Making this Night Different and Memorable

Dear Friends,

Passover is the quintessential family holiday. It is known as the most widely celebrated Jewish holiday and for good reason. Pesach is filled with meaningful rituals, stories, and food — and many of us have childhood memories to reflect upon and share with those around us.

My father likes to tell the story of his grandfather, “Pa Yiddel,” for whom I was named, who led the seder for decades in his family. When my family was growing up, the prize for the Afikoman was “gelt,” a financial gift. The problem was that his grandfather, who was a traditional man, did not handle money on Shabbat or Holidays like Passover. So whenever my father would find the Afikoman he would go to Pa Yiddel for his “reward” and his grandfather would tell him to come back after the holiday to receive his “gelt.” When the holiday ended and my dad would go to receive his gift, Pa Yiddel would say “I don’t remember who found the Afikoman.” This seemed to scar my father for the rest of his life — and as a result, he always makes sure to have his Afikoman gifts ready for his grandchildren!

My father’s first cousin Murray has led the seder for his family for decades now in Cleveland and has developed his own traditions, including a Pesach Quiz that he has written each year for the past 43 years. He has also been known to choose a plague to be a “theme” of the seder. One year the family was taken aback when live insects showed up crawling on the seder table! Another year, the lights went out throughout the house to pay tribute to the plague of darkness.

Many years ago, a guest at Riki’s family seder introduced a tradition of leaving Elijah’s cup empty at the beginning of the seder so that the guests could participate in filling up the cup and helping to personally bring upon “salvation.”

Before singing “Eliyahu HaNavi,” they pass Elijah’s cup around the table and each person offers their own blessing or wish for the upcoming year and then pours some of the wine from their own cup into Elijah’s cup. We have incorporated this tradition into our seder at home ever since. This is the power of sharing a seder and family traditions with others. Over time, our seder evolves and improves and incorporates the wisdom we learn from our community and friends.

What traditions do you have in your family? If you have special childhood Passover memories, be sure to share them at your seder this year — who knows, those stories may continue to be told for generations to come.

Wishing you and your family a happy and sweet Passover.

Hag kasher v’sameach, Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn