Passover

We like to mix it up in our house, especially during the Spring when we get to celebrate both Passover and Easter. This year, as the two holidays converged, we had a fantatsic holiday weekend, packed with notions of rebirth, reflection and tradition-building. In the span of 48 hours we enjoyed two Passover seders, 2 Easter egg hunts and Riley's first attempt at coloring Easter eggs. Our cross culturalism was on full display last night when the Easter eggs cozied up to the seder plate.

I'll post more about Easter later this week, but I wanted to start with a few notes about Passover. Our super sweet holiday weekend started at the house of another neighborhood toddler, Max, who is one day Riley's senior. Knowing that a bunch of one-year-olds were not about to sit through a three hour seder, Max's wise papa shortened the festivities to about two minutes. First, the kiddos reclined on pillows, then tasted some parsley. To symbolize the ten plagues, the parents jumped around like frogs. Finally, in a nod to the Jews crossing the dessert, the kids crawled through a tunnel, as modeled by Riley's friend, Lucia, below.

The celebration was perfect.

The next day we hosted our annual seder with our dear friends Geoff and Elli, the latter of whom guides us through the ceremony using the feminist, humanist, free-range, open-source Haggadah she artfully wrote. My favorite part of the seder is when we talk about the efforts we've taken in the past year to improve our communities and pledge our goals for the next year. It's an inspiring way to focus on what's really important in life and honor all those who've struggled. Of course, I also love the food. Horseradish and Haroset and matzoh, oh my! Riley got his first taste of my world famous matzoh ball soup. I'm pretty sure he loved it, which is great because it's more or less the only thing I cook all year.

Riley must have been inspired by all of the Passover cooking because today he got down to business in the kitchen.

After carefully balancing a mixture of water and salt, Riley dipped parsley into his creation. He then tasted the salty herbs, a Passover tradition that helps us remember the tears of our ancestors, the pain of slavery and the struggles that people all throughout the world continue to face today. It's a somber ritual, and one I take quite seriously. While you can't expect such introspection from a one-year-old, it is nice to see him experimenting with some traditions.

Here's a little video that show more of his cooking attempt.



We have much to celebrate this Spring, including having this curious, happy little guy in our lives. L'chaim!