Jewish Musings, Friday/Shabbat, April 14/15, 2017

[peachymom1]

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!

[peachymom1]

Good morning and chag sameach! Thirty-three years ago, I became bat mitzvah with my seven classmates in the adult b’nei mitzvah class at my shul. Every year, the class begins right after High Holidays and ends with the collective b’nei mitzvah on Shabbat morning during Passover. The shul was crowded that day, with the family and friends of all eight of us, and aside from my college graduation day, it is the proudest day of my life. It took a lot of time, effort and practice to learn to read Torah and haftarah. I’d been a regular shul-goer for a few years by then, so learning my portion of the morning prayers was easy, since I’d heard it a zillion times already. But I still remember that wonderful feeling of joy when I stepped up to a real Torah scroll for the first time, recited the blessing, then picked up the yad and read my portion clearly and perfectly, in front of the whole congregation. I was so overcome that I had to pause for a moment before reciting the blessing after reading. It was a joy to listen to my classmates read Torah as well. We all chanted the entire haftarah together (about Ezekiel and the dry bones), and that was also an amazing experience, to listen to each other and share the experience as a community. Louise, I hope you’re well enough to chant the haftarah tomorrow – I’ll be thinking of you when I hear it!

Tomorrow of course is Shabbat during Passover, and there are seven in this year’s class, all women. I look forward to this event every year. I feel such a connection to these students, knowing how hard they’ve worked and how much it means to them. The same ritual director who taught my class has been teaching it every year since then, and I especially enjoy seeing him up on the bimah with them, knowing how proud he is of them. He’s a dear man and a wonderful teacher, and this is a joyful occasion for him too.

What is it about Passover that makes you feel connected, as Jews or as Jewish women? Do you enjoy the rituals most, the special foods and cooking, the time with family, or How have your feelings about it changed or developed over the years?

Thank you all for your participation this week. Chag sameach and Shabbat shalom!

[hollygail]

On Wednesday evening as I was leading the seder at my sister's house, I noticed that I was feeling a connection with Jews not only all over the world but throughout history who had been doing the exact same thing as I was doing that night, even though it was the third night of Passover (when no one else was actually participating in a seder at that moment). I didn't take an extra moment to luxuriate in the feeling, as everyone in the room was paying attention to what was coming out of my mouth. However, that did not in the least detract from the feeling that was going on inside me. It truly was magical.

[savtele]

Boker Tov All! For me there is something so special about unpacking & washing the pesach dishes every year - and conversely, putting them back in boxes/on the shelf after the holiday. Like the line of women praying in my grandmother's chair, in Mitzrayim, an ancestor packed her dishes onto a cart, taking out only what she would need that night for that one last meal. Fear and trembling then, remembrance and rejoicing now. She probably only had the clothes on her back & a few things that would fit into a backpack or small cart. I have more dishes than I know what to do with! And every year, I feel her, handling her things as I am handling mine.

Today I am heading to the pool, then work. My 1st day opening by myself.

Have a good day ladies - Shabbat Shalom!

[happysavta]

I think I would have to say it's the Seder plate. First of all, my father made it. He did a lot of ceramics, both molds and free hand sculptures. The plate is white with gold trim and has Hebrew words for each of the items to be placed on the plate. I always liked the fact that each item on the plate was in remembrance of some aspect of the exodus. Because my family is one that survived the Holocaust, the words "in remembrance of" have always been especially significant ones at any holiday. And because we didn't have items like Seder plates or Kiddush cups or Pesach dishes that were passed down from other generations, having a Seder plate that my father made is very special to me. When it's not Passover, it hangs on my kitchen wall, just above the sink.

Usually, I add an orange to the Seder plate as a symbol of the feminist struggle for equality, but this year I will not. We now have women rabbis, women cantors, women Torah readers. I think we're doing pretty good. And in our secular world, women have broken the glass ceiling in many areas that were once men-only enclaves. They are CEOs of major corporations, Supreme Court judges, pilots, politicians and professors. My granddaughters will not have to choose between being a teacher, a nurse or a bookkeeper. We've come a long way.

And I'm put off, frankly, about how politicized the Seder has become. Now we are urged to add a pineapple for refugees and an olive for Palestinians and all oppressed people, a tangerine for LGBT, an artichoke for Interfaith families and on and on. Enough already; the Seder plate is turning into a fruit basket of causes. Passover is a remembrance.

I happened to see an article in this month's San Diego Jewish Journal by Rabbi Jacob Rupp titled, "The Irony of a Politicized Passover." You might want to read it. I guess there are always 2 sides to every coin, and it's good to see the other perspective as well as your own.

sdjewishjournal.com/sdjj/april-2017/the-irony-of-a-political-passover/

[gazelle18]

Here's what made me feel a real connection this year: we went to a second night Seder at a local conservative shul. We used a completely different hagaddah, one that was family friendly and also very thought provoking because it had different readings which were lovely. What made me feel a connection is that the service was of course the same basic service, and made me remember that all over the world, Jews were doing the same essential ceremony .

Chag Sameach all, and Shabbat shalom!
Thanks for a great week, Peachy

[lee058]

Hi everybody. Hope you are all well. I also feel the connection between all Jews around the world. When I talk about religion with my son, I think of all the families that have done the same thing, for generation upon generation.

Have a peaceful rest of the day, Lee