About a week before Passover (Pesach) began, I attended a talk given by Rabbi G. who gave us some fab ideas about how to make out Passover meals (or Sedarim ) more memorable.
He wasn't kidding.
What with my dressing up as Pharaoh, getting the kids to pack their "leaving Egypt" bags and throwing plastic frogs around the table during the recounting of The Ten Plagues, the Seder was certainly different from the norm. I used a few of his ideas and the results were fantastic. For the first time this year, my usually heavy and drab first night Seder was transformed into a fun filled, children-oriented extravaganza - and everyone attending had a grand time.
Another bonus was getting the kids more involved than in the past, so that Tali took control of the Four Sons part, Michal and Dassi sang songs from school and all four girls gave a sterling performance of the Mah Nishtana (or Four Questions.)
Most importantly, for the first time in my ten years of leading the Seder, I actually relaxed enough to enjoy the evening - and this was certainly a first for me. For the second night, we went to the Shul, where a more conventional offering was on show.
The rest of Yom Tov/Shabbat was very nice and today, we had a lovely afternoon when our family and two others trekked out to the local park for a good few hours. There were 5 adults and 8 kids..it was quite an afternoon!
We were then invited back for tea to one of the friends in the group and this was truly the icing on the cake of a great day.
So far, we're three days into Pesach and it's turning into one of the most pleasant I can remember in many a year.
Happy Pesach to all who celebrate....and Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate too!
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