SC - Jewish dietary stuff

[Stefan li Rous]

Morgan said about her upcoming feast: 
> They are moist enough without the butter, if necessary.  I figured it was easier to leave out the butter, and if anybody REALLY wants, and it does not interfere with dietary, they can stir it in.  Just having it on the table could be bad for the really strict Jews, but I am trying to have a table that Jews, Christians, and All The Rest can sit at together.<

Huh? I can understand why you might not be allowed to eat something, but
why would having butter on the table, if it is not eaten by the Jew
be a problem for them?

And, to me, this seems to conflict with the idea that you can have 
someone else turn on the lights, so long as you don't flip the switch.
If it's okay to be present, even cause the switch to be flipped by
allowing someone else flip the switch, why is it not okay to have butter
on the table if you don't partake of it?

> >>> Not to put too fine a point on it, but technically speaking
> >>> you probably shouldn't be handling chametz at all.  The
> >>> extent of your religious observance is up to you, of course.
> 
> I am aware of that -- which is why I have at least one "Pesach goy" on my kitchen staff.  <S>  As I said, I am fairly secularized, but I do try to be cautious.  And I'll note that in addition to the bread, I'm Ashkenazic, which means I also cannot cook the Grene Peysen or A Cooked Dish of Lentils.

What is "chametz"? And if you don't eat it, or lick your fingers or 
some such, why can't you prepare it?
 
> >>> I think that Morgan was trying to recreate a lenten
> >>> version that would have been served in medieval times.
> 
> Bingo.  Or as close as a Jew can figure one out.  Pretty much, I figured if it doesn't grow in the garden, you cannot eat it during Lent -- right?  Nothing that had a mother, could have had a mother, came from a mother, or might be related to a mother.

Okay, without getting into a bunch of religous detail, what does this
mother stuff have to do with passover or Jewish food restrictions?

Stefan, whose rather perplezed by all this.

- -- 
THLord  Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas         stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****