As we get closer and closer to Passover and to our family Seders, many of us may be thinking about all the annual family customs that are right around the corner. Matzah ball soup, gefilte fish, and that famous dessert recipe that only your grandmother knows how to make. Or the youngest child singing the Four Questions, your crazy uncle who rabbles through every page of the Haggadah in Hebrew, and the endless singing of "Who Knows One?" and other songs at the end of the Seder. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and memories all wash over us with great intensity during this holiday.
In some ways, the holiday seems all about the familiar; the well known and predictable. Families
doing the same thing year after year, recreating the same Seder, with the same cast of characters, foods, and songs. But just as our youngest participants sing to us the central question of Passover - "Why is this night different from all other nights?" - so too I would like to challenge you to make this Passover different from all previous Passovers.
The central purpose of the Seder is to help us connect with our ancestors who were Exodus-ing (that's not really a word) out of Egypt. We're supposed to imagine ourselves literally leaving
along with them, so that we'll feel a personal sense of redemption; so that each one of us will feel God's saving power and a part of the nationhood of Israel. Is there any chance of that happening if we're zooming through the Hebrew texts of the Haggadah or recreating the exact same Seder experience year in and year out? I honestly don't think so.
On a separate page on this blog, I've posted some ideas for how to liven up your Seder. Please take a moment to peruse a few, and pick one or two that your
family can try out. I guarantee you won't regret it. It'll get people talking, it'll make people laugh (which is ALWAYS a good thing!), and it will hopefully reinvigorate your Seder. You can also search online for fun Seder activities, you can ask other friends or congregants what they do, or you could make up your own traditions!
Passover is an amazing holiday where you know that Jews everywhere around the world are doing the same thing you're doing in your home; and have been doing for thousands of years. But that also means there are millions of different traditions, customs, recipes, and variations on everything surrounding the Seder. This year, it's time for you to explore some new Seder experiences, so that this night will indeed be different from all other nights.
Happy Passover! - Chag Kasher Ve-Sameach!
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