The news is out! On Sunday, August 30, 2026, get ready for the largest Jewish Festival in the history of Portland. It will be held at Zidell Yards on the Waterfront – a perfect location for everyone in Greater Portland to come out for Jewish music, food, culture, kids’ activities, and more. Tickets go on sale right after Passover, and we will update you with the activities for the day and the musical acts.

I am also pleased to announce The Shuk: A Day of Jewish Ideas on Sunday, June 21. The Jewish Federation, in collaboration with Art/Lab, is creating a marketplace of Jewish learning, including panels, lectures, text study, art workshops, cooking classes, and more. The rich range of offerings from local scholars, artists, and community builders shines a light on the Jewish renaissance shaping life here in Portland. Details and registration coming soon!

Next Wednesday night, we will gather for the first seder and begin the holiday of Passover. Studies continue to show this is the most celebrated of all the Jewish holidays. The purpose of the seder is to relive the experience of the Exodus from Egypt and to pass down the communal memory of this Jewish story.

One of the key symbols of the holiday is the seder plate. In many ways, the seder plate acts as a “sensory map,” allowing participants to taste, smell, and “see” the history of the Jewish people. The plate typically includes:
 

• Maror -- bitter herbs representing the bitterness of slavery endured by the Israelites in Egypt.
   
• Chazeret -- a second bitter herb.
   
• Charoset -- the mix of apples, nuts, spices, and wine which represent the mortar used by the slaves to lay bricks.
   
• Karpas -- spring vegetable representing the season – eventually dipped into salt water to represent the tears and sweat of the slaves.
   
• Z’roa -- shank bone commemorating the lamb sacrificed on the eve of the Exodus.
   
• Beitzah -- a roasted egg symbolizing the cycle of life.

In addition to the items on the seder plate, the seder table also includes three pieces of matzah wrapped or covered in a cloth.

Modern and inclusive additions in recent decades include:

• An orange -- represents the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community and women in Jewish leadership and life.
   
• The olive -- added by many as a prayer for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, or as a symbol of the struggle for peace in the Middle East.
   
• Fair trade chocolate or coffee -- a reminder of modern-day forced labor and child slavery in the global cocoa and coffee industries. It encourages guests to be mindful of the ethics behind what they consume.
   
• A tomato -- drawing attention to the plight of farm workers, specifically highlighting the fight for fair wages and safe working conditions.
   
• A key – a reminder of those who are currently incarcerated and the hope for a future where they can be "unlocked" and rehabilitated.

Starting in 1935, we were able to add something else to our Passover seder. That year, Rabbi Tobias (Tuvia) Geffen, who led Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta for 60 years, was asked by Orthodox rabbis across the country whether Coca-Cola was kosher. Unsure of the answer, he reached out to the company for a list of ingredients.

You may or may not know that the recipe is one of the most closely guarded secrets in America. At the time, it was reported he was one of less than 10 people who had ever seen the recipe before.

Surprisingly, the Atlanta-based company met with Rabbi Geffen and gave him access to their special formula. Of course, he had to keep the details confidential and signed a non-disclosure agreement.

While reviewing the ingredients, he discovered that the glycerin used in the drink came from non-kosher beef tallow. Even though it was trace amounts, Rabbi Geffen told the Coca-Cola company that its deliberate inclusion made the product non-kosher. He explained that even small amounts of non-kosher ingredients, if added intentionally, made Coke non-kosher.

Coca-Cola quickly found a substitute -- a glycerin product produced from cottonseed and coconut oil. After this change in the recipe was made, Rabbi Geffen provided kosher certification.

But, this would not be the case year-round. The recipe for Coke at the time included small amounts of alcohol from fermented grains (and later high fructose corn syrup), making the product non-kosher for Passover.

Coca-Cola found substitute cane and beet sugars that would not change the taste of the product. The company agreed to manufacture Coke bottles with the new ingredients several weeks before Passover and have done so ever since. Those bottles feature yellow caps with a special “Kosher for Passover” logo in Hebrew and are certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. You can read more in this article in The New York Times in 2011.

Rabbi Geffen published a rabbinic legal ruling declaring Coca-Cola “Kosher for Passover.” This was the first partnership of its kind – one of the largest companies in the United States adjusted its most popular product to accommodate a religious minority. (Many products today are kosher -- just yesterday it was announced Reese's Pieces are now kosher pareve due to a change in the ingredients -- no longer kosher dairy -- so people do not need to wait following a meat meal.)

This weekend, over 150 families will receive Passover food and gift cards from our Passover4All program. Thank you to those who generously donated money and to the volunteers who will make the home deliveries. This, however, is only a start.

Jewish Family & Child Service, together with other Jewish community organizations, is working to better understand the food-related needs of our community. Food insecurity affects more people than many of us realize, and we want to make sure we are doing everything we can to support those who need it most. We are asking community members to please take a few moments to fill out a short Community Food Initiative Survey. Your responses are confidential and will help shape the programs and resources we develop together. Every voice matters — thank you for helping us build a stronger, more caring community.

Shabbat shalom. 

PS -- The Jewish Federation office will be closed Wednesday (so everyone can prepare for their seder) to Friday in observance of Passover.