Rivka and Rochel Lubin dressed as hippies for Purim

The Purim holiday has ended. The shalach manos have been divided into our customary piles of candies, chips, and chocolates; the left over hamentashen have been brought into my and Lenny’s offices for all our friends to enjoy; and we are inwardly preparing for the holiday of Pesach.

By “inward” I mean that I am not “outwardly” shopping or cleaning yet, rather I am pre-preparing myself for all that needs to be done. I have started scanning the various supermarkets for the available holiday specials and have begun trying to use up what we have in our freezer.

This Sunday, my husband and some of my children are going to a hockey game. Rochel has her CLASP internship in Oceanside, so I have to be on hand to pick her up at four. I am excited about my people-free house for a couple of hours on Sunday. I have already announced that this Sunday afternoon will be my day to take out all the food from the pantry and arrange it appropriately in our “chametz bins” that are stored throughout the year in the garage. We will then officially be on our way to Pesach in the Lubin home!

Of course I will have to determine what should continue to be in the chametz bin, since I am sad to say that we never actually emptied the bin since last Pesach! And then I also enjoy looking through the food pantry and finding unopened kosher-for-Pesach items that I can actually use during the holiday. Even in our shalach manos intake I have found some usable items (thanks Bubby Bernice and Zayde Ike for the massive kosher for Pesach strawberry jam found in our Purim bag!). Of course, most of our unopened grape juice and wine are usable too!

Our Purim team dressed up as hippies this year (idea courtesy of Lea), and we went to shul decked out in our hippy attire. Naftali snapped a picture of Yussie as he was diligently davening Purim morning. The day was quite enjoyable–eating tons of chametz! As our Purim seudah ended Sunday evening (a fine feast was had by the Davidson/Lubin crew present), Yussie inquired, “What is the next holiday?”

“Pesach is coming, Yussie!”

“What day is Pesach?”

Yussie is very time-oriented. He is an expert on both the clock and the calendar, and will hold you to any time that you commit to do something.

“One more month, Yussie.”

“What time is shul on Pesach?” he asks with a big smile on his face.

“We will have to check the calendar when Pesach arrives, Yussie!”

And so not only am I starting my pre-preparations, but Yussie is part of the pre-preparation planning for Pesach as well! v

Phyllis Joy Lubin is an attorney with Maidenbaum & Sternberg, LLP, who resides in Cedarhurst with her husband, Leonard. They have six children: Naftali, Shoshana, Rivka, Rochel, Yosef, and Lea and a new daughter-in-law, Nina. The author welcomes your questions and comments at MothersMusings@gmail.com.

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