Out of Egypt: Counting the Omer

Well Pesach has come to a close, and we are counting down the days of the omer to Shavuot (tonight we will count 9 days, which is 1 week and 2 days of the omer). By now we are out of Egypt, and the taste of freedom is sweet but we are not at all away from danger. Sometimes after leaving behind what we have always wished we could break free from we begin to doubt if it was truly the right thing to do or not. We become apathetic, our resolve begins to weaken, and doubt begins to attack.

After leaving Egypt our ancestors chided and complained saying specifically that it would have been better to serve(or die) under the hand of Pharaoh in Egypt than to die in the wilderness. 

1st when they faced the Red Sea (Shemot 14:11, 12)
2nd when they were hungry in the wilderness (Shemot 16:2, 3)
3rd when they had no water to drink while camped in Rephidim (Shemot 17:1-7)

The pattern of doubt is set by the 3rd time. They have lost hope and doubt HaShem's provision. It is after this this 3rd act of doubt Amalek attacks us.

We are commanded in Devarim 25:17-19 to never forget, to remember to blot out his name so we won't forget!

"Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt;  

How he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. 

Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.

The attack of Amalek did not come upon us right away, it did not come when we were singing praise to HaShem on the other side of the sea, it came after we had lost our hope and given ourselves up to our irrational doubt. So in guarding ourselves from the attack of Amalek we must guard against those small choices that lead to the ultimate place of doubt (is G-d among us?). It came after 3 times saying "it would be better if we had never left Mitzrayim".

Let this counting of the omer be a time and opportunity to constantly remind us to acknowledge and praise the Holy One for not only bring us out of Mitzrayim(the "narrow place or straits") but for His constant day to day provision as He leads us through the wilderness. If this is the place of our heart, when faced with His Torah we will not refuse it, but embrace it whole-heartedly because He is a nourishing and sustaining G-d.

Blessing for the Counting of the Omer

BA-RUCH A-TAH ADO-NAI E-LO-HE-NU ME-LECH HA-OLAM ASHER KID-E-SHA-NU BE-MITZ-VO-TAV VETZI-VA-NU AL SEFI-RAT HA-OMER.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us concerning the counting of the Omer.

Charoset

Traditional Charoset

Ingredients
-apples
-cinnamon
-grape juice
-almonds

Some people pulverize everything is a food processor, but I prefer to make "Chopped Charoset"

I also never measure anything for charoset I just start chopping apples until I am happy with the amount and add the other ingredients as I go.

I use whole almonds, and find that the roasted almonds break easier than the raw ones plus it give a nice roasty flavour to the charoset.

The easiest way to crush the almonds is to put them in a strong zip-loc bag and roll them with a rolling pin. You can roll them basically to powder if you so desire.

This batch I think I used about 8-10 medium apples, 1tsp of cinnamon, about a cup of almonds, and 1/4-1/2cup of grape juice.

If you want to get really fancy with your charoset you could add rasins, chopped dried apricots or any other dried fruit, add a little honey to sweeten it up, or try including a little ginger or other sweet spice to it.

Chag Sameach!

Matzah Makin'!

 
Wow 18min goes by in a hurry when you are making Matzah!
 

To get a batch of matzah mixed, rolled, and then cooked in 18 min means that it needs to be cooked fast and hot! To do this it definitely helpful to use fire-brick, quarry-tile, or a baking stone in your oven so that it will absorb and hold the heat so that cooking isn't slowed up by the constant opening and closing of your oven. 

I used 6 fire-bricks laid on

the middle rack (another time I may try putting them on my bottom rack to give me more "flipping room" but I wasn't sure about putting them so close to the heat element) of the oven. Don't heat the oven to fast, it is advisable to use an hour to bring the bricks up to temperature. I started at 150F and gradually increased (about 100 every 10-15min) until I was up to 500F. DO NOT USE WET BRICKS apparently they can explode so make sure they are dry, or turn your oven as low as you can to slowly dry them out. *if you are using something other than fire-brick get directions accordingly*

Wash your work space thoroughly as well as any utensils you will be using

- stainless steel bowl

- sharp knife to cut pieces of matzah to roll

- 2 one cup measuring cups (one for flour, one for water)

- cold water

- flour (I used spelt because it is not tempered)

- salt

- spoon

- rolling pin

- parchment paper

- fork, a new hair comb, or a round bristle hairbrush for piercing matzah (the hair brush works really well!! I know it sounds funny but don't knock it til you try it!! But please for the health of those who will be consuming your matzah...splurge and buy a new one for matzah making!)

 
I used spelt flour and mixed it 1cup of cold water to 3cups flour, with 1 heaping tsp of salt. With two people rolling and one person piercing and baking, we got one batch this size completely mixed rolled and baked within 18min but just in time! I could only put 4 matzah in at a time so that's about the limit if you are using a conventional sized oven.

Quick tip for putting matzah in the oven! 
Cut a piece of parchment paper to cover the bricks. Place it on a cooking sheet and put unbaked matzot on the paper, pick up the pan. open the oven door and quickly slide the parchment with the matzot on to the brick surface. ** make sure to wear an oven mit!

Once one batch was completed we washed the work surfaces and utensils again before starting the next one. All those left over pieced of dough are becoming chametz and we don't want to mix them into out new batch of matzah right!? Once everything is clean you start all over again. Remember the clock starts as soon as the water hits the flour. 

Happy matzah making and Chag Sameach!