It's that time again (which happens roughly once every two months) when there's a Jewish holiday! Today it was Passover - a little bit early, but who's counting?
After their superlative Rosh Hashanah dinner last September, Dana and Amir decided to see if they could fit even more people into their apartment. Thirty-five of us gathered around three tables stuffed with food, while Elad and Shauli (both excellent rabbinical material) took us through the seder, the ritual part of the meal.
This is where it got fun! There are many parts to this tradition that retells the key events of the book of Exodus, with a few later teachings of rabbis and fun customs thrown in. There's eating and drinking. There's reading. There's singing. And there's an awful lot of arguing because everyone's family does it a bit differently.
Yet, in the more modern traditions of University Village, everything worked out perfectly. Parts were read in Hebrew and in English, with accents ranging from Texas to New Zealand and Israel to Argentina. I'm pleased to report that the angel of the Lord did indeed pass over the house, but had he popped in he would certainly have been invited to stay for a drink.
Tables set and ready to go.
A few tasty morsels that have to be eaten at very specific times (although there was plenty of argument exactly when those specific times were...!)
Hannah oversees a plethora of salads.
Shauli does his best rabbi impression (and did very well).
I had the "honour" of eating the karpas for the table - a boiled vegetable, wrapped in lettuce, dipped in salt water. I don't remember that bit of the Bible.
Guy breaks the matzo bread in a move blatantly stolen from the Anglican Eucharist.
This bit is the mah nishtanah (I think) where the youngest children get to sing the question of "why is this night different from other nights?" Maya is ably supported, as ever, by dad Elliot.
Daphny studies the text in detail to discover where it says "now you can eat".
Fini lends her Argentinean vocal cords to the post-meal songs.
Survivors photo.
Is Amir hinting that it might be time for the guests to leave?
