Wrapping up the Passover Freedom Event with EtsyChai

Sales.  Discounts.  New items.  Free shipping.
Participating shops & some of their specials are listed here and you can search on Etsy with the keywords: "pesach" or "etsychai" or “passover”.  Please remember to use the word "Passover" in Notes to Seller when shopping with EtsyChai members!

We’ve had some interesting and informative posts this week:

Passover Freedom Event – Holiday Prep & Participants

Passover Freedom Event – Holiday Prep, Part II

Passover Freedom Event – A Rhyme to Remember, Part I

Passover Freedom Event – A Rhyme to Remember, Part II

And… it’s not over yet!!

There’s still time to knit up a matzah/afikomen bag or cover using this great pattern:

Recipes, how-to’s, family traditions, stories and more will be featured in the coming weeks as we all prepare for Passover.  For example… here we have Lisa of handmadeinisrael.etsy.com talking about her Passover plans:

“Purim is now over and the build up to Pesach begins! We try and start early with the preparations and clean out two kitchen cupboards each evening, beginning several weeks before the start of Pesach. Though I dread the holiday and all the work it entails, the reality is that when the festival eventually arrives we enjoy a wonderful Seder with family or friends and have a fantastic week touring Israel from north to south. The kids are off school, my husband takes time from work and we enjoy the beautiful spring weather and see some gorgeous places around our little country. Last year we visited The Dead Sea and Qumran, an orchid farm and parrot farm in the north, and hiked in the forests nearer to home. This year we of course have yet to make specific plans, but who knows where the Pesach vacation time will take us.

If you wish to see a little more, here’s last year’s blog post about my family’s Passover travels.”  - Lisa Isaacs, Handmade Greetings Cards

Great magnets for the holiday… can hold up your favorite recipe while you cook!:

How about a tutorial to make your own matzah tray, making the holiday extra special and personalized?… or make one for the host/hostess of a Seder you’ll be attending: (Wouldn’t it be nice to make one of these out of a cherished heirloom tablecloth that may be torn or stained and unusable? – Tammy)

If you haven’t yet, you can always sign up below for email updates of these blog posts and get them delivered right to your in-box.

Will you be making anything new or creating a tradition during this year’s holiday?

Passover Freedom Event – Holiday Prep, Part II

Participating shops & their specials are listed here and you can search on Etsy with the keywords: "pesach" or "etsychai" or “passover”.  Please remember to use the word "Passover" in Notes to Seller when shopping with EtsyChai members this week!

Thanks to Linda Blatchford of lindab142.etsy.com for today’s article.  Part I can be found here.  Today I’m not going to break up the text with pictures, instead, look for some wonderful links following.  Thanks! - Tammy

 Passover Cleaning Part 2

“Every nook and cranny of the house must be cleaned and rid of hametz (any food containing leaven or foods not permissible to be eaten on Passover). The sofa cushions are removed, vacuumed and I use sofa covers so the matzah crumbs don’t get all over everything. The coffee table and sofa side tables get news “tablecloths” too.

Our kitchen is a galley kitchen and we don’t have a pantry, so the new Passover foods and utensils that I purchase are left in their packages in the garage until the cleaning/changeover is complete.

The oven, microwave and dishwasher need to be thoroughly cleaned and a cup of water is boiled in the microwave to cleanse it. The dishwasher is run empty for one cycle. The oven and burners are turned on for a short amount of time after the last piece of bread is burned in the house (usually the morning after the search for hametz or the night before the first Seder).

Metal and glass objects may be kashered for Passover use by not using them for two days and soaking them in cold water for at least 24 hours – and I usually pour boiling water over them just to be sure. If a pot or pan has a plastic or wood handle, that can NOT be koshered.

Some rabbis now allow people to store their hametz in the garage, as long as it’s sold. Jews typically sell their hametz during Passover. Your rabbi or spiritual leader will take care of this for you if you fill out the form they provide. If you have pets and plan to keep feeding them regular food, they are usually sold too. The reason is that we do not “own any hametz” during Passover, the time when we are commanded not to eat leavened bread.

After doing a complete and thorough cleaning of your house/apartment/dorm room, you should throw away any opened packages of hametz, thereby beginning Pesah in a hametz-free environment.

Consider donating all new and closed hametz items to a local food pantry.

Because of the complexities of our economy, it may be far too costly to get rid of all of your sealed and unopened hametz. For this reason, a ceremony was developed which in effect "sells" your hametz to a non-Jew for the duration of the holiday.

Shtar Harsha'ah
This symbolic sale is carried out by a rabbi whom you authorize by filling out a shtar harsha'ah, or document of permission. The rabbi then sells your hametz by writing a shtar m'khirah, or document of sale.

