Good evening, how are you? It’s the beginning of Passover this evening and I will be sharing lesson plans with you tomorrow. But in the meantime I wanted to share Daily Bizarre, Special and Unique Holidays – March, 27th, 2021.
Did you know it’s National “Joe” Day? I didn’t and also if I were asked I would have to let you know I didn’t know Passover begins at sundown – but now that I do I have to work on Lesson Plans for the week including Passover because I am not sure Charlie knows what it is or why Passover happens. Does your children know? If your homeschooling do you study Passover?
National “Joe” Day is always celebrated on March 27.
If you do not like your name for what ever reason then National Joe Day is a chance to change your name. But only for today.
. On National Joe Day, it is perfectly okay to have everyone call your “Joe”. Why Joe, and not Bob or Mike or Radcliffe? Simply, because everyone likes the name Joe. If you are called Joe today, we know that you’re “Joe cool”!
This works well for the men out there. What about the ladies? We suggest you choose Josephine or Jody. Although if a lady wanted to be really cool and stand out she could be called Joe.
About Passover: Passover begins Sundown
Passover is the date of the first full day. But, in reality, Passover begins at sundown.
Passover is the celebration of the freeing of Jews from Egyptian rule around 3000 years ago. The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians ruler Pharaoh Ramses II.
God instructed Moses to go to the Pharaoh and ask for freedom for the Jews. According to the Bible, his plea of “Let my people go” were ignored despite Moses’ warning of punishments by God if they were not freed.
God sent 10 terrible plagues upon the people of Egypt. Pharaoh then conceded and freed Jews who immediately fled Egypt without taking time to bake their dough. They took the dough and baked it into thin crackers in the hot dessert sun. These crackers were called Matzoh.
To commemorate the freeing of the Jews, matzoh is eaten in place of bread during Passover.
Matzah
8 Original recipe yields 8 servings
- 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour for dusting*
- 1 cup all-purpose flour*
- ⅓ cup water, or more if needed
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or as needed (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil, or as needed (Optional)
Directions
- Step 1 Move an oven rack near the top of oven and preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Preheat a heavy baking sheet in the oven.
- Step 2 Dust a clean work surface and a rolling pin with 1 teaspoon flour, or as needed. Place 1 cup of flour into a mixing bowl; set a timer for about 16 minutes (18 minutes maximum). Start the timer; pour the water, about 1 tablespoon at a time, into the flour. Stir the water and flour together with a fork until the dough forms a rough ball, remove the dough to the prepared work surface, knead rapidly and firmly until smooth, about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- Step 3 Divide the dough into four equal pieces; cut each piece in half again to get 8 pieces total. Swiftly roll each piece into a ball. Roll each piece of dough out into a 5-inch pancake, dusting the top and rolling pin with flour as needed. Gradually roll the pancakes out to a size of about 8 inches, increasing the size of each by about 1 inch, then letting the dough rest for a few seconds before rolling again to the finished size. Roll from the center out. The bread rounds should be very thin. Using a fork, quickly pierce each bread about 25 times, all over, to prevent rising. The holes should go completely through the bread. Flip the bread over, and pierce each piece another 25 times with the fork.
- Step 4 With at least 5 minutes left on the timer, remove the hot baking sheet from the preheated oven, and place the rounds onto the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet onto the rack near the top of the oven, and bake for 2 minutes; turn the breads over and bake an additional 2 minutes, until the matzot are lightly browned and crisp.
- Step 5 Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Lightly anoint each matzah with olive oil, using a brush, and sprinkle generously with salt.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
