Model Seder

Next Weds. and Thursday night are the first nights of Passover, my favorite holiday, a time when families are supposed to hold ritual dinners, called Seders. The word "seder" means "order," and refers to the organization of the prayers and practices associated with the holiday. The dinner, its foods, songs, and rituals replay the Exodus of the ancient Hebrews in the desert when he emerged from slavery in Egypt, a country which is called in the Torah "the narrow place."
Because of my current circumstances, being the only member of my extended Jewish family (aside from my parents) out on the west coast, I have not had a family seder to go to, and if I want one, I have to do it myself. But it is a lot of work, and I fear I do not have the energy to make one, especially when my husband and son really want no part of it, though they would come if I made them. Plus, I do not have a decent table or dishes or anything like that to host a dinner.
My mother also has no interest in it, and doesn't want to attend the choir's seder, on the sixth night of Passover. So I attended a model seder held by a class at the synagogue for people who want to learn more about Jewish customs and holidays. The woman who teaches it is wonderful, full of energy and ideas. She commonly invites the Torah group I am a part of to her holiday demonstrations, and frequently brings in food (a very Jewish thing to do!). Since I like to cook and to eat, I always come, and the group has come to look forward to the dishes I bring.
Last night I made one of the ingredients of the seder plate: charoset. Charoset represents the mortar between the bricks of the pyramids the Jewish slaves laid down. It is a reminder that we were once slaves.
It is interesting that this idea is a central part of Judaism. I cannot think of any other faith that bids its members to recall that they were once slaves, and not to forget it. I admire that, and it is one of the things that inspired me to teach a class in modern slavery, so every one of my students are aware of the existence of slavery in today's world, so they can tell others and perhaps do something about it.
In any case, Ashkanizic charoset is traditionally made out of apples and walnuts mixed with wine and ground to a paste, a bit of cinnamon sweetening the mixture. But it can be made out of almost any fruit and/or nut. I fixed a seven fruit one from Surinam, containing coconut (shredded), dried apples, dried apricots, prunes, raisins, crushed walnuts, and cherry jam, along with a bit of pomegranite/blueberry juice. I was supposed to put in kosher wine, but I didn't have any;hence the juice. It was ugly but delicious, especially eaten with the other traditional foods, horseradish, parsley, lettuce, and the dishes people brought to the dinner, such as brisket, chicken, chopped liver, and kugel, which is a dish that can be made from any vegetable or grain, except that during Passover, one cannot eat grains or flour. So it's generally made of matzo farfel or potatoes and lots of eggs or apples. The noodle kugels, heavy as a bowling bowl, and full of raisins, pineapple, farmer's cheese, eggs, etc., eaten at other times of the year are out. I don't eat them anyhow because I hate cheese of any kind. But these kugels, and the ones I sometimes make out of vegetables like broccoli or eggplant, are also very tasty, and a welcome reprieve from potatoes. One gets very sick of potatoes at Passover because of the dearth of carbs--no rice, no bread (except matzo), no noodles. What's an eater to do?
Anyway, what prompted this post was that I was feeling very sad and sorry for myself because I wanted to go to a seder next Weds. night, but I didn't have one to go to. Going to the model seder really made it all okay. I had my community, my seder, my celebration. So what if the holiday hadn't really started yet? And on the 6th night, I'll go to the choir seder, so it's all okay.