Susan Farber

April 2010, my daughter (16 at the time) was in Israel as part of the EIE Program and had just hiked from “Sea to Sea: (Dead Sea to Mediterranean).  At the end of the hike she was deposited with the family of the sister of a cousin of my husband (read into this, “total stranger”).  The family (with very limited English skills) gave her the first warm shower she had in days, a good night’s sleep and the next day welcomed her to their Seder.

On this side of the ocean, my family headed to Passover with the very cousin whose sister was hosting my daughter.  We were determined to be a single family separated only by some oceans and time zones.

For all our Jewish connections that year, I have to say that both Seders were completely outside any recognizable tradition of ours. My daughter’s account was of an unfamiliar evening with melodies and food that was different and instead of a Haggadah with a little bit of Hebrew interspersed with lots of English, the story was entirely in Hebrew. On our side of the world, every glass of wine was also accompanied by a shot of vodka (apparently a Russian tradition that was held over after emigration). Absolutely nothing was done in English and the Hebrew readings were at a pace that was impossibly fast and got faster with every glass of wine.

Despite the strange settings and unique traditions both evenings were wonderful experiences of family, of love and the breadth of the Jewish tradition.