Passover's Forbidden Grains

Last year I wrote this short post about {assover. The holiday looms ahead with the first Seder Monday Night. As always, I try and sort out what I feel comfortable eating and not eating. My parents are lenient, and I derive my roots from them They avoid the most obvious things: breads, pastas, cereals, etc. My girlfriend is a little stricter. She tends to avoid corn syrup, beans, rice, and most things that aren't strictly kosher for passover.
Strangely, many kosher for passover products are strange too. Often, they use baking soda. as their chemical leavening is not strictly forbidden. You can get all sorts of cakes and such that are kosher for passover by the letter the law. But what about foods that aren't obviously forbidden? Do we really need kosher soda, kosher mustard, kosher jelly? Is corn syrup really something to be feared?

Now, I don't want to get in to a detailed analysis about what is allowed and what isn't allowed. Mostly it's because I'm lazy and I don't want to dig into a 1000 sources and debates. But I also am not sure it matters that much to me.

I also don't think it's settled. Tamara recently sent me a link from a Rabbi asking why kitniyot (rice, beans, corn etc...) are forbidden among the Ashkenazic (Jews of Eastern-European descent). If she reads this, perhaps she'll kindly put the post up again. Even if one decides to avoid those things, do you avoid derivatives like oils made from these products.

So how do I move forward. Well I like to think about:
1) Tradition: both family tradition and older religious tradition.
2) Community: What does the community around me do?
3) Personal belief

The tradition is a little mixed. Eastern European Jews tend to avoid kitnyot, Jews from Spain and the Meditteranean tend to include them. My family's practice I've already eluded to. I belong to a Reform synagogue, so the communal practice is a bit variable. Reform Jews tend to swing from just avoiding bread to keeping a pretty strict observance.
So that of course leaves personal belief.
I think a good bit of it for me is personal sacrifice. It's about doing something to help you remember what the holiday is about. It's about connecting with your community. It's remembering and honoring what your parents and family have taught you.
So, I think I'm going to try harder not to eat out and avoid foods I don't have control over.
I don't eat very many frozen or pre-packaged foods, so I should be ok on that end. I'll just make simple meals that are as far away from forbidden foods (chametz) as possible. I'll avoid rice and corn,mostly because I think it will make things more meaningful for me. But no one will take away my peanut butter.

Cat Update

I just wanted to give you an update. A few readers have asked about Charlie. He seems to mostly be better. We took him to the vet last week and all his lab tests were normal, so there isn't anything seriously wrong with him as far as we can tell.
He is still licking his fur a bit too much. I'm not entirely sure the cause, but the vet thinks it's environment. Is it stress? Is he upset because I travel a lot or am away from my apartment for work and social things? I'm not sure.
At this point, I'll just wait and see. I don't think it's a serious skin condition because the anti-inflammatory hasn't helped. A few people have suggested fleas.
Any thoughts?

Cat Connundrum

I've been caring for a sick cat these past few weeks. It started out with Charlie licking and pulling his fur from his belly and many of his paws. When I brought him into the vet, he noticed a sore on the back of his throat. The vet gave me some food to see if Charlie had a food allergy and an antibiotic for the sore.
Well, after three days, the antibiotic made him sick and he wasn't really eating the food.
Now, he's been drinking a ton of water and hasn't been eating very well. As of post time I'm still waiting on blood work from the vet and am just wondering what will happen.
I keep reading online about different possibilities. I watch every move he makes and ask whether it is unusual for him or is cause for concern. Honestly, I'm acting a bit crazy.
I am by nature, a worrier. I always think there is something I should be doing and worry about the how things will go in the future. I wonder if he's on medication how I can go out of town?
Who will look after him? Am I not giving him enough attention?
As I said, it's a bit ridiculous.
But what I can do? Waiting is hard. Charlie isn't very clear about what's bothering him. So I feel like I should try and decode anything I can decode.
How am I going to survive having children if a sick cat gets me this worked up?
These are all good questions. Fortunately, I have great friends who help me work some of this issues out. I have a wonderful girlfriend who listens to me worry all the time and amazingly, doesn't get sick of hearing it. Charlie is a great companion and a very loving, gentle cat. I'd be torn up if something serious happened to him. But, the worst thing is not knowing. It's feeling like I should be doing something differently or something better. Could I? It's possible, but I doubt it. I just have to use my instincts and stay in contact with my vet. I also have to accept that the vet is doing his own guesswork.
Most importantly, perhaps, is that I just have to appreciate the time I have with Charlie. He's wonderful and loyal, and I do love him dearly. I just want to do so for a lot more years.