Passover

This year for Passover, I attended another family's more serious (well, longer anyhow) seder on the first night, and then hosted a shorter more my family style seder on the second night. I love Passover. It involves cooking, tradition, a ritual in your own home, a message about freedom, and wine. I use a Haggadah which has been passed down in my family, and which contains edits from my great-grandmother which take it down to just under 20 minutes of actual religion so you get to eat sooner.

This year I was especially reflective about the Haggadah because my grandmother gave them to me, and I still remember when we did seder with her. I realied that my Haggadah were different from all other Haggadahs I have ever used because they are from 1923, before WWII and before the formal founding of Israel. It's therefore free of politics, and the 'next year in Jerusalem' has a more metaphoric feel. The Haggadah even ends with "My Country Tis Of Thee" because it is a ceremony being performed by Jews who are new to America, and their ties to this country were new enough to be special and celebrated. I think that in itself is interesting, and it's even more interesting that I have used these books for so many years and I never really noticed that until this year. I think that I am used to conversations with my Grandmother around this time of year since we would touch base around Passover even when we weren't spending it together. She would usually tell some story that was part of the family history or her own experiences around Passover. So maybe this year I looked at the entire experience and tried to get that same connection to the past that I could have when I could pick up the phone and call her while I cooked my Seder dinner.

Rambling today, I know. It's still cold here.