Even though/especially because my roommate and I failed to go to tonight's Vanderbilt-sponsored seder, I would like to take this time to say that Passover is among my favorite Jewish holidays. I love Seders. In high school, these would involve long, wine-drenched meals at my best friend Rachel's house. Rachel's mother is Jewish and her father is not, and their Haggadah (the text that tells the Passover story and explains the Seder) was deliberately simplified and hand-illustrated with stick figures in order to teach him, (and bad Jews such as myself who learned the story of Passover exclusively from The Prince of Egypt) the stories with minimal complaint.
Last year, Passover fell during a trip to Moscow with my dear friend Stacy, and being a better Jew than I, Stacy rallied the four other celebrators in our tour group and assembled us in a Russian Restaurant that was a bizarre cross between an all-you-can-eat buffet and a Soviet TGIFriday's, where we made the best of it by arranging eggs, herbs, and assorted vegetables on a circular plate and drinking copious amounts of crappy Russian wine. We kept the celebrations pretty discreet, because I'm pretty sure they still hate Jews in the Motherland, but Stacy led some prayers and we felt rather proud of ourselves.
This year, a piling up of midterms exams and general laziness caused me to miss the Seder. I initially tried to claim that my vegetarian-ness would prevent me from eating the traditional foods, but when one thinks about it, that is a lie. The Seder is really as vegetarian as Jewish foods go. And if the Obamas can do it (awww, Barack and Michelle), so can I. In the face of midterms, TiVo, and excessive excuse making, we are going to the Vanderbilt Hillel's celebration tomorrow.
I am hoping that my efforts to keep Passover (that is, refrain from eating breads/bread products) this year will combat the fact that I spent the hours that I was supposed to be at Seder buying children's aquatic toys and warm-weather alcohol for my upcoming beach weekend in Florida.
But for serious, happy holidays and warm wishes to all those celebrating.
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