The Seder

We celebrated the seder at the home of Michael Tsur and his family. Michael is an attorney and former hostage negotiator for the Israeli Ministry of Justice, and has lectured at Hamline, which is how Jon knows him.

There were about 35 of us at the seder, almost all of them Michael's family, with us as the only "outside" guests. In many ways, it was just like the seders at home, with noticeable differences. The shmurah matza is square. The shank bone actually has meat on it, and is quite large. The charoset is made with dates and figs and honey, and I could have eaten it by the bowlful.

Michael and his older brother led the seder. We went around the table and everyone took turns reading (although, of course, it was all in Hebrew). The four of us read, too, and everyone called out "Kol HaKavod!" ("Good work!") The younger children (including Noah) started singing the Four Questions together, but then everyone joined in. Many of the tunes were very nearly the same as ours. We sang all the verses of Dayenu, but did not sing Adir Hu. They did not open the door for Elijah, but Michael admitted sheepishly afterwards that he might have just forgotten that part. They sang Shir HaMa'alot but not the rest of the benching until the end of it. The tunes for Chad Gadya, Echad Mi Yodea and all the other songs were all very different -- lots of Sefardi influence there. And the moment I had been waiting for, lo these many months: at the end of the seder, they say: "Next Year in a Rebuilt Jerusalem!"

But the most exciting part was the food -- some familiar, some different. There were two kinds of gefilte fish: one like ours, but sweet; one darker than ours, in a tomato-based sauce. There was chicken soup with thick, dark matzo balls (no farfel). There was thickly sliced roast beef served with red peppers, corn and peas (aaahhh!). There was chicken cooked with grapes and dried fruits, served with rice (double aaahhh!). There was quinoa salad with diced cucumbers and several herbs I couldn't identify. There were wonderful little broiled pockets made of rice paper filled with roasted vegetables (triple aaahhh!). Dessert was a chocolate matzah cake like the one I make, but very soft, plus fruit salad and mint tea. That was it -- no big dessert spread. Everything was delicious.

The evening was wonderful, a marvelous experience, and we only had to do it once! Next year in Jerusalem again!