Keep That Chi Flowing at the Seder Table

Why is Passover in Los Angeles different from all other similar celebrations? Because some Jews in this city of hot new trends are turning to the 3,000-year-old Chinese art of geomancy known as feng shui to ensure a happy Seder.

The ancient practice teaches manipulation of one’s physical surroundings to bring a proper flow of energy, or chi, which in turn breeds happiness, harmony and success, experts say.

In Los Angeles, sometimes called “La La Land” even by the natives, people consult feng shui masters not only when they buy and decorate houses, but also for tips on how to set the dinner table and diffuse negativity among relatives at holiday time.

“You do not seat the husband opposite the wife. This is not good feng shui,” said Carole Meltzer, the only female feng shui master in the United States who not only knows Jewish laws and traditions by heart but learned the Chinese rules directly from a master on the mainland, no less.

Meltzer also consults with people who want to have a happy Easter and says some feng shui rules can be applied universally, particularly when it comes to supporting family unity.

“Positioning spouses in opposition makes people choose between male and female energy. Passover is about joining together. Better you put a guest of honor opposite the host and put the wife in the middle. That’s complementary positioning,” said Meltzer, who added that she was flooded with calls this week from clients wanting Passover advice.

There are many parallels between Passover and feng shui, Meltzer said. Passover celebrates the liberation of Jews from slavery in Egypt. It involves rituals of freeing oneself from clutter and following other practices that symbolize pleasure, freedom and deliverance from suffering.

Feng shui, she said, involves setting up elements to promote the free flow of energy or chi, Meltzer said.

Traditionally at Passover, Jewish law dictates that people go through their houses and eliminate all chometz, or bread crumbs and other signs of leavening. Feng shui is similar, Meltzer said, in that enhancing energy and gaining clarity means cleaning out all schmutz (dirt), old clothes, dust and dried flowers (which symbolize death), replacing air filters and washing windows.

“This is a fresh beginning we’re talking about,” she said.

Afterwards, she suggests spritzing the home with lemon water to clarify and sweeten the air and burning yellow candles (powerful color) to redirect the chi.

In setting the holiday table, people often use flowers to symbolize a festive occasion, she said. “Put a mirror behind the flowers and double the energy.” (But do not put the mirror facing the window because then the energy flows outside.)

Israeli colors of blue, white and gold for prosperity at Passover time are perfect for the holiday table, and they are also great feng shui colors, she said. Blue is for harmony and new beginnings, white is for clarity, gold is for power.

“However, don’t mix black with blue because that symbolizes bruises,” she said. “And white means purity, but in the East it also means death, and white has a lot of energy, so make sure you balance white with another color like blue or green.

“Whatever you do don’t wear red,” she said. “If you’re coming out in red, guess what: More arguments. More clashes. More fire energy. Mix that with the heat of the stove, especially now when the weather is warming, I won’t even go there.”

Meltzer suggests using a round table for easier flow of conversation but adds that rectangular tables can be softened with a cloth.

It’s proper to place a Seder plate in the middle of the table, she said, adding that from there you balance energy at the table, placing dishes of matzoh, wine and charoset (the traditional Passover mixture of apples, wine and nuts) at opposing corners.

She said this “aligns energies from the center to each end of the table. That way everybody gets to participate and is able to pass in a more organized fashion.”

And finally, she said: “Remember that Passover is a very yang (external, wind, air, power, sun energy) holiday, as compared to an internal yin (water, female, mystery, introspection) holiday like, say, Yom Kippur.”

And of course, God’s parting of the Red Sea could be viewed as a very yang move. When God turned the sea into dry land, he created walls of water on either side and plenty of room for chi flowing through the middle so the Jews could escape.