| April 2024
This month we celebrate Pesach! Time to do your spring cleaning! What is your favorite memory of Passover? I have many happy memories of my mom’s delicious seders. One of my favorite memories was my mom asking me to serve the matzah ball soup. I proudly dished up a bowl for my dad, who upon tasting it said the soup didn’t taste right. I didn’t know that the chicken soup was in the other pot! I had served my dad matzah balls in matzah ball water! Oy vey! My mom would tell us stories about seders when she was a girl. She said the seders went until after midnight. She would get in trouble for having shpilkes, and towards the end would fall asleep because of the wine she sipped. I wish I had known my grandpa. He was Orthodox, and I’m sure he read every word in the haggadah. I’m sure it was filled with wonderful discussions. Our seders were short at most 30 minutes. It was nice to have my brother, my parents, and me around the table having a wonderful time, eating, and laughing. After we joined Temple Emanu-El, we became part of the TE family for Pesach. I’m very happy that this year our seder will be here at Temple Emanu-El. As a congregant, many years ago, my family would sit with our good friends the Goldsmiths. Our boys would hang spoons on their noses, make jokes, and make all of us laugh. We also spent many wonderful second seders as a part of the Rosenberg family, enjoying the laughter around their table, and watching the grandchildren grow bigger every year. What did you get for finding the afikomen? Sometimes my brother and I would get chocolate covered coconut. We may have received money, but the chocolate seems to stick in my mind more. What did you take to school for lunch Pesach? I remember taking things like tunafish, bologna and mustard, or peanut butter and jelly, on matzah to school for lunch. What a mess. The kids at the lunch table always wanted to try the matzah. I was happy to share. What is your favorite part of the Seder? My favorite thing about the seder were the songs. Had Gadya, Echad Mi Yodeah, Adir Bimlucha, and there were more. I remember them, because the holiday record would be playing those songs sung by a male choir. I loved that record. I hope that whether your seder is at your home, away with family, here at Temple Emanu-El, or maybe it is your first seder, may your seder be meaningful, filled with stories of past seders, and that you create new stories and memories for next year. Have a zissen Pesach! A sweet Passover! B’shir, Todah rabah to the Bread and Torah Committee, and those behind the scenes, for making sure the weekend went beautifully. |