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leftyjewAh! I love Passover!
I went home for the seders and I'm still here for two reasons: 1) work to do, 2) good food.
The seders were pretty good. It was only my immediate family so no cousins or aunts or uncles to be boisterous (Aunt Phyllis, cousin Denise and family), unique (cousin Stuart, Uncle Jimmy), oddly theological (Uncle Gerry), Republican (cousin Lewis), or quiet (Aunt Vivian, almost-cousin Orlie).
(((by the way, is there a gender-neutral term for aunts and uncles like "parents" is for mother and father?)))
It made it a bit less of a holiday, but there were still good people and good food and enough yelling to keep me satisfied. I was scared that I would have to read the Feir Kasha (4 Questions) the second night because my brother didn't know if he could make it (he had an exam but the date was moved). So in summary, lots of singing and eating and seder-like things going on. Nothing far out of the ordinary. I was a bit tipsy both nights off my glasses of wine. I got to see the "Arm of G-d" which is this shankbone my mom got last year that's bent in half "just like G-d's was when He called the people of Israel over to him." Not bad, but apparently this was a big deal last seder, so my mom had to save it for this year ... and next year... and the year after that.... ad infinitum.
There was more kavannah being at a seder after having learned quite a bit about my religion in this past year. See, I even know what kavannah means! ("meaningfulness" basically, for those among you who don't know) I liked.
And my mom showed me these great hagaddot we have hidden away. One is a beautiful 1943 or so quater-folio sized hagaddah with intricate design of nearly every Hebrew letter, not to mention the beautiful artwork and line art. You could smell the tradition wafting off its pages and infusing everyone who looked at it with a beautiful character! Ah! The other was another incredible 1986 hagaddah, but it wasn't Maxwell House liek the ones we were probably using in 1986. This was a 171 page book in beautiful color and fake gold foiling with not only the hagaddah, but also filled with analyses and legends and halacha and traditions and artwork. Another masterpiece! Look at what Your people do to honor Your name, G-d, and tell me they don't love you! Anyway, I stayed up all Friday night reading them. Apparently, romaine lettuce is the preferred bitter herb, and celery the preferred karpas. Who'd have thunk romaine lettuce is bitter enough?
The second night I saw Maya :). I'm such a proud godfather! Not even a year and she's almost ready to walk on her own! Right now, she grabs your hands and takes you exactly where she wants to go - just needs some help balancing. She's absolutely beautiful, too - looks just like my brother-in-law, actually, but it's still early. I hope her eyes stay gray! And, she's already flirty and kissy with one of the boys at her daycare. They say his parents are nice ;-). I'm waiting til she's big enough to give her her Tibetan shirt. Maybe Susanlisa'll let her use it as a jacket? We'll see.
I went home for the seders and I'm still here for two reasons: 1) work to do, 2) good food.
The seders were pretty good. It was only my immediate family so no cousins or aunts or uncles to be boisterous (Aunt Phyllis, cousin Denise and family), unique (cousin Stuart, Uncle Jimmy), oddly theological (Uncle Gerry), Republican (cousin Lewis), or quiet (Aunt Vivian, almost-cousin Orlie).
(((by the way, is there a gender-neutral term for aunts and uncles like "parents" is for mother and father?)))
It made it a bit less of a holiday, but there were still good people and good food and enough yelling to keep me satisfied. I was scared that I would have to read the Feir Kasha (4 Questions) the second night because my brother didn't know if he could make it (he had an exam but the date was moved). So in summary, lots of singing and eating and seder-like things going on. Nothing far out of the ordinary. I was a bit tipsy both nights off my glasses of wine. I got to see the "Arm of G-d" which is this shankbone my mom got last year that's bent in half "just like G-d's was when He called the people of Israel over to him." Not bad, but apparently this was a big deal last seder, so my mom had to save it for this year ... and next year... and the year after that.... ad infinitum.
There was more kavannah being at a seder after having learned quite a bit about my religion in this past year. See, I even know what kavannah means! ("meaningfulness" basically, for those among you who don't know) I liked.
And my mom showed me these great hagaddot we have hidden away. One is a beautiful 1943 or so quater-folio sized hagaddah with intricate design of nearly every Hebrew letter, not to mention the beautiful artwork and line art. You could smell the tradition wafting off its pages and infusing everyone who looked at it with a beautiful character! Ah! The other was another incredible 1986 hagaddah, but it wasn't Maxwell House liek the ones we were probably using in 1986. This was a 171 page book in beautiful color and fake gold foiling with not only the hagaddah, but also filled with analyses and legends and halacha and traditions and artwork. Another masterpiece! Look at what Your people do to honor Your name, G-d, and tell me they don't love you! Anyway, I stayed up all Friday night reading them. Apparently, romaine lettuce is the preferred bitter herb, and celery the preferred karpas. Who'd have thunk romaine lettuce is bitter enough?
The second night I saw Maya :). I'm such a proud godfather! Not even a year and she's almost ready to walk on her own! Right now, she grabs your hands and takes you exactly where she wants to go - just needs some help balancing. She's absolutely beautiful, too - looks just like my brother-in-law, actually, but it's still early. I hope her eyes stay gray! And, she's already flirty and kissy with one of the boys at her daycare. They say his parents are nice ;-). I'm waiting til she's big enough to give her her Tibetan shirt. Maybe Susanlisa'll let her use it as a jacket? We'll see.
