Preparing for Passover keeps Hebrew Home busy

Many families in the Riverdale area are preparing their kitchens and dining rooms for Passover this year. 

To do so, they thoroughly wash pots, pans, utensils and dishes in a process known as kashering, or koshering.

For many, it’s a relatively simple, but meaningful, task.

Not so simple for the Hebrew Home at Riverdale. 

There, 105 food service employees and 80 house cleaning staff embark on a five-day clean fest.

Passover celebrates the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

“Because they left Egypt quickly, all the bread they had never rose. So we eat matzah,” Rabbi Joe Dalezman said.

To commemorate Passover, Jews do not eat any leavened bread or other foods known as chametz and clean all utensils, dishes and kitchen appliances that have touched bread to make sure there is none left. 

On Sunday, the Hebrew Home embarked on its all-out spring-cleaning. Staff began scrubbing to ensure every dish, spoon, refrigerator, food cart, ice cream scoop and microwave will be free of even a single breadcrumb during Passover.

“We do a very comprehensive job,” Rabbi Dalezman said on Monday, while kitchen staff boiled serving pans behind him.

Rabbi Dalezman and Director of Food Service Carlos Luna oversee the process. The men said they work a week of more than 12-hour days preparing for Passover. The staff also puts in plenty of overtime to get the job done, Mr. Luna said.

After they clean dishes and serving paraphernalia, the items are put in a pile for Rabbi Dalezman to inspect. He goes through each item associated with food at the Hebrew Home, which amounts to thousands of pieces, to make sure each has been properly cleaned. Not everything makes the cut. He said about 10 percent of the unsuitable items are stowed away in the basement until the holidays are over.

Items that pass inspection are placed under white tablecloths so the staff know they cannot touch them.

Food preparations are also different for Passover. Since many types of food are forbidden during the holiday, the Hebrew Home stores all its dry goods in a tractor-trailer outside. Employees store food that needs refrigerating in one of the 75 recently cleaned fridges. They clean all 24 dining areas as well.

Mr. Luna said the home, like many families, used to have a separate set of dishes and equipment used only for Passover, but it became more expensive than to clean each item annually. Mr. Luna said his staff, many of whom are not Jewish, become experts at the kashering rules. He and Rabbi Dalezman joked that Mr. Luna, who is not Jewish but has worked at the Hebrew Home for 26 years, knows it better than he does.

The Hebrew Home plans to serve prime rib on Friday and brisket on Saturday. Only when Passover has ended will residents be allowed to feast on bagels and muffins.