Pesach

My mother and i we love Pesach/Passover/Pâques.

Why?

It smells spring and summer. We try to imagine that the winter could be a distant memory.

We dream of fruits like strawberries, raspberries… for our taste bud.

A sort of tradition we have to make wishes when we taste these wonderful fruits the first time in the year.

I have to eat and taste different matse during ten days and cheat to make ten wishes: first matse of the day and not of the Jewish year.
I am always amazed how many products are Kosher in this country. Each Hasidic baby has his own definition of Kosher depending of their level of Jewishness.

When i was in Jerusalem in a Jewish family, the wife explained me where i have to put the cheese in the fridge and other stuffs i didn't remember.
It was very complicated for me and i gave up fast. I ate outside with my friends. If we ate at home, the wife cooked for us.
I gave up with the cheese in the morning too, choosing jam. She was always behind my back, spying me for anything. I never told her i was half Jewish but she asked me questions why i was spending vacation in Israel. :-)

It's a real constraint to eat Kosher all the times. A Chasidic told me that he traveled heavy: two pans, Kosher cans…? I remembered one thing he told me when he was in Paris: he was always in the temptation to taste many things but he didn't do it because he didn't know if it will make him happier to eat non Kosher food. He is very foodie and he like cooking.
I would not talk about happiness when i eat as he did it.
I enjoyed Israeli food but what i enjoyed the most was the view on the seven hills of Jerusalem at anytime. It didn't really matter if the food was Kosher or not. I was listening to my table neighbors speaking Hebrew.

I already ate matse when i was a kid with my Israeli friend, Nadav who used to live in the same building. I said to his mom that she had 'sheep' (bits of fluffs) under her bed. :-)
She gave us all the food boxes opened before Pesach. I didn't remember if we celebrate holy days with them. We just tasted some Kosher food she brought us sometimes.

To end, a few black and white photos:
http://www.jordicohen.com/2012/05/stories-of-passover-the-amshinover-rebbe/