We (wife and daughter and I )were invited to Passover Seder by friends from Temple. They were very kind to invite us to our first Kosher Seder and I believe their first as a married couple.
My wife and I had enjoyed the Birchat Hachama prayer on our front porch earlier and felt rather good from that already.
We had decided to bring the desert for the Kosher Seder. The experience of shopping in Upstate NY for Kosher Baked goods was in itself reminiscent of being lost in the desert (not that I have been). There was no Bakery in Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca etc....so we resigned ourselves to the local Grocery Stores. We really wanted to get something nice to contribute to the meal. We looked for the most appetizing things they offered and then we lowered our expectations. No really, the chocolate cake , macaroons were good, the Apple pie ...not so much.
The Seder was called for 6:30 and we were on time. The hosts were very excited because there was someone from LA, who called the Temple in need of a Seder and we were lucky enough to have her attend ours! She ended up getting lost, so we waited to start the Seder until 7:30. Everyone chatted and the time passed quickly, and then we began.
Now I must confess that in my own house the challenge with a Seder is how far you can get in the service before people start grumbling and simply want to eat. We knew this was going to be different. We all wanted to be there and to soak up the Mitzvah.
One of the interesting things that our hosts did was offer a bunch of different Haggadahs. We were all able to choose the one that suited us, gender friendly, translinear, Reform etc... As we did the Service we were constantly making sure we were all on the same page so to speak. Some Haggadahs had less etc. When it was time to open the door for Elijah, instead of filling his wine cup...we each dripped a little wine in the cup and stated how we were going to help the Jewish people more after this new beginning. We sang some creative songs and argued the meaning of the 4 Sons at length.
The service went beautifully and the food was excellent. The evening slid by quickly and the next thing we knew it was 12:30AM and we were saying goodbye!
All in All, the best Seder I had ever attended. It was draining and left us all very tired...as I guess it is supposed to!
I am still hoping for Jerusalem next year...I also hope it is still in Jewish hands!
Avi
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