This is that tricky time of day, between the time after we have removed all the leavened products from our home and before we have a Seder, an ordered meal describing the Exodus from Egypt, known in Hebrew as Yetziát m’Mitzráyim. We are not allowed to eat the matzah (flat unleavened bread) until the Seder, and we can’t just break out a couple of slices of bread and have a sandwich. In fact, those of us who are first born are supposed to fast until the Seder. Nobody in our house qualifies as first-born – our oldest son was preceded by a child who was stillborn at sixteen weeks.
We can all eat, but there ain’t a lot to munch on. So, I’m sitting here with my cup of coffee. If I were a Real Writer, I’d also have a cigarette at hand, and maybe a glass of brandy, but I’m just a scribbler so coffee will have to do. Maybe when I grow up…
The Seder is the Big Meal in spring, the big family get-together for those who have big families to get together here. In many ways the spirit that pervades this country before Passover is analogous to that which pervades Europe and America before Christmas. Annual bonuses are paid at Passover. Families plan vacations for Passover. Kids (and their teachers) get extra time off for Passover, partly so the kids can help the parents with cleaning for Passover and making sure that “leavening is not seen or found in the house.” This also gives the retailers in the country a break with kids wandering around with spare money buying falafel, shwarma, pizza, playing, and having a good time. Lots of Israelis take vacations outside of the country during Passover, and lots of Jews come here for Passover to visit.
This will be the first year I will be conducting the Seder in Israel. All the previous years we had been invited to someone else’s home for the Seder and our hosts conducted it. The very first year that we celebrated Passover here, I was suffering from a terrible hemorrhoid. When I went to the doctor earlier that day for the hemorrhoid, the first question he asked had nothing to do with my health. The doctor, who turned out to have graduated from my wife’s high school a year before she did, was unwilling to examine me until he was satisfied that we had a place to enjoy a Seder. It gives you an idea of how people place priorities here.
Article comments
1 - Elvira Black
Ruvy, I hope you and yours have a wonderful Passover. It was always my favorite holiday, but alas, it's been many a year since I attended a Seder. I really do miss it!
2 - NR Davis
Zissen Pesach, dear Rueven, to you and yours! I pray all went well with your seder. Usually I'm the host, but my health hasn't been good lately (just doing spring cleaning and getting all the bread out of the house was taxing enough), so I simply wasn't up to it. Happily, I was invited to a nontraditional seder (counterculture feel, vegetarian food, leftist/queer crowd). It was simply beautiful and thought-provoking, as we talked quite a lot about liberation for Jews and all other humans, about faith and perseverance... most meaningful.
Thanks so much for sharing this!
3 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Elvira, Ms. Davis,
Thank you both for your kind words. Natalie, I hope you feel better soon. I've been coughing my guts out all winter and am sick of it. You would think I was smoking three packs of Camels a day or something the way I hack away. I don't smoke at all.
My wife and kids actually enjoyed the Seder that we had last night. It was a relatively quick affair. The boys sang Hallel in Hebrew, I read some of the Aramaic portions as it should be read, with the proper pronunciation. But much of the Seder was in English for my wife's (and my) sake.
We have Jim Long's CD, "The Riddle of the Exodus" and I explained some of its content to them during the Seder instead of talking how the plagues wee muliplied. I guess I should write a review of some kind on it, given that I know the guy and all...
4 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Eric Schwartz wrote a song about matzah that you might enjoy.