Tale of Two Seders

Our UU Congregation has its own version of a Passover seder most years, and this year it fell on the first day of "real" Passover. We gathered, families bringing young children, families bringing elderly parents, adults with Judaism in their past, adults with no clue about what Passover might be, for an ordered celebration, a dinner with traditional foods, and our own approximation of a Haggaddah. Everything was in English, the songs were mostly selected from songs of freedom we know from other contexts ("Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt land. Tell old Pharoah, let my people go!") And some things were about Unitarian Universalists, those who have tried to help when people -- especially Jewish people -- were being killed, and those who stood by. We allied ourselves in spirit with the people who were slaves in Egypt. They had been in "a narrow place", the English translation of the Hebrew word for "Egypt", and somewhere in our histories as families, as individuals, as cultural groups, we have all been there. In our usual style, it was informal, with readings shared all around, requiring minimal leadership. And in our usual style, the food was copious and excellent. Our cooks followed Jewish recipes and used no leavening anywhere. Someone had found some bottles of nice dry kosher wine, and of course, there was grape juice. A good time was had by all.

I had the pleasure of attending the seder at the home of the Conservative rabbi and his wife the following night. It was a wonderful, convivial gathering of a dozen people, including some teenagers, but otherwise all older adults. The table was decorated to illustrate the ten plagues that Moses allowed God to send to the Egyptians. Little plastic frogs were everywhere (we need these for the little kids at the UU Seder next year!). And finger puppets, one for each plague. And Elijah's cup was joined by Miriam's well in a place of honor. There was a song about Miriam and the women dancing on the shores of the Red Sea after the people had crossed over. Of course the fine china and crystal and silver and linen marked this as a very different kind of occasion than the one in our church basement, but I know of seders in synagogue basements, too. In contrast with our group of mostly newbies, with a few execptions, everyone there had been doing multiple seders all their lives as part of the rhythm of the Jewish liturgical calendar. There was rich chanting in Hebrew, and of course songs that everyone else knew in Hebrew. Still, the main story was told in English, shared around the table the same way we had done ours the night before. If you wanted, you could read your part of the story in Hebrew, but the requirement was to include the English as well. As in our UU seder, things got informal and even a little silly at times, as people enjoyed each other's company.

I came away feeling all right about the way our congregation does Passover. It's a UU Passover, of course, but it's true enough, to my ear, eye, and tongue, to the "real thing". It's a combination of serious purpose and informal tone, reaching out in gratitude to the Holy, promising to remember, feeling our unity around the table. Children and their parents leave with many things to talk over. Another time, though, I'm going to try to get my congregation together with a group from a Jewish congregation for seder, to bring a live experience of interfaith celebration into what for us borders of make-believe.