Happy Pesach

Most Passover holidays while growing up in Pittsburgh we had very little snow and relatively speaking spring like temperatures; reminding us of hope and renewal and freedom from the hell of winter. Our house was Seder Central, and most times we had a collection of at least 14 relatives, four neighbors and a friend or two who had no where else to go. Of course there was the main dining room table with its two additional boards placed in the middle to expand it to seat 12 people cramped and not cozy, the metal steel card table always hidden in the most remote part of the basement until the next Passover, and in many circumstances a borrowed card table with one loose leg from the neighbors. Adults in the dining room, older cousins and friends on the metal table and children and mess on the card table. I had always thought that there was a hidden portion of the Haggadah ( the ceremonial book explaining the Seder) that insisted that not only should the house be super clean, but kids bedrooms, baseboards no one ever knew existed, linen closets and areas behind the living room furniture had to be vaporized and sanitized. We loved having the food and company and celebrating the holiday, but it was a two hellish days for the Buncher kids prior to all of that.

Even the times when snow was still on the ground as we hid the Matzoh, the coming of Passover held with it the promise of freedom, immediately the freedom from cold and ice, but secondarily the sense that with the the buds of crocus or the spurt of tulips, the first robin or two that nature knew it was time to move forward. When I was older and investigated the purpose of this holiday I also realized that it brought with it hope. The sense that rights choice expression had a chance and a chance to make change when necessary but maintain the past when appropriate. Passover seemed to me to be the true new year, the time when questions should be asked, some answers found but room to discover more questions with more answers. Each year we celebrated those who attended this current Seder and in the sad occasions of family and friends who had passed a sincere discussion of how they impacted our lives. There was a spirit in our house that things are the same bit not always.

For many Jewish families tonight is the enjoyment of the first Seder. The aromas of food, grandmother’s perfume, will mingle with the scent of story telling, blessings, and perhaps Passover traditions unique to the personality of that family.  The Haggadah will be read retelling the story of hope, inspiration, spirituality, perseverance and the quest for freedom. For some this will resonate large for others it will slowly seep into their conscience and for others it will be a blur at the moment but a memory worth remembering in the near future. I am blessed to have a family and a family of friends with whom I can move forward with love and passion for the freedoms, liberties and justice we enjoy. Have the kind of Pesach that makes you the happiest!