1986-1987 Rothberg Yearbook

A PIOUS PESACH
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An Orhodox seder was something I had previously never
experienced. But along w ith all the other new things I have been
exposed to during my year in Israel, this too was a blend of the sacred
and the whimsical.
The event began w ith Ma’ariv sevices in a Chassidic synagogue.
Picture a sim ilar scene from “Yentl” and that was exactly what I saw
(through the iron grid in the balcony two floors above); many men
w ith peiyot and streimels all praying fervently, w ith younger
m iniature replicas running around chasing each other (not so different
from my home!). I continued on to my cousin’s home where the living
room and dining room were beautifully arranged for the evening. The
living room was set up for the first p art of the seder, complete w ith
many comfortable pillows (my cousin even lounged on a bed!), while
the dining room was only for the actual meal afterwards.
Among the participants in this seder were two rabbis, one
Orthodox and one Chassidic. Between the two (and their learned
wives as well), I learned a lot from the many commentaries they
discussed. A few events in particular stand out in my mind about
which I will always chuckle. The first of these was the drinking of the
four cups of wine. At home we take a sip of wine, but here, a cup was
really a cup - right down to the last drop!
A fter one glass of wine I graciously accepted grape juice for the
following three. This seder was also my first introduction to
matzoh ש מו ר ה . My cousin had made it just that afternoon in his
synagogue under strict regulation (the whole process must be complete
in 18 minutes) and unlike the uniform packaged matzoh, it was
circular, much crispier, and definately much larger. The latter tra it
proved to be somewhat of a problem when I found out that a “portion”
of matzoh was not the one mouthful I was used to at home, but a t
least o n e th ir d of a whole piece of matzoh. It got to be a bit
embarassing having everyone sit and w ait for me to finish eating,
especially when it came to the Hillel sandwich which included not
one, but two “portions” of matzoh together w ith more lettuce than you
could possibly imagine.
Although I was a bit tipsy and very full afterwards, the meal was■
delicious and the rest of the seder enjoyable. Nothing can replace the
old fam iliar seder at home w ith your family, but this year’s proved to
be a fascinating treat for me, something to be fondly remembered
‏”.ל שנ ה ה ב א ה בי רו שלי ם ” say whenever I will