This was my first passover Seder and it was a great experience. Thanks to my coworkers Donovan and Michelle, Ben and I enjoyed our first Passover Seder together. The Seder took place at the Aberdeen Marina Club at one of their beautiful dining halls on Wednesday, April 8th. Ben and I both dressed up for the occasion.
I didn't know much about it and hadn't done my research before hand so I wasn't quite sure what we were in for. As I learned, the Seder is performed following the Haggadah and is the remembrance of the Israelites liberation and exodus from Egypt. The event gathered about 150 people around 13 tables. Lots of families with children were there. The ceremony before the dinner was the re-telling of the story with some praying, singing and performance of rituals. My favorite was the one where you whip green onion as a remembrance of the lashes of slavery. We, of course, ended up hitting each other with green onions. Several other ceremonial acts included eating matzo (the "poor man's bread"), maror (bitter herbs which symbolize the bitterness of slavery), and charoset (a sweet paste representing the mortar which the Jewish slaves used to cement bricks). We also drink the four cups of wine, in a reclining position, and dipped vegetables into salt water (the dipping being a sign of royalty and freedom, while the salt water recalls the tears the Jews shed during their servitude). These ceremonial acts were performed in between readings of the passages from the Haggadah by different people in the Seder, including kids.
We sat at a table with people around our age group. All of us were in our 30's without kids yet. It was great meeting new people. Two other couples were Jewish guys with Chinese girlfriends. They were looking to studying Judaism and looking to convert. I'm not sure where I'm at with that just yet... If I were to convert, I'd have to be sure that it's the right spiritual choice for me. It's been great being part of these ceremonies and getting exposure to these communal experiences.
2 comments:
That matzo ball soup looks awesome! *like*
That's awesome! I babysat for my parent's neighbors during their Passover celebration a few years back... the mom kept coming upstairs to share the tasty parts with me. I wish I could have sat in for the ceremony but since all the nearby neighbors where downstairs and some had babies, someone had to be left out. Oh well, maybe someday!
I also went to Synagogue a couple of times in college. I really found the sermons spiritually fulfilling. I even had a chance to visit with the Rabbi. Those folding walls are strange, aren't they?
Good luck with your spiritual journeys!
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