Though David does not plan to drive home from the west coast for Passover, he is attending a Seder, this year.
Every year, Barry conducts a Seder for Marie’s whole family (none of whom are Jewish). 12 year old Tony and 10 year old Ray attend two Seders, being that their stepmother is Jewish.
I’m eager to celebrate with Ravi, being that she’s taken such a personal interest in our escape from slavery. She decided that it’s too hard for her to read the four questions with fluency (her first grade class is behind in reading as their year in kindergarten was nonexistent), so she’d like to answer the questions when each is asked. I continue to feel in awe of my 7 year old grand daughter’s sense of creative thinking whenever an inventive solution to a problem is sought.
I’m tickled at how much Ravi wanted to make sure that Elijah’s cup is in front of her place setting, so she can keep an eye out for the appearance of his (her) benevolent spirit, noted by the cup filled with wine emptying out🥰 Ravi informed me that being invisible, the spirit of Elijah may actually be a girl. When our heads are not filled with princesses, genies and fairies, I’m continually surprised by the mindful depths of our conversations.
Before this week, Ravi had no understanding of Passover, at all. I was amazed at her expressive depths of interest in Jewish families seeking freedom in ancient times from the cold blooded brutality of slavery as we cuddled on my bed, reading storybook after storybook about Moses, Pharaoh, plagues and the parting of The Red Sea followed by watching the animated film, Prince of Egypt, followed by emptying the cabinet (so she could find Elijah’s cup) in my dining room buffet in which is stored child-friendly Haggadahs and every traditional plate, cup, etc. in readiness for our Seder on Friday.
I’m eager to see if Elijah’s cup still holds Ravi’s attention, today😊
Little by little, day by day, I’ve continued to unclutter. Amazing what having invited friends into our house can motivate the mind to get done.
Before cancer, my home had been so well kept as to be company ready at a moment’s notice, and hopefully, that will be true as I continue to regain the energy that accompanies good health😊
I’m smiling, because, today, being Wednesday, Ravi will be with us, after school. We’ll see if she’s as eager to set our holiday table as she’d hoped to do on Sunday (so as to place Elijah’s cup as close as possible to her eagle eye—haha), but we ran out of time, being that Sunday was a school night.
OK. Got to get a bit more uncluttering out of the way.
Oh wait!
I just realized that if the celebration of Passover is cause for giving thanks for freedom from aggressive oppression then, to my way of thinking, our family celebrates the holiday of Thanksgiving more than once within a year’s time. You see, a variety of Jewish holidays are based in giving thanks for the bountiful harvest of the soul that accompanies mankind’s timeless universal need to ‘govern ourselves’, as seen when we celebrate Purim, Passover and Chanukah.
Purim commemorates Jewish survival and freedom from aggressive oppression in ancient Persia (Iran).
Passover commemorates Jewish survival and freedom from aggressive oppression in ancient Egypt.
Chanukah commemorates Jewish survival and freedom from aggressive oppression during the “second centuryB.C.in Jerusalem, where the Jewish people rose up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt.”
So now you get it, right? The primary reason why my favorite Jewish ‘joke’ rings true in terms of describing the frequency with which we’ve found it imperative, throughout history, to regain our freedom from aggressive oppressors so as to govern ourselves and live in peace with our neighbors, just as I hope will play true for the Ukrainian people, right now—
They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat.
How long will the Ukrainian people feel forced to fight to the death for their freedom from aggressive oppression before humanity takes a proactive stand is solidarity to aid these innocent men, women and children by engaging with Putin head to head, so that world leaders stop this cold blooded dictator in his tracks, knowing that, otherwise, the aggressor will not pull back his army and tanks on his own? If visions of history repeating itself via WWI and WWII do not stick in our minds then what is in store for all of us who mistakenly believe we can act like ostriches, over long, yet again? So says your pacifist friend, who has garnered the courage necessary to stare, today’s harsh reality in the face, knowing full well that we who observe that which proves fearsome, overseas, inhabit a small small world …
Oven timer, signaling my roasted egg (to be placed on our Seder plate) being ready for inspection, is going off.
👩🏻Annie
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