Historias: Stories of El Paso - Virtual Exhibtion
Historias: Stories of El Paso - Virtual Exhibtion

Historias: Stories of El Paso - Virtual Exhibtion

Historias: Stories of El Paso A virtual exhibition curated by our community Courtesy of: Rebecca Ann Muñoz. Title: Memories of Grandpa Schwartz at Passover Historia Type: Photograph Every Passover, my Grandpa Schwartz (Aaron J. Schwartz) would prepare countless matzoh balls, roast brisket, cucumber salad, sometimes fresh horseradish, and gefilte fish for the pesach Seder. He would buy dozens of boxes of matzohs, jellied candies, jams, macaroons for dessert. When you walked into my grandparents’ house in the lower valley, you were hit with all the delicious smells of Passover that you had waited to taste all year long. The rich chicken soup broth filled the air - teasing that it would cure whatever ailed you (whether you were sick, misbehaving, or didn’t call your grandparents that often during the year). Sometimes the air was tense because my Grandma Schwartz would visit the next-door neighbor’s house and bring in non-Pesach food that she shouldn’t have. My mom, Jay, and aunt Debbie would help peel the hard-boiled eggs that we would eat when it was time for dinner, if my grandpa was running out of time. When all the food was ready, it was time to sit down at the Passover table. All the grandkids would grab a seat, waiting to see if we would be poured Mogen David wine or grape juice. We’d flip through our illustrated Haggadah that grandpa purchased just for us, measuring how many pages it would be until we could eat. Even if she had snuck a bite to eat beforehand, my grandma made sure that everyone knew she had to eat before everyone else and the blessings because she had “the diabetes”. This old polaroid photo shows my grandpa in action. I look back at this photo and I remember him explaining the different elements of the Seder plate, his finger pointing at each element - a story following each gesture. I remember my grandpa’s gravelly voice, his Brooklyn accent tinged with a West Texas Chicano twang after years of living in El Paso, as he would begin to read the first prayers in the Haggadah in Yiddish and translate for us kids very quickly into English. He took such joy in explaining why we observed Passover, giving us a history lesson after every passage. I remember cousins, who will not be named, drinking too much wine, my mom and aunt making spritzers, my oldest sister microwaving a hardboiled egg to the point of exploding (which we laugh about to this day), and opening numerous cans of macaroons to try every flavor. My grandpa would always tell us that we didn’t need to worry about going to school the next day because we were Jewish, and he could give us a note! Sometimes after dinner, he would sing songs which I cannot remember now. But I will always remember the timbre of his voice and the love that he passed on in his cooking and traditions.

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: Rebecca Ann Muñoz

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History

Comments

Add a comment
Thank you for your comment

Report this entry

Choose the most important reason for this report

Your name

Your email address

Optional detail

Thank you for your report

More from the same community-collection

Three Kings Cake

Three King's Cake (or bread) is closely allied with the ...

Three Kings Cake

Three King's Cake (or bread) is closely allied with the ...

Baby Jesus

Three King's Cake (or bread) is closely allied with the ...

Baby Jesus

Three King's Cake (or bread) is closely allied with the ...

New Years Eve - 2017

The Garden located in downtown El Paso, Texas. The Garden is one ...

Christmas 2015

Christmas in El Paso, Texas - 2015. Location was Cleveland ...

El Paso Museum of History - 2007

Before the digital wall in front of the El Paso Museum of ...

El Paso Museum of History - 2007

Changing Past exhibit on the second floor of museum.

El Paso Museum of History - 2007

Changing Past exhibit on the second floor of museum.

El Paso Museum of History - 2007

Canon located on the second floor - "Changing Past Exhibit".

El Paso Museum of History - 2007

Changing Past exhibit on the second floor of museum.

William H. Fryer - 1950

FRYER, WILLIAM HENRY (1880–1963). William Henry Fryer, ...

El Paso Young Ghostbusters - 2016

El Paso Y.O.U.N.G GHOSTBUSTERS is a fan based children's group. ...

El Paso Young Ghostbusters - 2016

El Paso Y.O.U.N.G GHOSTBUSTERS is a fan based children's group. ...

Victoria Sinclair - 2016

Victoria Sinclair - 2016 Victoria Sinclair was Miss El Paso ...

Cruz Barrios de Cazares and Children - El Paso, Texas

Cruz, esposa de Felipe Cazares, mather of Carlota, Altagracia ...

Hermenegildo, Sarah and Federico Parra

Federico, the child, is the grandfather of Jorge Angulo

Felipe Cazares with other revolutionaries

Felipe Cazares, third from the right, great grandfather of Jorge ...

View from Law

A view from the Courthouse 12th floor - El Paso, Texas.

Union Pacific Railroad Foundation - 2016

The DIGIE translation project. Representatives from Union ...

San Jacinto Plaza

Great way to spend a December night with the holiday lights in ...

Jennifer Han & Liliana Martinez Title Fight - 2016

Liliana Martinez during the weigh - in --downtown El Paso, ...

Jennifer Han & Liliana Martinez Title Fight - 2016

Liliana Martinez during the weigh - in --downtown El Paso, ...

home.search_collection