Passover 2015

Passover 2015: A Little Bit Late - But Better Than Never

We did it - better late than never.  Due to colds, conjunctivitis, vacations, and a million daily chores, not to mention work-related headaches in the last month or so, we ran a bit late celebrating Passover - but we did it!

Nick, one of extended family members, made it again this year.  

He even played a little bit of music for his supper.

David did the prayer before the wine - boray pree ha gufan ans, well as the first of the 4 questions:

Why is this night different from all other nights?  

He recounted the story of the Jews escaping from slavery and we talked about what that meant for all peoples and our responsibility to remember (and thus the reason we tell the story every year, over and over again).

He found the afficoman (3 times), enabling us to complete the Sedar and have a bit of fun at the same time.  His reward a Lego mini-figure. (He is addicted to Legos at the moment).

We concluded the Sedar with the traditional:

"Next Year in Jerusalem"

This year we are here, next year we will be in the Land of Israel. This year we are slaves, next year we will be free.

In the classic Jewish tradition we even discussed that a bit more on Facebook, after the Sedar, explaining what the Land of Israel represents.  According to Chabad.org:

The Jewish people were born in Egypt, in slavery. But they were told that on the other side of a vast desert lies their destiny, their Promised Land. As our forefathers walked out of Egypt--3323 years and some-odd weeks ago--they were taking the first steps of a long journey to Jerusalem. Every generation since has pushed further forward along the road to Jerusalem. The journey continues with us. But we haven’t got there yet. Even if you are living in the city called Jerusalem, as long as there remains suffering, injustice and unholiness in the world, we haven’t reached the Promised Land. As long as we remain slaves to our own negative instincts and selfish desires, we are still struggling to truly leave Egypt.

Happy to have you share in our family tradition of ritual, culture, and dialogue or engagement.  It is our hope that we are all one step closer to Jerusalem.