I went to two Passover seders. Yes, ME, TWO Passoer seders. I'm breaking down the walls of my family's traditions to form my own. Normally, we do just one night of Passover seder, read the Haggadah and just eat.
First night, my friend Jon and I went to my friend Sam's family friends' house in Farmington Hills. They had about 21 people there so two big tables, one for the Baby Boomers and the other for Generation Y. This seder was the fastest one I had ever been to- we were done with the whole Hagaddah within 40 minutes. I was shocked when we got to Dayanieu already! This particular book, I think, is from Israel and mainly pulls specific relevant passages from various books of the Torah to allow for discussion and interpretations. At times, I read the Hebrew, at times, I read the English. We sang a few songs, including Hada Gadya which was pretty cute and funny (reminded me of "I Know a Lady Who Swallowed the Fly"). I forgot my glasses so I read more English...
The food menu was big! The mother made her own geflite fish and assembled it in a bundt pan so that was a cool presentation. She also made brisket (which looked more like pot roast to me), sweet and sour meatballs, and cranberry chicken as well as broccoli souffle and apple matzah kugel. She also made a bunch of desserts. So needless to say, I was very full!
I enjoyed meeting and talking to other students at different stages of their academic careers - age ranging from 16 to about 26. The girls next to me were so excited about the majors and what they wanted to do. Sam's sister was learning ASL at her high school so she asked me a few questions as well.
In the car, on the way home, Jon and I talked about how nice the whole seder was. He admitted that it was his first seder in... years. Years? Yes, years that he couldn't even remember what was the last one. I listened as he discussed his search for his Jewish identity and offered a few words here and there to clarify his thoughts. He never kept Passover and asked what else besides bread is prohibited during Passover. I explained the two different traditions- Ashkenazic and Sephardic. Stunned? You'd think after intensively studying American Jewish history, I wouldn't be surprised at anything... but not to observe Passover... it was unthinkable to me. But the most important is that he came and enjoyed himself! And of course, made him think a little.
Second night was at Sam's house so Sam and I drove together. We chatted the whole way about Jewish stuff ranging from one of the professors to our siblings to Holocaust. The seder was smaller- mainly minus most of the Gen Y. It was all still good with good food. The seder was a bit longer since we did more discussions of the text (same book from the night before). We looked at the Hebrew equivalent as well and discussed some wording, including the word "Mitzrahyim" and explanation of why use that word instead of "Egypt", as well as children's names when they came to the Land of Canaan since the Israelites had Egyptian names. Sam entertained some of us with his attempts to drink full glasses of grape juice (had it been wine, he would've been sorely drunk). We teased him as he filled his cup to the brim not to spill anything on his mother's white table cloth. We also had masks that represented each plague so I was cattles- I joked that I might as well be the Mad Cow Disease!
Sam's mother was just as Jewish mother as the other mother- I was busy talking to Sam's sister... and she came over to me and showed me a plate, "You're so busy talking that I just wanted to make sure you weren't missing out on the food!!!"
She made turkey, brisket (real brisket), potato kugel, matzah stuffing, carrot souffle, and some broccoli along with the usual matzah ball soup and geflite fish. She also had an array of assorted desserts. I appreciated everything! She also let me take some food as well.
Time to begin cutting back on the food and look forward to the rest of Passover.
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