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Rabbi Barbara Aiello
Passover Trilogy 5768
The Seder Experience for Italian Anousim
F
rom Calabria to Turin to Sicily, three unique seder experiences
gave Italian-Jewish "anousim" the opportunity to embrace their
Jewish roots. Centuries ago, the Inquisition forced thousands of
Italian Jews to either convert to Christianity or to take their Jewish prac-
tices underground. As a result the rich tapestry of Calabrian and Sicilian
Jewish life unraveled and became little more than a few threads. In order
to protect themselves from being denounced as Jews, religious traditions
The Pesach Trilogy began in morphed into general family practice ("We never ate pork. My parents
Calabria. At Sinagoga Ner Tamid said it wasn't healthy!") to superstition ("It is bad luck to put a cross on a
del Sud, The Eternal Light of the grave) and eventually for many families, Jewish heritage gave way to
South, we held our First Night
obscurity ("We light a candle on Friday night because my grandmother
Seder and began with an uniquely
Italian custom, a family blessing
always did.").
under the tallit. Newlyweds from
Australia and married for just six Now that modern Italian historians recognize that prior to the Expulsion
days, Deborah and Timothy includ- of the Jews from Spain in 1492, at least 50 percent of the entire popula-
ed the Calabrian seder as part of
tion of these regions was Jewish, Italians in Sicily and Calabria are begin-
their Italian honeymoon. We all
were truly blessed.
ning to rediscover and embrace their Jewish roots. Families that baked
and ate "pane azimo," or unleavened bread during "La Pasqua degli
Ebrei" or the "Easter of the Jews," are coming to realize that despite
persecution, forced conversion, expulsion and other horrors, the flame of
their Jewish heritage never really died. This year's Passover Trilogy, three
seders in three different Italian regions demonstrates the extent of that
strength.
C
alabrian Jewish tradition dictates that the seder plate itself makes
a grand entrance to the seder table. And that's just what we did
here in Serrastretta in the deep south of the Calabrian Italy.
Twenty-two guests, from America, Australia and the Ukraine made their
Italian Jewish minhag includes the way up the mountain to Synagogue Ner Tamid del Sud ("The Eternal
seder plate making a grand Light of the South"), to share Pesach with locals who are just now learn-
entrance and then passing it from ing about their Jewish heritage. As we read from "il libretto di Pesach,"
head to head as we recall the the Passover Haggadah, in English, Hebrew and Italian, I carried the
heavy burdens of the Hebrew
slaves. Dad Steve passes the plate
Seder plate to the table and held it high over the head of one of our
to his son, Nathaniel and has this Australian guests. Following local tradition, he passed the plate to the
to say, "For me, my wife Alyce and woman on his left and as I chanted "Ha lachma anya…" ("This is the
Nathaniel, being a part of the bread of our affliction…") the plate was passed from head to head, as a
Seder was a highlight of our trip to way of remembering the heavy burdens we carried when Jews where
Italy."
slaves in Egypt.
the rabbi writes www.rabbibarbara.com
rabbi
barbara
Rabbi Barbara Aiello
Charoset, the special combination of fruit and nuts that symbolizes the
mortar used for the bricks our ancestors were forced to make, was an
Italian concoction of dates, figs and oranges and decorated with pine
nuts around each bowl.
T
Pesach began early for Or Chadash he second night seder was set in Turin, where I serve as rabbi for
Torino. Our Sunday School stu- the small liberal congregation, Or Chadash. We continued our
dents worked hard to make seder southern traditions because so many Torinesi Jews are part of
plates that we used during our families who fled northward to escape the persecutions of Inquisition
Second Night celebration.
times. Here we told the Pesach story as a drama in three acts, with chil-
dren and adults all taking part. Dramatizing the "magid" (the telling of
the Exodus) is a special Italian tradition and our Or Chadash Family
Theater created an experience, complete with a choral singing of "Go
Down Moses" that would rival any Italian opera.
