My Childhood Stories of Passover

If you check out Google Maps for this address: 40 Chachmey Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel, (שד' חכמי ישראל 40, תל אביב) you will find the house where I grew up in in Tel Aviv.
Look at Google Earth and you will see the latest photos taken of the boulevard and the three houses at this address. Go into the long yard till the house in the back and you will see a large cement back yard in front of the house. There was a cement bench here where my grandfather used to lay a round metal tray with the washed walnuts.  He used to dry the walnuts in the sun so that they will be ready to prepare the Charosset for the approaching Passover Seder. We lived in this house until I was in eighth grade. The house had two rooms a small entry, a kitchen and a bathroom.  Eleven of us lived in this house.  My younger siblings were born
here, my brother Moti and my sister Elana.  My paternal grandmother lived with us in the room on the left. She was a small woman, so we called her small grandma (bibi katan.)  My maternal grandparents with our three teenage uncles (Moshe, Shlomo and David) lived in the second room on the right.  This grandmother was a big woman, so we called her big grandma (bibi gadol.)

I am writing this story in memory of my beloved uncle Moshe Siman Tov who passed away in January 2018.  When he served in the Israeli army I slept in his folding bed as there was no place in our room for an extra bed.  In turn I slept in Shlomo and David’s bed when they were soldiers. 

All the kids used to get an extra week off school before the Passover holiday. The whole family was busy with thorough cleaning. Every shelf and drawer in the closets were emptied and scrubbed clean.  We layered a fresh shelf paper before placing any items back. Occasionally my mother would paint a wall or a window that needed refreshing.  Springtime was the occasion to move the winter clothes away and bring in summer clothes. This was the once or twice a year when we got new clothes. That made us very happy that spring is coming as the words of a popular song.  After my family had moved to our own house, we continued coming to this house for Passover Seders and family gatherings.  There was an opening between the two rooms to allow a place for a large table where four families dined and celebrated.  My aunt Soraya came with her four kids: Aviva, Itzik, Alon and Ronit.  She had bags with the food she prepared for her family and their own dishes and utensils. We were five and we also brought with us our foods and dishes. My uncles were still singles and they used to lead the Seder. They had bottles of wine on the table. The small shot glasses were placed on a round dish covering a bowl of water. We used to rinse the glasses in the water after each glass out of four we drank as the bitter herb (maror) we used romaine lettuce which was the only kind at the time in Israel.  The Charosset was on the table and we all loved it.  We used to watch our grandpa grind the walnuts with other sweet ingredient in a mortar and pestle.  The most amusing part in the Seder was the reading of Dayenu (that would have been enough.)  Uncle Moshe was reading it while the rest of us were each holding a green onion and hitting each other.  We walked from one person to the next making sure we don’t miss anyone and laughing out loud the whole time.

The first course was a fried steak of carp fish that each mom prepared for her family.  In the meat dishes we avoided using any beans which were not kosher for Passover.  For desert we had hot tea with sugar cubes.

After the meal the mothers were in the kitchen each washing her dishes and packing her bags.  The kids and the uncles read the rest of the Hagada singing Echad mi Yodea and Had Gadya.

These days of 2018 most my cousins and specifically the younger kids born to my uncles have created a WhatsApp group including eighteen cousins.  The group name is a very good sign.  (Siman mamash Tov.)  That is how I heard of my uncle’s death and I immediately got a plane ticket to fly to Israel.  I had the privilege to see all my cousins during the mourning period and we all brought up memories of the house on Chachmey Israel.