Seniors Mark Early Start of Passover

Ten days ahead of schedule, about 270 senior citizens from across the Valley took part Sunday in a Seder to mark the beginning of Passover--the annual Jewish celebration of the flight of Israelites from Egyptian slavery 3,000 years ago.

Adele Topolsky, 70, of Woodland Hills, recalled how as a child she sat by the window, waiting for her father to come home from the synagogue and celebrate Passover.

With their children expected to be out of town April 19, the official start of Passover, Topolsky and her husband, Harold, 75, participated in the Seder at Valley Beth Israel.

Topolsky said every food item at her table reminded her of her parents and of deep-rooted customs, which call for the faithful to eat unleavened bread, called matzo, in honor of those escaping slavery. When the Israelites left Egypt, they did not have time to bring their bread and could pack only raw dough, which was baked in the hot sun into hard crackers.

As part of the ceremony, Jews eat the traditional dishes, including bitter herbs to remind them of how hard Jewish slaves worked, and read the story from a book called Haggadah.

Like most traditional Jews, Topolsky’s family does not eat bread for a week and follows several other strict rituals. Their diet consists of matzo, plenty of eggs, herbs and other holiday-related foods.

“After eight days, I’d say I want a piece of bread,” Topolsky said. “It’s a happy holiday, but not very good cholesterol-wise.”

For others, the holiday brings to mind more recent sufferings and triumphs. Concentration camp survivor Rose Rosenberg, 90, said she celebrates with her friends every year her departure from Germany on April 26, 1949.

Passover is like Thanksgiving, she said.

“I lost all my four children; this is my ID,” said Rosenberg, showing a number tattooed on her left arm. “This holiday is about survival, about being happy.”