Skip to main content

The After-Seders Speech

Three days into the festival and it's been lovely. I took the first seder night and by all accounts (he says humbly), it was lovely. We hosted the girls, my in-laws and Dana's aunt and uncle (my MIL's sister and her husband) who came all the way from Israel.

It has taken me ten years to fine tune my "seder groove" and pitch it exactly at the right level, with enough explanations to interest those present without hitting the very easily accessible overkill switch. A lovely addition this year though, was Michal's input as it was the first time she knew how to read the Hagaddah and therefore contributed like everyone else to the narrative.

The only fly in the ointment was my neighbour's house alarm which went off after the end of proceedings. He's a lovely guy (and he reads this site, so I want to REALLY embarrass him!) but his alarm seems to have a mind of its own and always insists on firing off whenever he's out of town, with yours truly ends up having to sort things out...we love you, A!

The second seder was a quieter affair which was fine as I was exhausted and welcomed an earlier night.

The food has been amazing and I'm not yet sick of matzot, so there's still hope for the next six days (groan).

Now, I can enjoy the holiday in the knowledge that I have more than a week of holiday and no more pesach cleaning to attend to (until the inevitable switch-over on Tuesday night).

Mo'adim Lesimchah!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Jewberry Muds

To get the full effect, this message should be read out loud. You will understand what 'tenjewberrymuds' means by the end of the conversation. This has been nominated for the best email of 2005. The following is a telephone exchange between a hotel guest and room-service at a hotel in Asia, which was recorded and published in the FarEast Economic Review: Room Service (RS): "Morrin. Roon sirbees." Guest (G): "Sorry, I thought I dialed room-service." RS: "Rye..Roon sirbees..morrin! Jewish to oddor sunteen??" G: "Uh..yes..I'd like some bacon and eggs." RS: "Ow July den?" G: "What??" RS: "Ow July den?...pryed, boyud, poochd?" G: "Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please." RS: "Ow July dee baykem? Crease?" G: "Crisp will be fine." RS: "Hokay. An Sahn toes?" G: "What?" RS: "An toes. July Sahn toes?" G: "I don't think so."...

A Breed Apart

I'll start with that rarest of things (at least for me), namely an apology. A number of people who read this blog have approached me and asked me how the new job is panning out. I know I should have followed the original posts with updates, but honestly, I came back so tired from work, that I didn't have the will to compose any reports. In short, I am really happy in my new school. The students line up outside the door to my classroom (yes, my classroom) quietly instead of rushing in like a pack of deranged beasts and then, to my utter delight, stand , yes STAND(!!) behind their chairs and wait until I tell them to be seated. These students are actually listening to my instructions. When I tell them to switch their monitors off, they do what I ask. I don't find myself having to wait for fifteen minutes until they can be bothered to be quiet, they do something that I've been longing to experience for two years - they show an interest, in fact, a very keen interest, in w...

Bye Bye University

I can't quite believe it but today is in fact my last as a student. My course ends when I walk out of school at 13.15 I've now fulfilled the statutory days demanded of me as a student teacher. From Monday, I will be effectively unemployed - until Thursday, so I reckon we'll survive. That's it folks, my course is over. I have yet to hear whether or not I've passed, although between you and me ( shhhh don't tell anyone ) I am now a newly qualified teacher in everything but name. The exam board meets Mid-July to make those all important decisions and that's when I expect to get my congratulatory letter through the post. It's been an interesting year, to say the least. There have been ups and downs although the positive has vastly outweighed the negative. I find standing in a classroom less daunting and if anything, I now have the confidence to teach, which I didn't have when I started. I know I've only been doing this lark since September (and teach...