Celebrating Pesach in Israel
The festival of Pesach began Friday evening. Here in Israel the holiday is celebrated for seven days. Outside of Israel it is celebrated for eight days. The major celebration is the Seder. In Israel Jews celebrate only one Seder. For the first time in many years I was a guest and was not responsible for leading. What a treat! We were invited to celebrate with friends and their family. It really was a most unusual group. Around the Seder table were Israeli Jews, a Jewish Russian immigrant, a Jewish Holocaust survivor living now for many years in Israel, a Christian Arab and a Christian German woman.
There are a variety of customs that accompany each Seder, depending on the cultural traditions of the family. At our Seder we had several variations. When it came time to taste fruit of the earth, options included boiled potato slices or celery, each dipped in salt water. The potato reminds us there were places and times when there was no green to eat or taste.
At each Seder there is a cup of wine set aside for Elijah, whose role is to forecast the coming of the Messiah. At our Seder we also had a cup of water for Miriam, sister of Moses, whose well accompanied the Israelites on their journey. Water played a significant role in the early history of the wandering of the Israelites. Both the parting of the Reed Sea for Moses and the opening of the Jordan River for Joshua enabled the Israelites to eventually reach the Promised Land. Since this was a vegetarian Seder, the lamb shank bone on the Seder plate was replaced by a beet. Our Seder also was multi-lingual, using both Hebrew and English.
The most moving part of the Seder for me was hearing the stories of the woman who was an immigrant from Russia and the man who was a survivor of the Holocaust.
The woman had come to Israel with her daughter. The daughter grew up in Israel, eventually studied to become a Rabbi and now serves a congregation in California.
The man upon arriving in Israel, served in the Israeli Army during the War of Independence,
went on to teach for years in the Israeli school system and now is living in retirement here in Haifa.
It is stories such as these that continue to make this ancient festival relevantfor us today.
We had a most joyful and meaningful beginning to our Pesach celebration!
Frank
There are a variety of customs that accompany each Seder, depending on the cultural traditions of the family. At our Seder we had several variations. When it came time to taste fruit of the earth, options included boiled potato slices or celery, each dipped in salt water. The potato reminds us there were places and times when there was no green to eat or taste.
At each Seder there is a cup of wine set aside for Elijah, whose role is to forecast the coming of the Messiah. At our Seder we also had a cup of water for Miriam, sister of Moses, whose well accompanied the Israelites on their journey. Water played a significant role in the early history of the wandering of the Israelites. Both the parting of the Reed Sea for Moses and the opening of the Jordan River for Joshua enabled the Israelites to eventually reach the Promised Land. Since this was a vegetarian Seder, the lamb shank bone on the Seder plate was replaced by a beet. Our Seder also was multi-lingual, using both Hebrew and English.
The most moving part of the Seder for me was hearing the stories of the woman who was an immigrant from Russia and the man who was a survivor of the Holocaust.
The woman had come to Israel with her daughter. The daughter grew up in Israel, eventually studied to become a Rabbi and now serves a congregation in California.
The man upon arriving in Israel, served in the Israeli Army during the War of Independence,
went on to teach for years in the Israeli school system and now is living in retirement here in Haifa.
It is stories such as these that continue to make this ancient festival relevantfor us today.
We had a most joyful and meaningful beginning to our Pesach celebration!
Frank
posted by Frank and Pat Fischer at
12:44 AM
1 Comments:
Oh, Frank. Thank you so much for this. Only here do I have access to the stories; and i appreciate them. Yes. Please continue. I am late in reading these . . . no reason, exactly. but now I am reading. love.
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