OUR SEDERS: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

As I write this article (in January), we are reading the story in the Torah about Moses and the exodus from Egypt – the Passover story. So even though it’s currently winter (albeit a Miami winter), I’m in a Passover kind of mood.

One of the most important parts of the Passover Seder, besides my wife’s delicious charoset, is the telling of the Passover story. We are commanded to remember that WE were slaves in Egypt, and to tell the story to our children, so that they may continue to remember and teach their children. But what can we do to make our own Passovers memorable?

A friend of mine, Cantor Lorna Lembeck, wrote to me about an experience she had during Passover last year, and I thought I’d share it with all of you. You will never remember frogs in the same way:

Decorating the Passover table is my favorite part of preparing for the Seder. I have lots of “stuff” that I haul out every year to clutter up the already packed table, amongst which are toys, representing the plagues. Last year we introduced something new to the table. Tiny, little, sticky frogs. Multi-colored sticky frogs. Many, multi-colored sticky frogs! Guess what happens when one guest gets the idea to fling his little sticky frog straight up to see if it will stick on the ceiling? That’s right! It sticks on the ceiling! So, at the end of last year’s Seder, we had a multitude of tiny, multi-colored sticky frogs hanging from the ceiling! For two weeks after Passover, most of the little frogs slowly lost their grip and dropped one by one to the floor. And then there were four. The Four Questions, The Four Frogs…ironic, I think! We waited for the four of them to fall like the rest, but those four little frogs just wouldn’t let go. Hearty, brave, formidable, having the courage of their convictions…like the Jews in the desert! Summer came and they were still hanging on. They were still with us for Hanukkah. We toasted them on New Years Eve. And this year, when we all squeeze around the crowded table to tell the Passover story, we will begin by looking upwards and asking…Why are these frogs different from all the other frogs?

At the Caplans’ seder table, we have our own traditions that make for a memorable Passover. Just looking at the set table (usually set for 30 or so people!), we remember our loved ones who are no longer with us or cannot be with us due to the distance between us. The wine glasses are from Michelle’s grandmother, who passed away a couple of years ago. The dishes are from my grandmother, whose poor health prevents her from flying from California to Florida. We remember my grandfather by reciting the first paragraph of the Maggid, the Passover story, in exactly the same way he did: by reading the Hebrew (very quickly) and paraphrasing into English. We eat the same foods we have eaten for decades, first made by my mother and now made – using the same recipes – by Michelle, who will in turn teach Brianah and Julia (and maybe Avi, you never know) to prepare.

Of all our traditions and rituals at the Passover seder, our most beautiful one requires the participation of all of our guests. It centers around the cup of Elijah. In most homes, this cup is filled with wine and reserved for Elijah to enjoy. Not so at our seder. We leave the cup empty, and right before we open the door to let Elijah in, we pass it around the table so that every person can add a drop of their own wine. This symbolizes for us that the Messiah, and eternal peace, can only come with the help of all of us.

Passover is a magical time, when thinking about the past actually leads to thinking about the future. We can imagine what our great-grandchildrens’ seder may be like, because (we hope) they’ll be using our dishes and glasses, reciting the Passover story as we do now, and perhaps, telling about that time the frogs stuck to the ceiling.

May we remember the very first Passover with gratitude and our families’ past Passovers with love. We pray that at future Passovers, (far in the future) that we, along with those before us, will be remembered.

Michelle, Brianah, Julia, Avi and I wish our Bet Shira Community a happy, healthy and liberating Passover.

Hag Kasher V’Sameyach,
Rabbi Micah Caplan