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Because of our kids’ schedules, our family seder this year was on the second night, thus making it possible for us to attend the Williamsville Seder on the first night. I’d been hearing about this now eight-year-old event for some time and was delighted that we could be present for the potluck seder, beautifully co-led by our own Kim Friedman. With 95 people attending, this spirited seder was a reminder of the extraordinary magnetism of Passover, attracting to seder tables Jews who might never set foot in a synagogue and who may even reject traditional belief in a divine being. The Passover story is indeed the master story of our people, filled with the richest of symbols and capable of bringing Jews together as nothing else can.
The second seder was at my daughter Mira’s home in Boston, with our son Noah joining us electronically from Kolkata via Skype. Joining with us for the first time was cousin Anat from Israel, whp told us of her own most memorable—and embarrassing—experience at an Israel Defense Forces seder while she was in the army. When the time came for the four questions, everyone checked serial numbers to figure out who was the youngest, and it was Anat who had to stand on a chair and sing them, even though she can’t carry a tune!
The family Haggadah, revised each year by our kids, was filled with innovations, including having us go out into the yard to search our hearts for the internal chometz accumulated over the past year. We wrote these down on pieces of paper, folded them up, then burned them in a bowl before going indoors to the seder table. At the Williamsville seder, we also did something new in my experience--as we recited the plagues, we spilled not one but three drops of wine for the last and most terrible of the plagues.
Recognizing how innovations are being introduced in our family seders, Julie has offered to set up a page on our BAJC website so that we might share some of them. Please send in innovative elements of your seders to me. I’ll keep contributions anonymous and send them along to Julie.
The third and fourth seders in which I participated this year were at nursing homes for senior citizens, where there were some very poignant messages. Regardless of their health status, including some cases of dementia, they were mouthing the words and joining in the melodies, which clearly were too deeply ingrained to be lost. Their unbounded pleasure and their contagious joy teach us that as we get older we must savor each moment and take nothing for granted. These four seders together gave me a renewed sense of the resilience of our people and a revitalized sense of hope. Next year in Jerusalem!
B’Shalom,
Jim
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