Happy Passover!

[L.Jane]

To all those celebrating, happy Passover. How did first night Seder go?

[MENTION=4468]rufflesanddots[/MENTION] excluding the finger burning how was your Seder? I got to mine last night and they had the same haggadah as you!

Tonight we are at my parents house and are hosting a bunch of non Jews. It's pretty typical of us to have a bunch of our non Jewish friends over for Seder second night and it's a lot of fun.

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[Thirteen]

Chag Sameach to you!


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[rufflesanddots]

Chag Sameach!! Hope your second Seder goes well!

Ours turned out great. Only other injury was pinching my thumb with the wine bottle opener.

We had just enough food for everyone. Didn't realize until I was serving myself at the end that I only had 2 vegetarian sides. Oops. I'll add a salad next year.

I did a seating chart for the first time and it worked really well. We had 5 Jews, 8 non-Jews, and the pup. Great mix, and one of our guests (PhD candidate currently teaching a course on German Jewish identity) was so helpful in answering questions and throwing in extra tidbits of information.

The apartment is a wreck--sooo many dishes!! Have to return some borrowed furniture and bowls, too.

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[MrsK]

I've got to say.... I hate hosting Seder. It stresses me out! I can have guests to dinner any night of the week, even at the drop of a hat but Seder. Ugh! The bar is just too high. Too many dishes to cook and so many that I only make a couple times per year. Then there's the service and all the ritual foods. The kids who are impatient to eat and who cannot contain their disgust when gefilte fish and chopped liver are served. It makes me want to lock the door and hide.

That said, we had a very small seder-ish dinner for just our family. It still felt like a lot of work even without all the trimmings. We used the haggadah that my son made at preschool and we skipped around because the kids wanted to drink 4 glasses of grape juice in rapid succession. We saved about 2/3rds of the service until after dinner because the kids got hungry. Over dinner, we had an interesting discussion though. We never got to the 4 questions because my kindergartner asked whether we had saltwater on the table to represent not only the Jews tears in bondage but also the Red Sea through which we safely passed and the tears or guilt on behalf of the Egyptian soldiers who drowned therein. This led to a long discussion about compassion for the vanquished. It reminded me of how we spill out a little wine for each of the plagues the Egyptians suffered (also part of the Seder that we never got to since it was excluded from the preschool haggadah). It was interesting to consider the tears shed by all parties involved including the tears or guilt of the Egyptians and how their social structure is part of the story. How much autonomy did Egyptian soldiers have? How did their families suffer? He was also asking about Pharaoh's wife and her role, her thoughts after the death of the first born... Really a great discussion.

[rufflesanddots]

[MENTION=1498]MrsK[/MENTION], that sounds like a wonderful Seder!!

I usually freak out and resent DH in the 48 hours before the Seder. He always says he'll help me in the days leading up and never does either because he legitimately doesn't have time or he doesn't manage the time well that he does have. I get a little bit better each year, but it is such a slog. A few times last night I was able to sit back and see everyone laughing and getting to know each other and really enjoying themselves. That made it worth it, but it is a grind.

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[ladymoreta]

Happy Passover! I love reading about the traditions!

[rufflesanddots]

How was your second Seder, [MENTION=1712]L.Jane[/MENTION]?

[L.Jane]

Thanks [MENTION=4468]rufflesanddots[/MENTION] It went really well. We had one little girl that was about 9 months older than E and they played together/side by side really nicely. They had no idea what they were doing when looking for the afikomen but it was adorable. We all ate way too much and it was a really nice time.

Passover isn't that bad as an adult. We have a pretty set meal plan for the week that we actually look forward to (Matzah fried chicken, eggplant parmesan, baked potato bar) so its a delicious week despite the diet restrictions.

[MrsK]

See, I like it less as an adult because I have to do all the cooking a cleaning. I like the food and I have no problem avoiding chometz for the week (or longer - to be honest, I feel better without it). I just dislike preparing/hosting the seder. I feel like everyone comes to it with their expectations and I can't please everybody. I really miss the days when this was my mom's responsibility. Maybe if I had sisters close by to share the work it would be better. Or maybe once the kids can help out more.

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