially for Passover.

Separation Is Critical

I put away the dishes, pots, pans and eating utensils that I use during the year and took out my Passover supplies. All this for just one week of the year!

Everything I buy must be checked to see if it is kosher for Passover.

The problem occurs when items are marked “kosher for Passover” but they have ingredients forbidden to Ashkenazic Jews. For example, Sephardic Jews may eat rice, corn, peanuts and beans during Passover, but they are not allowed for Ashkenazic Jews.

Therefore, anything made with corn syrup, an ingredient in cola, cannot be in an Ashkenazic home. Every year during Passover, sugar is substituted for corn syrup, and the cola bottles have specially marked caps. Considering I have yet to learn the Hebrew language, deciphering ingredients listed in Hebrew can become quite a task.

Luckily, the checker at the market knows me and advised me of all the items I, as an Ashkenazic Jew, mistakenly almost bought. It is good to have friends!

Ashkenazic Jews originally came from medieval communities of the Rhineland, France, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Russia and Eastern Europe.

It’s Nice to be Popular

The word “Ashkenazic” comes from the Hebrew word for Germany. Sephardic Jews originally came from Spain and Portugal, the word “Sephardic” coming from the Hebrew word for Spain.

However, Jews from North Africa and Asia and the Middle East, often called “Mizrachi,” a word coming from the Hebrew term for Eastern, often are considered Sephardic Jews.

In the U.S., the first two nights of Passover are celebrated with Seders commemorating the Exodus of the Jews when Moses took them out from Egypt.

In Israel, however, the Seder is only observed on the first night of Passover.

When I lived in the States, I used to have well over 30 people attending my Seder, with me doing all the cooking for those crowds.

Here in Israel, I get invited to other people's homes. In fact, after looking at my calendar today, I asked myself why I even bothered to buy food for Passover since I am invited out to friends' homes for the Seder, and for almost every day and night of the Passover week. It is great to be popular!

I am almost finished with my preparations.

Good luck to those of you who still have work to go. There is so much to do and so little time left to complete it all. Chag sameach Pesach.

L'hitraot, Shachar

Shachar is the Hebrew name of a California-based attorney and former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy who moved to Israel last year.