I Was Sad that We Were Going to Miss It

Made by My Daughter in College!

Months ago, I heard, "Mom, I am not going to miss playing in this concert for Passover." His father and I agreed. THE concert of the year was going to be held on the second night of Passover. Our family has always celebrated both nights with an extended family Seder; it looked like, due to our district's scheduling mix-up, including the kids' opportunity to play with a world-renowned musician from the other side of the planet, we were going to miss the second night.

Then, the news came that there would be a full rehearsal with the musician on the first night! PAUSE for effect. For those Christians reading this, that's sort of like saying that school is scheduling a mandatory baseball practice at midnight on Christmas Eve. You just don't do that. So, Mom and Dad have a conversation to decide how we're going to handle this. Yes, the show must go on. We figured if we're lucky, we'd make it to the Seder in time for a plate of food.

Fortunately, the rehearsal ended with plenty of time to get to our Seder. However, son was taking his time exiting the building. When I ran in to get him, he sighed and said, "Oh, I thought we weren't going." First question he asks is, "When am I going to get my homework finished?" Granted, as my kids hit high school age, they typically have homework over Spring Break and Winter Break; however, they have 5-10 days to do it. The Seder is 3 hours long on a school night. Why did he have to figure out when he was going to have to do homework? Passover, unlike most Jewish holidays, is a true celebration. We read through the story of the Exodus. We eat. We sing songs. So, why did my son have to figure out at what point he was going to slip out and do his homework?

As dinner turned into dessert, my went into another room and did his homework. Then, we returned to the table for our favorite part of the meal - singing. 

This year, we were missing 3 of our favorite people at the Seder - my daughter, niece, and nephew. Last year, daughter was able to come home from college for Passover. This year, since it falls during the week, she stayed at school. She called beforehand to wish us a Chag Sameach and tell us that she'd be going to the "traditional" Seder. As it turns out, there were 75 students there with an additional 300 at the shorter Seder downstairs. It's nice to know that she was surrounded by her people on Passover. She said, "It wasn't my Passover; they didn't sing the same songs or say the same prayer. But it was still Passover." On the second night, she joined with friends from her Birthright Israel trip, in the apartment of a trip leader. She was with a friend from home, who led the service. I hope that made it feel more like her Passover.

I sent my niece and nephew a video of us singing the family's favorite Passover song. My grown nephew was touched. This is the same song that often brought fear to my husband's family, as it became a tradition to have a water gun fight in the middle of it!

On the drive home at 10PM, with more homework yet to be done, I said, "I'm really glad we were able to be at the full Seder." This time, my son's response was, "Me too, I was sad that we were going to miss it."

Tonight, my daughter and her non-Jewish friends made "homemade" Matzoh Ball soup. Her paternal grandmother would be so proud.

Happy Passover.