B
It was a wonderful night. Over 60
ut it was in Sicily on the fifth night of Passover that brought the
members and friends of Torino's "anousim" feeling home. "Anousim" is the Hebrew word that
only progressive congregation means "the forced ones," and for Sicilians with Jewish roots,
gathered for a hands-on, nothing comes closer to the anousim experience than the Hamishi, or
participatory Pesach event. Fifth Night Seder.
Jewish tradition requires us to make a seder, complete with symbolic
foods and story-telling on the first night of the eight nights of Passover.
For Jews outside of Israel, in the Diaspora, a second night seder is
added. But nowhere does Jewish "halakah" (law) command us to hold a
Kindling the lights of Yom Tov.
seder on the fifth night. Yet in Sicily the Fifth night seder became tradi-
tional for important reasons, not the least of which was family safety.
Back in the Inquisition times, when a Jew could be denounced by a family
maid or local shop keeper for such things as making a special family meal
on a Friday night, for taking the blood spot out of the cracked egg, or for
creating a meal that resembled the Passover seder, Sicilian Jews found a way
to outsmart their enemies. Along with courageous Christian friends who
protected them, Jews held a seder on the fifth night. This attempt to con-
found the authorities became known as the Hamishi Seder for two reasons.
The magid, or the telling of the
Passover story, was dramatized
First, the number five in Hebrew is "h'amish" and the same word, taken
Italian style, by the Or Chadash from the five fingers on the extended hand, is also reminiscent of the
Family Players, among them, Hebrew/Yiddish word for "friendly." The Hamishi Seder honors those
Director Miriam who uses a bed- selfless Christian friends who helped us celebrate Passover in relative safety.
sheet to create the Nile River for
Baby Moses.
the rabbi writes Passover Trilogy 5768 www.rabbibarbara.com
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rabbi
barbara
Rabbi Barbara Aiello
Selinute, in the south of Sicily was the setting for the Hamishi Seder. A
family with Sicilian Jewish roots brought their two young children and
together we shared the seder table with a family from Washington, DC.
Continuing a tradition that is particular to Sicilian anousim, we symbol-
ized our lives under the lash of slavery by "whipping" each other with
the long stems of green onions as we sang "Dayenu."
Dramatizing the Exodus story, little Fabiana, who played the part of
Sicily's fifth night, or Hamishi
Seder was held in Selinute, located
baby Moses, wailed and bawled as, Miriam, played by Michelle, placed the
at the south end of the island. baby's basket in the river. Four year old Luigi took his role as a sheep
Five hundred years ago Selinute very seriously. He bleated with all his might as his dad, Giuseppe-as-
was once a thriving Jewish com- Moses left Midian for Pharaoh's palace.
munity. Today ancient Jewish tra-
ditions exist, among them, the cre-
ation of a special Charoset, made
Why was this night different from all the other nights? More than seder
of figs, nuts, dates and oranges, plates passed head to head, more than the Exodus drama or the onion
and decorated with pine nuts. "whips," these nights were different because after 500 years of near
extinction, for Italian anousim from Turin to Calabria to Sicily, Passover
finally and beautifully came home.
Rabbi Barbara Aiello is an Italian-American who discovered her Jewish
roots from her Calabrian and Sicilian ancestors. She is the first and
only woman rabbi in Italy and serves Sinagoga Ner Tamid del Sud, the
first active synagogue in Calabria in 500 years. In addition she makes
Italian Jews are the oldest Jews in
the Diaspora and the traditional Jewish tradition available to Calabrians and Sicilians through the
celebration of Pesach, or "la festa IjCCC, The Italian Jewish Cultural Center of Calabria.
di pane azimo" (The feast of
unleavened bread) remains a part
of Sicilian Jewish tradition. For more information: visit our website www.rabbibarbara.com
the rabbi writes Passover Trilogy 5768 www.rabbibarbara.com
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