**DING**

It was Passover 1996.

For whatever reason I decided I was going to keep Passover. I had never done this in the past, but my mind was dead-set on it. The first few days were somewhat easy. At the time, I was working part-time at a Pediatrician's office while attending college. Their office was located in the professional building of a local hospital. If I ever neglected to take lunch with me I knew I could always get something at the cafeteria. On one of these days as I went through the line I asked for a hamburger with no bun. The lady stared at me as if I originated from another planet. Low-carb diets such as Atkins and South Beach hadn't taken-off mainstream yet and the likelihood that the lunch lady had encountered other Jews was slim to none so I completely understood her reaction. Or, at least that is what I'm going to believe. So there I was, with a to go box that contained a hamburger patty - no bun - and fries. It seemed kind of wrong, but it was what it was. That following Saturday the office was open and someone had brought in donuts to ease the pain of having to work during the weekend. Not to long after I arrived without thinking twice I grabbed one out of the box and took a bite. That's when I stopped and thought, "Crap Monkey!" (Ok, so it wasn't that exact phrase since I hadn't started using it yet, but it was something to that effect.) Regardless, my keeping of Passover was ruined. That night I went out for a burger - with a bun. I was out of the race.

In the years following I would attempt one or two more times to keep Passover. All without success. It wouldn't be until Passover 2008 that I would put a sincere effort into the process.

I often wonder why I tried to keep Passover all the sudden. It might have had something to do with the fact that Passover started on a Saturday evening that year. I attend both first and second night Seder that year. (A first for me.) Maybe I figured since I was off to a good start having made it through Saturday and Sunday successfully I would see how long I could last. I just had to figure out a game plan for the remaining 6 days.

The game plan was simple. I wasn't going to go hardcore. When I say hardcore I mean I would only avoid things that were blatantly bread. If I could avoid other items that was great, but not required. If I did avoid anything beyond that I would give myself a gold star for the additional effort. However, if I didn't then I wasn't about to beat myself up about it or dropout of the race. As I look back, I owe credit for this plan to a good friend who had transitioned from Reform Judaism to Orthodox observance a few years prior. They didn't just one day say "I'm going to be Orthodox" and then **DING** they observed everything they were suppose to. It was a slow, but sure transition. My observance of Passover would be the same. That year it was just about avoiding bread. I would set myself up with a box of matzot, fruit slice candies and some other non-bread foods to get started. I had a few stumbles during that go around. Like the time I went to McDonald's for lunch and it wasn't until I got back to my office that I realized I had not asked them for no bun with my sandwich. I just ended up eating fries for lunch that day. However, overall I made it through my 6 days without bread and I even managed to avoid other items beyond "blatantly bread" despite the fact I had given myself a get out of jail free card on those things. Once Passover ended I had a big ole' slice of pizza for dinner.

Last year, I challenged myself a bit more. This time anything with yeast was forbidden as well. My get out of jail free card applied to items with oats, rice and corn syrup. (These are all additional items are forbidden for Ashkenazi Jews during Passover as well.) I wouldn't blatantly try to eat them, but if I did it was ok. Once again, I wouldn't beat myself up about it. This was a good thing as it was during Passover 2009 my obsession with having oatmeal for breakfast began. As the week unfolded I did however stay away from rice and I was acutely aware of my corn syrup intake as well.

After Passover was over I would hold out another week or two before the first piece of bread would be consuming. As we discussed our Passover experiences with some friends of mine I joked that in 2010 I was going to deem myself a Sephardic Jew with a simple **DING** at sunset on the first night and turn back into an Ashkenazi Jew with another simple **DING** at sunset on the last day. That way I wouldn't have to worry about the no rice, oats or corn syrup matter. However, it was just kidding around. My next step in taking this observance to the next level was going to be entail avoiding corn syrup during Passover. I had done it back in November 2008 for a month so 8 days would be nothing. Little did that another family member's gift would shake-up that resolution.

It's Passover 2010. Last night was first night Seder which I attended at my family's house. I was all prepared for my latest and greatest venture in observing Passover. However, while we waited for everyone to arrive some interesting information was shared with me. It turns out one of my brothers recently had his ancestry traced back thousands and thousands of years with a simple DNA swab. He received the information from our dad's side. As it turns out, my patrilineal line originates back to Israel. Yes, there is a portion of me, somewhere down the line, that is Israeli and thus Sephardic. All this shared with me literally on the cusp of when I was about to deem myself Sephardic for the week.

Needless, to say there was no **DING** ceremony last night. No need. Though I do plan to celebrate this new revelation sometime this week by partaking in Sushi. However, I don't know if it changes my mind about about the whole corn syrup challenge. It's always nice to have something to work towards. I guess I'll have to see as the week unfolds.

To all that celebrate - Chag Sameach! And, I will see you at the pizza place next Tuesday night.

Until later . . .