doing that, here are some jokes to ease the experience.
Passover, or Pesach as it is called in Hebrew, is the 8 day festival
where the Jews celebrate their liberation from Egypt more than a
thousand years ago. One of the most important features of this freedom
festival is that the Jews cannot eat anything that is leavened. They eat
unleavened bread.
They must also make sure that no bread crumbs exist in or around the
house: the cupboards, the drawers, the kitchen, behind the bed, under
the refrigerator and anywhere else where crumbs might have fallen
through. To ensure that the house is clean of leavened food materials,
the Jews have to clean the entire house from top to bottom as thoroughly
as possible. And they do. During the week before Passover, house
cleaning is what goes on in most Jewish houses. To answer this demand
and to ease the tension, here is a joke on this subject called
Impossible Timing, which highlights this cleaning tension.
Impossible Timing:
Samuel, an observant Jew, who was also a financial wizard, left Brooklyn
to accept the position of Vice President in a famous broker firm in
Utah, which is well known for being a Mormon state.
When they learned this, the company's directorate applied tremendous
pressure on the company's president. "We are religious people here,"
they said. "It can't be that a Jew will handle all our money."
The president tried to ward them off, but when he couldn't manage it
anymore, he called Samuel to his office and explained the situation to
him. Samuel was offered the choice of either converting or leaving the
attractive job which also had a six figure salary quote attached to it.
Samuel had no choice but to convert, and he went home and told his wife
that from Sunday, they will start attending the Church services.
A few months went by and his wife kept troubling Samuel about the
conversion. "This is too difficult for me. I miss the Sabbath: lighting
candles and blessing the wine. I miss the holidays. Money is not
everything, Samuel dear."
And with each time that his wife complained, Samuel's conscience
increased until he could not take it anymore and he went to meet the
company's President.
"Look, I can't go on like this," Samuel said. "I am full of regret.
Money is not everything. I can't sleep and neither can my wife. This is
too heavy a burden for me to carry. I was born a Jew and I want to die a
Jew. And if you want me to quit, I will without making any trouble."
The President looked at him in wonder, "Listen, Samuel, I had no idea
that this was so difficult for you. I thought it was a trivial matter.
But you don't have to leave. Everything will be the same as before: you
can stay here with us without converting.
Samuel returned home happy and grinning from ear to ear. He ran to his
wife, who was watching Ricky Lake, "You won't believe it! It's a
miracle. We are going back to being Jews, and I still retain my job."
His wife looked at him with eyes that spat fire, and said," Are you mad?"
Samuel was shocked. "But I thought that this is what you wanted!" He cut
in. "All this while you have been crying and complaining. Don't you wish
to go back to becoming a Jew""
His wife looked at him with ever more fury, "Of course I want to. Of
course I want to," she said. "But now? Only a week before Passover?"
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