If you'd like to learn more about the origin of these practices, you can find the sources in the Shulhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law, 1554 CE) of Rabbi Yosef Karo, in the volume Orah Hayyim, sections 445, 446 and 448:3. Other books like Isaac Klein's A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice and Michael Strassfeld's The Jewish Holidays are good resources as well.

For up-to-date information on prohibited and permitted foods, check out the Rabbinical Assembly Web site at www.rabbinicalassembly.org.

Sephardic Jews may eat rice and beans if that is their Passover custom, but Ashkenazic Jews may not. The way I describe it to my friends is we don’t eat anything that “puffs.”

Like many people, I have separate Passover dishes. Those are washed and placed on the countertop (koshered and covered with wax paper or tin foil). I don’t have the room to replace everything in my cabinets, so I tape an X on the cabinets we can’t use for Passover (most of them). Passover dishes, pots and pans and food are stored on the countertops and top of the refrigerator.”

Thanks again Linda, for a great article!

    

   

        

 

Participating shops & their specials are listed here and you can search on Etsy with the keywords: "pesach" or "etsychai" or “passover”.  Please remember to use the word "Passover" in Notes to Seller when shopping with EtsyChai members this week!

Passover Freedom Event – Holiday Prep & Participants

Participating shops will be listed in this post this week and  you can search on Etsy with the keywords: "pesach" or "etsychai".  Please remember to use the word "Passover" in Notes to Seller when shopping with EtsyChai members this week!

 Passover Preparation = Spring Cleaning

Last weekend I started the first step of my Passover preparation or Spring cleaning. It involves washing walls and I start on the 2nd floor where our bedrooms are located. For me, Spring cleaning is not only cleaning, it’s getting rid of the hametz, or traces of bread or items that are not Kosher for Passover. During Passover, we only eat unleavened bread, matzah or anything that does NOT rise.

  Passover Judaica Wine Charms - Introductory Price

“At the stroke of midnight of Nissan 15 of the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE), G d visited the last of the ten plagues on the Egyptians, killing all their firstborn

. While doing so, G d spared the Children of Israel, "passing over" their homes—hence the name of the holiday. Pharaoh's resistance was broken, and he virtually chased his former slaves out of the land. The Israelites left in such a hurry, in fact, that the bread they baked as provisions for the way did not have time to rise.”  from Chabad.org

  Passover Matza Cover in Blue Batiks

When I lived at home with my parents, my chores were to climb on top of the kitchen counter to get the Passover dishes out of the cabinet and to change the kitchen curtains. I also helped clean the fridge, which is why I hate doing it so much to this day.

  Passover Greetings Cards - Pack of 3

Now I know what it’s like to change everything over in our home, and it’s quite a job. I learned to allow myself enough time and I’ve already purchased a new tablecloth and shower curtain for this year.

  Judaic Greeting Card - Stained Glass Series

Passover is one of my favorite holidays because of the happy memories it brings. I still have one bowl from my parent’s home that was, and still is, used for scrambled eggs.

 Kiddish Cup with Tallit

Thank G-d for bringing the Israelites our of Egypt to celebrate freedom.
Happy Passover.
Linda Blatchford of lindab142.etsy.com

Participating EtsyChai Members:

Be sure to read announcements and details about each seller’s promotions at their shop links.   Please remember to use the word "Passover" in Notes to Seller when shopping with EtsyChai members during the event.  You can always see all of the team listed in the left-hand sidebar of this blog.

Agru - 10% off any purchase:

Anjali Creations:

AnotherCreation – free shipping:

Beadsofparadiseshop - 15% off:

CeramicsbyMarcelle

Downtoearthcreations:

Handmadeinisrael:

lbolter 10% off:

lindab142 – intro price on selected item:

Goofingoff – 10% off purchase:

markaplan – 10% off:

mishmishmarket:

TamarHammer:

TraceyLipman:

Terrbear37:

yafitglass - 5% off:

Please remember to use the word "Passover" in Notes to Seller when shopping with EtsyChai members during this event.

Go Green with EtsyChai – Promotions & Specials for You!

We have EtsyChai Team members buying trees in honor of this TuB’Shvat, we have team members recycling and sharing their eco tips with you in posts later this month… Today’s feature is about promotions, specials and sales.  Read on and check comments, too!

Be sure to read all seller’s Shop Announcements and contact individuals if you have any questions. 

Barb of BlazingNeedles is offering 10% off all cacti in her shop:

(I like these, they won’t hurt your hand! – Tamdoll)

 

During this month’s promotion, mention GOGREEN in the notes to seller at the Doodlage shop and you’ll receive snippets of handmade Japanese papers - perfect for crafts, scrapbooking and more.

(Paper scraps will be chosen by the seller, picture just shows a sample.)

 

Leslietsy will include FREE, with purchase, any item in her Ripe for Recycling section that is labeled half price sale or something similar. Be sure to CONVO Leslietsy to remove it—”if you put it in your cart it has to be paid for!”

 

LindaB’s GoGreen Sale is 15% off purchases totaling $15 (some items are excluded, along with shipping and tax). At Linda B’s Beaded Jewelry shop, be sure to use GOGREEN in Notes to Seller. Please CONVO Linda for a price change before you complete checking out.

Remember, be sure to read all seller’s Shop Announcements and contact individuals if you have any questions. 

Come back all through January 2010 to see who’s donating trees, who uses recycled materials in their business and what kind of environmental tips you can learn from EtsyChai teammates around the world.

The Hunt Continues….

Today you can hunt for Miracles of Hanukkah Menorahs for a chance to win prizes; and you can shop all the promotions and sales offered in EtsyChai & Etsy Israel participating shops.  There’s still time to take advantage of all the specials … today. 

Team Work Across the Globe

How did the current EtsyChai & Etsy Israel joint Miracles of Hanukkah Contest and Sale promotion come to be?  Curious minds want to know!

“During an EtsyChai team meeting we talked about have a joint promotion with the Etsy Israel team because a few of us had seen and liked some of the handmade products in the Israeli shops. I contacted the team leader (at the time) about the possibility and she was open to it. A few of us attended an Etsy Israel team meeting to talk about it further and I went back to the EtsyChai team and talked about it. And, the union was born and the shop owners got as excited about it as I am.

Team EtsyChai is pleased to have some of these participants from Israel:

http://Ooty.etsy.com
http://Yafitglass.etsy.com
http://visart.etsy.com
http://StudioDanale.etsy.com
http://FleurDeIrk.etsy.com
http://PhonyArt.etsy.com
On the Etsy Israel team, but not participating in Hanukkah sale this time: http://Inbarbareket.etsy.com; http://handmadeinisrael.etsycom.

I am pleased that they are taking an active role in EtsyChai and promoting Judaica and chesed, loving-kindness.”                  -Linda Blatchford http://lindab142.etsy.com

How can you participate?  You can take advantage of special discounts and offers and shop all the unique, handmade, artisan and Judaic items available from the participating shops below.

For a chance to win a prize, find the most “Miracles of Hanukkah” Menorah images hidden in participating shops.  (For more info and pictures of what to look for, see this previous post.)  When you find an image, send an email to teametsychai@yahoo.com, with the name/description of the image, where you found it {shop name, item listing, &/or URL} your email address, and shop name if you have one. 

Participating Shops offering Discounts &/or Prizes.  When you purchase an item, please put the word "Candles" in Notes to Seller for your discount :

Visart 20% off entire order	Debbaworks *prize*	Yafit's First Glass *prize*
Sieberdesigns Free US shipping	Mark Kaplan 20% off one item in shop	A Cache of Jewels *prize*
Very Vintage Designs 20% off all items in shop	Linda B’s Beaded Jewelry 20% off one item in shop & a *prize*	Ooty 20% off & Free pair of earrings with any purchase & a *prize*
Leslieetsy 10% off on all lion items & a *prize*	oakGeorgia 20% off any one item in shop	Tamar Hammer’s Art with each purchase from Judaica section get a Happy Holidays Card! & a *prize*
Anjali Creations *prize*	HauteFelt *prize*	GoofingOff *prize*
MissEileen 20% off items in the shop	Doodlage free gift w/purchase & 20% anything in shop	Clay Beads and More buy 3 items- get 10% off least expensive items & free shipping on 2 or more items
Down to Earth Creations *prize*	Cards & Moore by Terri 20% off any one item in shop	SILVER Mountain Originals /tamdoll *prize*
TraceyLipman *prize*	AgruArts 20% off any one item in shop	BlazingNeedles 20% off all items in Judaica section & a *prize*
PhonyArt free pearl studs with purchase over $36	Beads of Paradise 20% off one item in shop & a *prize*	Poemweave Designs Buy one get one free Scrabble tile pendant & a *prize*
Mishmish Studio Market 20% off any one item in shop	Haley Studio 20% off one item in shop	RuthFiber Judaica 25% discount & a *prize*
Ceramics by Marcelle 20% off one item in shop	Studio618 20% off any Judaica item	siragwatkins / The Creative Block 10% off on all lion items & a *prize*
StudioDanale 20% all items in shop	KippahMitzvah free shipping during Hanukkah & a *prize*	Another Creation Buy 1 for print for $20.00, get 2nd for $10.00 & a *prize*
	Silver Dot Jewelry Designs 25% off items in shop & a *prize*

For full details, or if you need more information, read this post.

Remember that to win a prize; your goal is to find the most hidden images.  Keep watching this blog for more details because new hidden images will be in shops everyday, come back to hunt through the participating shops often.  Good Luck!