What does the path to freedom look like? In the Haggadah it says: “Once we were slaves, now we are free.” That transition is recounted and celebrated in a “Seder” — literally an “order” of fifteen sequential steps. Freedom means different things to different people. My great journey to freedom was wresting myself out of…
This past weekend, the New York Times wrote about a group of Jewish Bruce Springsteen fans who rented out a room at a Madison Square Garden restaurant this past Friday night so they could participate in a Seder and still make it down to “the pit” (the general admission area) in time for their rock-and-roll…
The act of eating in the Jewish tradition is never simply the consumption of food. Food is respected as fuel for sure, but food as a source of physical nourishment cannot be stripped from its other central roles as symbol, ritual object and identity builder. From Eve’s first bite in the Garden of Eden, food…
Why was the night of April 4 different from all other nights in Tel Aviv? Because the illegal immigrants who ordinarily collect the city’s trash, wash dishes in its restaurants, and clean floors in its hotels, sat as Israelis served them dinner. For Africans who have come to Israel — some 50,000 since 2005 —…
President Obama is looking forward to “a good bowl of matzo ball soup,” at the fourth annual White House Seder on Friday. Obama sent out his Passover greeting on Thursday, in which he speaks not only about his love for Passover dishes, but also on the meaning of the exodus story and the search for…
You know that extra seat that some people leave at the Seder table? It’s usually for Elijah the Prophet, or symbolizes our Jewish brethren around the world who are not free to celebrate Passover. For the past five years, many families left an empty seat for Hamas captive Gilad Shalit. This year, he will be…
Pesach is one of my favorite holidays. I love the educational, creative possibilities of the Seder, the opportunity to debate, discuss and dramatize our collective history. Over the years, my family has done some wonderfully imaginative things at the Seder table — plays, original songs, games, colored dips, hand-made pillows, and even a puppet show…
Passover, maybe more than any other Jewish holiday, calls on us to individualize our holiday experience — we are celebrating our freedom from slavery. Despite having seemingly endless restrictions and laws, there’s still ample room for personal interpretations. For some families this comes in the form of using props to explain or playfully re-enact the…
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