Tonight, at sundown, Passover begins.
Tonight, Jews all over the world celebrate our liberation from the Pharaoh.
Tonight, we have a Seder with the retelling of the story of Moses and his life as a Prince. And his life as a leader of the enslaved Jews he led out of Egypt and into Israel, The Promised Land.
Tonight, we talk of how many have tried to exterminate or enslave the Jews. But have failed. Because of our strength as a people. As a culture.
We will talk of the plagues brought upon Egypt.
We will sing songs.
We will laugh and drink wine.
Our children will watch and wait for Elijah to come and drink the wine from our front porches. And they will search the house for the Afikomen in hopes of winning the coins.
All over the world, we are preparing our homes to bring in Passover, in whatever capacity our families observe it.
We cook our Passover foods.
We set our Seder tables.
We bring out our finest china and silverware and crystal.
We garnish our Seder plates with the bitter herb, the lamb shank, the egg, the matzo…
We are busily preparing to share this holiday with our closest family and friends.
It’s tradition.
It’s our culture.
And this is the one holiday that makes me really feel my Jewishness. It’s the one holiday that always has. Because, Passover was always more about family being together and enjoying each other. And to me, that is really, the true essence of being Jewish.
Family. And close friends. And the importance of togetherness. And respect.
Passover has always been my favorite of all our holidays. My fondest holiday memories are those of Passover Seder at my grandparents apartment, playing with my cousins in the basement. My grandfathers leading of the Seder. And my grandmothers cooking of food with WAY too much garlic.
And I hope…
That my children will look back, when they are my age…
And they will smile widely at their memories of Passover Seders.
And they will be proud to be part of this beautiful religion. And this amazing culture.
The way that I am.
To all my friends…
Whether you celebrate Passover or Easter or any other holiday or tradition this time of year…may it be happy and healthy!
XOXO
p.s…Dinosaur book giveaway goes until April 20th!
That sounds so beautiful Melissa. Have a wonderful celebration.
Thank you! And the same to you!
Have a wonderfully Blessed Passover!!
Have a blessed Passover!
Sounds truly blessed. Enljoy!
(And I was thinking all the way through
and
and
and
and…we eat chocolate. Not so profound on this end. sorry.)
Chag sameach! Hope you had a wonderful Seder.
Hope your Passover was filled with love! I’m working on my Passover post now… Loved your comment on my blog today. Thanks.
Enjoy passover!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Come back any time! 🙂
Emily
Celebrate your resilience! Thanks for sharing your traditions.
My 12-year-old son has found every way he can to try to bait me about hating being Jewish, complaining about Sunday school and Hebrew school and his upcoming Bar Mitzvah. Mostly I ignore him, but lately I’ve taken to casually pointing out how many people we know, and how many famous and creative people, are Jewish. He complained to high heaven about having to endure a seder and swore up and down he’d never keep Passover, and then this morning announced out of the blue that he was going to try very hard to keep Passover this week.
There’s something special about the retelling of the Exodus story that has a profound influence on kids (and some adults, I suppose), inspiring them to embrace their Jewish heritage.
OMG!! So touching. I love your blog and read it daily!!
Chag Sameach – I love the way you wrote this, it’s beautifully expressive.
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