Pesach Meme!
I read Elie's post-seder-Pesach-post (whew!) and really liked his idea of asking four--er--eight questions on what we liked (or, horrors--disliked) most about the Seder. I got the idea of doing a "Pesach Meme" with these questions, and Elie agreed, so I am inviting everyone to go to his and my blog and answer these questions. On my blog I am specifically tagging the following people: HappyJew, Toodles, Ari, Tzipi, Lakewood Venter, Jameel , and last but not least, Kasamba and The Sabra (where the hey have you been, ladies??!)
The questions are as follows:
1) How long did your sedar(im) run this year, to the nearest 1/2 hour?
2) If you have two sedarim, which one is usually better, and why?
3) What is your custom for Afikomen? a) Seder leader hides it, kids have to search for it. b) Seder leader puts it aside, kids have to "snatch" it. c) Other - please describe
4) What do you use for Karpas? a) parsley b) potato c) celery d)onion
e) other - please specify
5) Besides the basic seder obligations - wine, matza, maror, karpas - what is your favorite special Passover food?
6) What's your favorite seder song? What's your least favorite?
7) What was the best question asked at your seder this year - besides the four "canned" ones that is?
8) What part of the seder is the most intense/emotional to you personally?
Here are my answers, copied from the comment I wrote on Elie's blog:
1)How long: 6 hours, our approximate usual run time.
2)Which better: It varies; when I was growing up, we were so exhausted that I would say the second seder was better; now that I'm an adult and have more control, sometimes the first is better, because we are so psyched!
3)Afikoman: Seder leader hides it, kids (or whomever) search for it, and then they hide it, and Seder leader has to redeem it, by submitting to blackmail!
4)Karpas: When I was growing up, my parents used celery; since I've been married with kids, we use parsley and potatoe.
5)Favorite Pesach Food: Charoset, hands down!
6)Favorite songs: So many, so many--ve-hi sheh-amdah (we have our own special niggun in addition to the standard Israeli), ki lo ya'eh, ki lo na'eh, again our own special niggun my mother (a"h) used to sing as a child in her father's house in Poland, the entire Hallel -even the parts I don't know niggunim for(!), and all the zemirot at the end, some of which I mentioned already: ehad mi yode'ah,chad gadyah, etc. I don't have a least favorite--I love them all!
7)Best Question: I can't think of one, except perhaps at the second seder when we were at friends, the Seder leader answered a question about the idea of a 'second seder': how it is not truelly the way a seder should be, because the whole idea of the seder is to relive the exodus from Egypt, not sitting relaxed and rested around the table enjoying the company and food without any tircha! The first seder is really the epitomy of rushing to get out of bondage. I thought that was pretty apt! (can't wait 'til I live in Eretz Yisrael; but knowing me, I would probably miss the second seder!)
8) Most Intense: There are several places, Hallel included, but I would have to say shfoch hamatcha; it fills me with great pain at the suffering of our people over the centuries, and I'm sorry to say, rage at the perpetrators, and hope that Hashem will avenge all those who perished al kiddush Hashem...and also Kos Eliyahu; I keep getting this excited feeling that he will walk right through the door, and Mashiach will be here! The hope persists...
The questions are as follows:
1) How long did your sedar(im) run this year, to the nearest 1/2 hour?
2) If you have two sedarim, which one is usually better, and why?
3) What is your custom for Afikomen? a) Seder leader hides it, kids have to search for it. b) Seder leader puts it aside, kids have to "snatch" it. c) Other - please describe
4) What do you use for Karpas? a) parsley b) potato c) celery d)onion
e) other - please specify
5) Besides the basic seder obligations - wine, matza, maror, karpas - what is your favorite special Passover food?
6) What's your favorite seder song? What's your least favorite?
7) What was the best question asked at your seder this year - besides the four "canned" ones that is?
8) What part of the seder is the most intense/emotional to you personally?
Here are my answers, copied from the comment I wrote on Elie's blog:
1)How long: 6 hours, our approximate usual run time.
2)Which better: It varies; when I was growing up, we were so exhausted that I would say the second seder was better; now that I'm an adult and have more control, sometimes the first is better, because we are so psyched!
3)Afikoman: Seder leader hides it, kids (or whomever) search for it, and then they hide it, and Seder leader has to redeem it, by submitting to blackmail!
4)Karpas: When I was growing up, my parents used celery; since I've been married with kids, we use parsley and potatoe.
5)Favorite Pesach Food: Charoset, hands down!
