Many Help Elderly Tidy Up for Passover

Jules Berlinsky usually keeps his small room at the Jewish Home for the Aging clean, but on Thursday, workers cleaned his place “a little bit too much,” he said.

Employees at the Jewish Home for the Aging, including the CEO, administrators, chefs and almost all of the 600 staff members, helped about 750 elderly residents prepare for Passover, the Jewish holiday celebrating the flight of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery about 3,000 years ago.

Before the holiday begins at sundown Wednesday, faithful Jews must discard all leavened bread and other foods they cannot eat during the weeklong observance.

The tradition helps them remember how ancient Jews fleeing slaveholders did not have time to grab their bread and instead ate matzo--dough that turned into hard crackers when baked in the hot sun.

Volunteer cleaners look for bread, candies and other foods restricted during Passover.

“That’s why I eat my stuff,” said 88-year-old Berlinsky. “I don’t like it when they throw it away.”

“We don’t throw it away,” said assistant administrator Kathleen Kennings, patting his shoulder.

The holiday helps residents, most of whom are almost 90, get in touch with their spiritual side, remembering the sacrifices their ancestors endured to free themselves, said Rabbi William Gordon.

Even the home’s CEO, Molly Forrest, joined her troops in cleaning the rooms.

“But it’s still a pain in the neck,” said 78-year-old resident Sam Gal. “As you get older, the tradition seems more intense.”

The cleaning began early Thursday and will continue until late Tuesday. The residents will then celebrate Passover the next day with a Seder, a traditional dinner in which Jews remember the exodus from Egypt, said marketing director Kathy Bornstein.

The task has grown ever since the home opened in 1912, when it only had five residents, Bornstein said.

“It’s like a glorified spring cleaning,” Bornstein said.