A Passover Top 10

now that we are all happily eating bread again (and cookies and cakes and muffins and pasta…yum…pasta!), i’ve had a moment to reflect on the passover seder we hosted for 20 of our nearest and dearest.  what was a really wonderful night full of tasty food, lots of wine and a bit of song and prayer thrown in for good measure.  here’s at that top 10 reasons this passover was the best of the best:

10. rockin’ out.  in addition to the traditional 4 questions and songs about goats, we added a bit more music to our night.  what would a seder be without a couple folk songs?  highlights included THE GARDEN SONG and PHAROAH PHAROAH.  and any good singer needs a musical instrument.  good thing EBN had a few to share with the group.

9. a new HAGGADAH.  sure, it took a long time to scan and cut and paste and scan again, but i think that the booklet that we put together was meaningful for us – right now.  i’m sure, in future years, there will be updated editions, but i felt like this version hit all the major topics without being too specific.  in the past, we’ve done some theme heavy seders and while i think it’s important incorporate modern day issues into our observance of the holiday, i’m not really into the fad seder.

8. scallions.  we have a long standing family tradition of smacking each other with green onions during the chorus of dayenu.  allegedly, this is some afgany jewish tradition.  i can’t confirm the origin exactly, but i can gurantee it leads to a really good time.

7. plague bags: i mean, what can be better than a bag full of mardi gras beads, slap bracelets and gobstoppers?

6. simple flowers: i seem to be going through a phase.  i want my house to be full of flowers – constantly.  right now i’m into small and simple and short bouquets of white or yellow or pink – whatever is in season will do.  if i could have them on every end table, hutch and ledge i’d be happy.  they were the perfect addition to the seder table.

5. my grandma’s crocheted table cloths: late in the planning of the seder, there was about a week long period of time when we were trying to figure out if my grandma and papa could make the trip up to the bay area for the holiday.  it turned out that this year, it wasn’t meant to be – but that doesn’t mean they weren’t part of the night from beginning to end.  from recipes for chicken soup to the china on the table – i had a last minute idea to request a couple of my grandma’s old table cloths.   in true LBN fashion, i added lime green liners underneath – the perfect pop of color!

4.  the china: enough said

3. our house: when we walked into our house, with the realtor last may, i think the first words out of my mouth were – we could have a great seder here.  never in a million years did i think we would make an offer, have that offer accepted and settle in to our wonderful home!  once all of that did come true, and we moved in june (it was all so fast!) i again said, let’s be settled by passover, and we can host seder.  of course, i’m me and so within a week we were completely settled – unpacked, artwork on the walls, etc.  but this seder still felt like it marked the culimination of quite a bit of hard work.  best of all – we quickly realized we easily have room for another table and 12 more guests.  reserve your spot now!

2. the kiddos: my ultimate goal in putting this seder together was for the kids (EBN to some extent, but mostly a little 6 year old) to feel part of the night.  i didn’t want anyone who was part of the night to feel like they were forced to be there, or didn’t know what was going on, or – like passover wasn’t SO fun.  from passing out plague bags to building a matazh-bread house to helping with the hand washing – i think the seder was a night that everyone felt needed.

1. our guests: our house was full of family, and friends that have become family – and it felt so warm and wonderful.  from the singing to the laughter to the learning and the prayers – the house was so full and i wouldn’t want it any other way.  we worked really hard to make the night work – but as we were all sitting around the table, everything just felt so natural and right.  i can’t imagine spending passover any other way.