Simmer Stock - Kitchen performing: Passover 2002

Passover 2002

The focus of Passover is the family, with the purpose of passing on Jewish traditions from generation to generation and sharing with guests the meaning of being Jewish. A seder is literally a piece of theater in which all observers are also performers. The performance opens with a child asking what the play's about and why it's important. It continues with stories, songs and blessings, followed by an extravegant meal and a short epilog. All this to answer four simple questions from a child! The play traditionally closes with four simple words expressing a wish for the future which seems to be more bittersweet this year than in any other in my memory: Next Year in Jerusalem.

Of course, the play has a script which the audience/players follow (though improvization and editing, cutting and re-arranging scenes has a long tradition, especially in our family). The script is called an Haggadah and, if you have children, I strongly recommend one called “Why on This Night? : A Passover Haggadah for Family Celebration”. It's really a Passover manual, filled with great ideas for making a Seder more than “dad making us listen to him read from some book before we can eat”.