Happy Passover - the morning after

But don't confuse my observation of the Hebrew bible in specific or religions in general, with what I do and how I live my life.  So for example, despite my "Happy Passover" post from below - i.e., despite the fact that none of this really happened - I celebrated Passover with my family just the same.  

We don't do a traditional "Seder".  Oops, let me rephrase that.  We don't do the traditional Jewish Seder.  We do have a tradition of our own.  Weather permitting, we gather in our backyard with friends and some family.  Most are Jews, but this is not a requirement.  For a matter of fact, there are no requirements at all.  We dress casually.  The only requirement that I'm aware of is that my wine glass stays filled. 

The atmosphere is light.  No formalities.  We do some light reading on the subject out of non-traditional writing and even sing a song or two.  There are wild beast and frogs and "flies" - all plastic.  We throw them at each other.  We eat, we drink, we chat.  We drink a bit more.  It's fun.  The credit all goes to Rachel who thought of the idea, designed it, and she's the one who makes it all happen.

And, how do I explain to myself the contradiction between knowing that the Egypt exodus never happened and celebrating it nevertheless?  Here's how:  family, friends, wine, fun.  If anybody asks me about the details of it all, then I'm always happy to share my knowledge.  Otherwise I just sip my wine.

What, you're eating bread on passover?  Shame, shame, shame on you!

When I was a kid in Israel we celebrated the Seder in the kibbutz among several hundreds people.  Although it was conducted in a secular way, it was still waaaaaay too long and we ate really late.  I hated it - like most kids. As I grew up, I skipped it altogether (or showed up late just for the meal).  I admit that I don't know enough about the Jewish religion.  But what I do know (or rather, feel), is that there is no fun in almost everything.  They try to teach you the stuff the hard, restrictive way.  And when there are so many restrictions and rules and regulations, those who are not directly involved tend to either shy away (in the best case) or rebel (worst case) or ignore it (the majority).  And there's quite a bit of guilt involved.  The bottom line is that the religion loses.  I'm always thinking:  If Judaism had more pleasant ways to introduce itself and teach, any chance it would have become more popular?  Since I understand well the history of Judaism (but not Judaism itself) from it very core, this question has nothing to do with who I am today.  It cannot change me. But I'm wondering about the past.  If it was different, how would I have been today?

who dat?

Even though none of that Jewish stuff is important to me personally, I feel fortunate that we found a non-traditional way to celebrate such holidays with our kids and community.  Not because of the holidays itself, which has no significance to me, but because it represents what is significant to some of us - opening of the mind, recognizing other cultures, respecting all people.  In a similar way I would happily sit down to a Christmas meal.  By doing so, I teach.  I teach that being kind and considerate and tolerant to all and open minded is more important than obeying an archaic set of rules that was put together by religious leaders thousands of years ago and which were relevant back then, not necessarily now.  And I teach that if you eat bread on Passover, nothing bad happens.  And you don't have to feel guilty for doing that. There are no consequences.  Some would argue with my teaching methods - no doubt.  Oh well, can't please everybody.  




Gone with the wind

In all previous Passover get-together's there were always many kids running around.  They were making their own Matzo and my job was to bake it on the open fire - just like it happened during the Exodus (the one that never happened, you know).  That was good because it gave me something to do, something dirty, something manly.  And, I was helping at the same time.  Bonus points for free.  My other job, which was more of a choice, was to sit with Liam.  Help her eat, keep her happy when all the reading was still going on.  Well, now the kids grew, we no longer do the messy Matzo business.  And now Liam is gone.  The wine and the company helped keep me happy, but it is always moments like this that makes me miss her so much.  When all the tables were cleaned and all the quests were gone I sat in front of the TV and watched a video of her.  And shed a tear or two.