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Post by peachymom1 on Apr 12, 2017 1:12:51 GMT -5
What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.
Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:
Angelika
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy
And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting - you are welcome to do that but you are also welcome to chime in!
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Post by peachymom1 on Apr 12, 2017 1:31:22 GMT -5
Good morning and chag sameach! I'm happy to report that our dear friend Mike made it through surgery all right yesterday. The tumor in his colon was larger than they originally thought, so the surgery took longer than expected, but he's doing all right. Thank God.
So how were your seders? Who asked great questions, who did funny things, how did the kids/grandkids enjoy looking for the afikoman? What stories have you got?
I got a totally random question that is not unique to Passover or the haggadah. I transliterated everything in my haggadah, so anyone can follow along. My friend's DS was reading the transliteration and asked what "oz" meant, as in "Adonai oz le'amo yiten," from the Grace After Meals. I told him it meant "strength," and he looked at me quizzically and said, "You mean, as in The Wizard of Strength?" I just laughed. I'd never thought of "oz" quite in that context before...
In shul on Tuesday, the rabbi pointed out that although the haggadah places great emphasis on God doing the active work and the Israelites being passive in their own redemption, the point remains that the Israelites had to actually do the work of slaughtering a lamb and marking their doorposts with its blood. The rabbi said that this wasn't just because the Angel of Death couldn't tell the difference between the Jewish homes and the Egyptian ones, but because the Israelites themselves had to take a concrete step in their own redemption. I found this interesting.
How were your seders?
The rabbi also taught us that the reason we celebrate Pesach at the full moon is to emphasize that fact that while an ordinary runaway slave would not leave when the night is at its brightest and he/she had the best chance of getting caught, the Israelites did so on purpose, because they believed they had God behind them and they had no reason to fear. I had not thought of this before, so I found it interesting.
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Post by hollygail on Apr 12, 2017 8:06:25 GMT -5
The Wizard of Oz... Very cute! Sometimes when I transliterate, I add an extra letter here or there to help with pronunciation. Like I might write Adonai ohz l'ahmo [probably no "h" in "amo" but I included it here as an example] yeetein [or "yitein"]...[etc.]" just to be sure no one thinks it's "ahhhhhhz..." And of course it doesn't always work either...
We went to a friend's seder. She's the woman I may have mentioned who's studying how to chant Torah with me (not the grandmother of the bat mitzvah girl, but the friend I've know for about 25 years). She wrote her own hagaddah last year and she used this year too. There were fewer than 14 (if you consider motzi/matzah one) or 15 (if two) steps, but the effort she put in was considerable, and the clip art she found was just delightful! as were the people (none of whom we knew) and the food was delicious. I brought a tzimmes (for the first time ever, I added whole cloves and a few cinnamon sticks) and was really surprised at how much more interesting the final product tasted than without clove and cinnamon! I have to go out to buy more cinnamon sticks before Rosh haShanah, should I decide to make it again that soon!
Many of the adults had questions; usually either my friend looked at me, or else asked me if I'd answer. At one point, I jokingly said, "that's why she invited me" but everyone knew I was kidding around.
Best news of all: I didn't gain an ounce!
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Post by savtele on Apr 12, 2017 9:53:36 GMT -5
Boker Tov All! I'm actually going to work today, so this is written on the fly AND it's my 1st day back to the pool after my eye surgery! Just popped in to say good morning & hope you all had a wonderful seder - ours was certainly good. (I simply LOVE seeing all my babies around the table - that's what it's all about!)
Have a good day ladies!
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Post by gazelle18 on Apr 12, 2017 10:31:24 GMT -5
Our Seder, first night, at our home , was glorious. I'm still recovering. But totally worth it! Lots of kiddies and laughter.
Second night we went with friends to a conservative shul near our home. It was a "jazz Seder," complete with wonderful jazz renditions of dayeinu and "let my people go."
Something hysterical: at this shul, there is a congregant whose name is Eva Komen. So, instead of hiding the afikomen, they have Eva hide, and the children have to find her! So cute.
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Post by happysavta on Apr 12, 2017 12:23:38 GMT -5
We went to a second night community Seder. The Rabbi wasn't there, only the Cantor. It was a pretty watered down Seder, mostly going over the steps in detail. We found it rather boring, to be honest. But all the San Diego grandkids were there, so that was nice.
Here's one thing you might find interesting. Instead of the 4 sons, the Cantor described 4 types of Jews (I don't have the detailed descriptions) and asked us to raise our hands if we identified with one type or another: The Ritual Jew (interested in the customs and rituals of Passover, the Cultural Jew, (interested in Chicken soup and brisket, the Intellectual Jew (takes a historical, but not a religious perspective), and the Jew who doesn't feel connected. (To Judaism, to the Jewish community).
As far as the Seder dinner, it was a huge buffet of meats, grains, veggies, fruits and desserts. It was a potluck and there was so much food, unbelievable. I managed to avoid the desserts and stick to fruit. I had 2 pieces of broiled chicken and many kinds of salads. I had a small piece of matzo, and avoided rice and potatoes. I did go back for seconds and filled my plate twice, but I filled it with the various salads. I ate the 2nd piece of broiled chicken only because my grandson had taken it and not eaten and I felt bad throwing it away. I felt terrible at throwing away all the left over food from my table. The Israelites travelling through the wilderness would have been very irate with me and my entire group for wasting so much beautiful and delicious food.
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