Some food for thought (or not)

[Rob Tanner]

At first night Seder someone asked "Did all this (the Exodus) really happen?"

Like a typical Jew, I responded to a question with a question.  I said, "Does it really matter?"  The Passover story is about redemption and the possibility of redemption.  It's about overcoming enslavement, spiritual and physical.  It is an eternal story, our eternal story or if you will, it is a myth.  When we participate in the ritual of the Seder, don't we enter that myth and does it not become alive to us?  So whether the Exodus actually happened like tradition tells us or even happened at all, why should it matter.  If the Exodus story isn't significant right now, for us today, then why go to all the bother of the Seder.  Is it just an old story about some legendary and probably ahistorical even that happened more than 3,000 years ago, or is it something happening in our lives today (either on a spiritual or a physical plain)?

What do you all think?  What interesting conversations arose at your Seders?

B'shalom
Rob

[Jennifer Willis]

Honestly, the conversations at the seder I attended Monday night were about Michael Jackson and gardening.

But I've personally been thinking of the immediate significance of Passover here today, and my mind instantly goes to the current recession which has so very many of us feeling "enslaved," and also to the continued suffering of those whose entire worlds have been rocked by tragedy (e.g., Haiti), war, and oppression (e.g., forced prostitution). I would imagine that at any point in history, there's been some contemporary problem or outrage that similarly would have stood in nicely for slavery in Egypt.

For me, the Exodus is an allegory for transition from less-than-ideal circumstances into a nebulous, liminal place that marks the threshold to real change that comes through personal and collective effort. With small children at the table (or, occasionally at the table), I didn't expect much serious conversation about freedom from modern forms of bondage. But for me, at least, even amidst the revelry and celebration, there was an undercurrent of putting the different forms of "slavery" into perspective, and it made for a meaningful and hopeful seder experience.

But then, I've often been accused of thinking too much. ;)

-- jennifer

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We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say 

"It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." 

Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those 

people my heroes.              -- Fred " Mister" Rogers

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

jennifer willis

j...@jennifer-willis.com / rev...@gmail.com

503-419-8172

jennifer-willis.com

[Hannah Treuhaft]

Hi Yesodniks--

Here's a question that was put to me last night at our seder:  A friend who is at the beginning of her conversion process made the olive oil 'matzah' recipe from the New York times (essentially a flatbread).  She knew it probably wasn't kosher for Passover, but couldn't understand what makes it different from the stuff Streit's makes and furthermore, if we're not allowed to eat flour for the duration of the chag, but matzah is made of flour...

I did my best with a little bit about the way that it's made and the time restrictions places upon the process and the absence of chometz nearby, but I fell short.  Anyone got a solid answer?

Best,
Hannah

[Jennifer Besen]

Regarding Matzoh the prep and cooking time is everything…….it has to be done in a certain time constraint…I know that  but may be able to research more..Jenni

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[F. Davis Woods-Morse]

We just had so much fun. A bunch of teenagers, an Elijah guest in the guise of a Quaker who used to work for BOTH Aleph and the Reconstructionists in Philadelphia. I do want to invite everyone to cross the Red Sea with us on Sunday.

We have new furniture in the back yard, three things to make fire in, and an excuse to celebrate - our birthdays!  And spring, and chocolate, and bunnies, and love, and freedom from slavery, and Bloody Marys, and matzo ball soup.

So, please join us for some mellow springtime fun ~

April 4th Potluck Birthday Pesach Easter Party Sunday!

We will celebrate:
-fertility
-escape from various sorts of slaveries
-Katherine's birthday
-Davis's birthday
-freedom from children for the evening
-with the traditional special red cocktail in honor of
-----the Aries color
-----the Red Sea
-----whatever else you can think of

6 pm Sunday the 4th
1005 SE 49th Ave

I will be making asian-inspired matzo ball soup.  Davis will be making the Bloody Marys.  There will be chocolate.  We will have fires and food and fun - please join us.

Katherine & Davis