Seder Meal

This is my Modern Near Eastern (with an emphasis in Judaism) teacher. Ophir Yarden and I are pretty tight. It's fun to actually be friends with my teachers, and talk about things other than school. Class is really interesting. But I am really glad to have had a background in Judaism before this course. We get into some pretty deep issues. But regardless, here we are in the Oasis at the start of our traditional passover Seder meal.
Being on the birthdays and special occasions committee, I was part of the set-up team for the meal. It took all afternoon to place each napkin, plate, bowl of salt, and a decorative candle as the centerpieces. We cut up tons of symbolic food with the chefs in the kitchen, and put place cards for each student and faculty member. I sat at a table with the director of the center Eran Hayat. He grew up on a Kibbutz (all-inclusive socialist community) and was happy to answer all my questions :) I LOVE Kibbutzen. I am highly considering a return trip to Israel where I can be adopted into a Kibbutz for a 6 month period. I am in communication with one in the north called Yotavva. I am serious. Okay, back tho the Seder. Here is our table:

This is the plate of bitter herbs. The matza (unleavened) bread was a big part of the meal too. We sipped this nasty grape juice about every 5 minutes and took turns reading and singing. It was an extremely ritualistic meal that lasted about 4 hours. Here is Christine Stinger and I enjoying putting the table decorations to good use.

Ophir brought his youngest son to the meal. His kids like to meet the students, and Ophir (claims to be an Orthodox Jew) is anxious to teach his children Jewish tradition. He was so cute washing his hands before we partook of the food.
We had small group perform traditional Jewish songs. There were about 5 group numbers- this is the all male choir. The best number was a rap performed by Mike and Josh. They adjusted the words and beat to make a slow, lyrical song a catchy rap. I have a video, but no capability to post videos from here. This will just have to do.


Click here to learn more about the customs and rituals of the Passover Seder meal.