6)Favorite songs: So many, so many--ve-hi sheh-amdah (we have our own special niggun in addition to the standard Israeli), ki lo ya'eh, ki lo na'eh, again our own special niggun my mother (a"h) used to sing as a child in her father's house in Poland, the entire Hallel -even the parts I don't know niggunim for(!), and all the zemirot at the end, some of which I mentioned already: ehad mi yode'ah,chad gadyah, etc. I don't have a least favorite--I love them all!
7)Best Question: I can't think of one, except perhaps at the second seder when we were at friends, the Seder leader answered a question about the idea of a 'second seder': how it is not truelly the way a seder should be, because the whole idea of the seder is to relive the exodus from Egypt, not sitting relaxed and rested around the table enjoying the company and food without any tircha! The first seder is really the epitomy of rushing to get out of bondage. I thought that was pretty apt! (can't wait 'til I live in Eretz Yisrael; but knowing me, I would probably miss the second seder!)
8) Most Intense: There are several places, Hallel included, but I would have to say shfoch hamatcha; it fills me with great pain at the suffering of our people over the centuries, and I'm sorry to say, rage at the perpetrators, and hope that Hashem will avenge all those who perished al kiddush Hashem...and also Kos Eliyahu; I keep getting this excited feeling that he will walk right through the door, and Mashiach will be here! The hope persists...
Comments
1) How long did your sedar(im) run this year, to the nearest 1/2 hour?
BOTH TIL AROUND 2 AM
2) If you have two sedarim, which one is usually better, and why?
FIRST IS MORE EXCITING
3) What is your custom for Afikomen?
MY KIDS STEAL IT AND GET THE CUSTOMARY PRIZES
4) What do you use for Karpas?
CELERY
5) Besides the basic seder obligations - wine, matza, maror, karpas - what is your favorite special Passover food?
I LIKE CHREMZEL (SPECIAL PASSOVER COOKED POTATO KUGEL)
6) What's your favorite seder song? BARUCH HAMAKOM What's your least favorite? AVADIM HAYEENU
7) What was the best question asked at your seder this year - besides the four "canned" ones that is?
WHY,OH WHY MUST THE KITTEL ALWAYS GET STAINED?
8) What part of the seder is the most intense/emotional to you personally? THE MAKOS
1) Seder length: Just about four hours even, both nights. We finished at 12:45 the first night and 12:25 the 2nd night. Atypically, we actually started the 2nd seder earlier than the 1st this year, since we were waiting for guests the 1st night.
2) Which seder is usually better: Overall the 2nd is better because I'm less exhausted, having had a nap that afternoon (I can never fall asleep on erev yom tov). But the excitement of eating matza for the first time in a month, and thus fulfilling the main mitzvah of the seder, is definitely a big lift during the first seder.
3) Afikomen: I hide, the kids seek. We also have definite, if unwritten rules about what hiding places are "fair" and when the searching can start.
4) Karpas: Potato.
5) Favorite foods: Real-sugar coke (of course), and more recently charoses, which my Aunt-in-law makes enough of to eat as a spread for the entire Pesach!
6) Songs:
- Favorite joyous song: Echad Mi Yodea. We sing alternate verses in Hebrew, English, and Yiddish versions, and really have fun with it. When I was a kid, my dad had yet another version, in German.
- Favorite emotional song, see #8
- Least favorite song: I really love all the singing at the seder, but I guess the one I enjoy the least is our very first song (not counting kiddush), "Ha Lachma Anya". The traditional tune we use is rather boring and atonal.
7) Best (non-Mah-Nishtana) question this year: By telling the Rasha ("wicked son") that "if you were in Egypt, you wouldn't have gotten out!", aren't you just taunting him and driving him further away?
8) Most emotional moments: Many moments get me choked up, but the two most intense ones are when we sing the final bracha that concludes Maggid (go-al yisroel), and when we sing Chasal Siddur Pesach. The latter especially is both deeply solemn and joyful at once... in a way that can only be experienced, not described in words.
It occured to me that my favorite food, charoset, is really part of the seder. And Elie didn't allow that, so (good grief!)I failed that question. I was thinking that many people wrote that they loved the knaidlach--Pesach matzah balls--but we have them year round, so what makes it special on Pesach? Then I remembered that we make shmurah matzah balls on Pesach. There is nothing like them,they are so good; they come out so rock hard you could hit them down center field with a baseball bat! So that is my new favorite food for Pesach (did I pass?)
Passover Orlando