Not how Bubby used to do it

By Tova Ross

“They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat” — it’s a familiar mock slogan for Jewish holidays, and Pesach is certainly no exception, except that, of necessity, it has historically lacked a little in the food department.

Matzo, horseradish and hardboiled eggs are familiar Passover fare but nobody is likely to suggest they have quite the same zing as, say, fresh challah, apples and honey, and cheesecake. However, your Pesach table this year may feature pierogies, pizza, chow mein noodles and, yes, bread — all leaven-free and perfectly kosher for Passover.

The recent trend of specially formulated kosher-for-Passover foods, designed to offer more edible and sophisticated culinary choices during the holiday, has exploded this year. Kosher Today, a kashrut newsletter edited by Menachem Lubinsky, reports that there is a record number of new kosher items.

Manufactured in Israel, Argentina and the United States, the array of products include many snack items; gluten-free meals, including noodles, matzo ball mix, and blintzes; and items for the health-conscious, including a growing number of spelt products, senna tea, macadamia oil, and reduced-sodium chicken consommé.

“Over the last couple of years, the food industry has figured out how to manufacture foods that are tasty and consistent with kashrut requirements for Passover, including many health foods,” Lubinsky said. “Twenty or thirty years ago, we didn’t have the technology know-how to manufacture a variety of spelt and gluten-free products, but it’s all become a lot more advanced in recent years.”

He estimated the number of new Passover items at 500, whereas a few years ago, “it wasn’t more than 100 to 150.”

Not everyone is comfortable with the endless array of new Passover foods. While it’s nice to have so many options, the thinking goes that, perhaps, making sure that every food craving is fulfilled on Passover dilutes what the holiday is really about: commemorating the exodus from Egypt and the Jews’ freedom from slavery.

“From what I understood and was taught as a child, a lot of Pesach meant there was to be sacrifice,” said one young woman, a second-year student at Brooklyn Law School, who grew up in a traditional home where Passover was one of the few Jewish holidays that was strictly observed.

“I tend to think that all these new foods that make it so easy to eat a variety of things during Pesach does dilute the holiday, somewhat, and make it a ‘cushier’ experience. While I love the fact that it makes it easier, I’m not sure that is really the point of the holiday,” she said.

“There are always some traditionalists who want to celebrate Pesach the old-fashioned way, with few of these new products appearing at their tables, but the majority of Jews want a variety of strictly-supervised kosher foods for the holiday,” Lubinsky notes. He is taking particular delight in kosher for Passover croutons that he plans to have at his own sedorim this year.

As a natural foods advocate and thus, a traditionalist of another sort, Hedva Rosen of Kew Gardens Hills pointed out that, “It’s a problem that people can’t imagine living without processed foods for one week. It’s also a question of health, as these processed goods are not nutritious. Stick to eating lots of vegetables: most of those are kosher for Pesach.”

But, true to Lubinsky’s theory that traditionalists are in the minority, Simone Geller, a graduate student at Yeshiva University, commented, “There is no obligation on Passover to abstain from tasty food. If there is a way to fulfill your religious obligation as well as eat tastier food, go for it. Passover food never tastes quite the same anyway - you’ll never want to touch that pierogie again after the end of the eighth day.”

Jonah Shulman, a fourth-year student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, said, “I personally think the increasing number of kosher for Passover foods is wonderful and appropriate. The halachic guidelines are definitely restrictive enough to make Pesach feel like Pesach. I see no reason to abstain from Passover products that taste good and enhance your simchas yom tov.”

Is there anything inappropriate about all the faux leaven?

Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld, a kashrus administrator at Star-K Kosher Certification, doesn’t seem to think so.

“When it comes to something that clearly does not adhere to Torah guidelines,” — certifying a kosher cruise that features mixed swimming, for instance — “the Star-K is staunchly against that,” he said. “However, when it comes to certifying the vast array of Pesachdik products now made available, the situation is very different.”

“Yes, some might decide to abstain from indulging in these foods due their belief that it might not be in the ‘spirit’ of the Passover holiday,” Kurcfeld said. “But for those Jews who feel that they would like to partake of these delicacies, since it does not violate Halacha, the Star-K has no objection to certifying those foods as kosher.”