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Sunday, April 24, 2005
Passover ROCKED this year. I love the festivals, and one day I will explain them to you but today I will just talk about last nights festival, Passover. (with pictures!)
We started preparations for this weeks and weeks ago. And by "we" I mean pretty much everyone but me. I missed many of the meeting due to sickness or injury, so when I did have my chance to dig in and help out, I paid it back in spades. My Niece-in-law had a vision last year for Passover but it was to close to the festival to pull it off, so this year we did it.
When you walked up to the front door you see those blue metallic curtain hanging over the doorway. A sign said you are now leaving Egypt. There was another paper that had the bible verse about Yahweh bringing the children to and through the red sea. You open the doors and walk through the curtain to find yourself in the parted sea. Walls of blue surround you and you can see the sea life in the water.
You follow it through and you come out into the desert. Two tents are set up along with the bible verses about how each family would set up tents. Right outside the tent was a bowl holding manna and manna spread on the ground. Of course, the bible verses talking about how Yahweh provided them Manna to eat.
If you turn around you see the rock with water coming out of it and the verse about Yahweh making water where there was none from a rock.
You follow another path to the ten commandments, the first being nicked on the corners where Moshe got righteously upset and broke them.
You follow the path further up the dessert and you enter the promised land. One both sides are two pillars I painted to look like bricks and from them hung two giant bunches of grapes (made with balloons!) with the verses talking about how plentiful the land was.
I painted a mural of the Jerusalem cityscape across one whole wall and there was where we set up the tables. We had 32 people come so we made one huge rectangle so we would all face each other as a family.
The tables were set with beautiful tables clothes bought from Israel. There was one seder plate per group of two or three. We even had for my dad the original shank bone we used for our first Seder 8 years ago or so. (Very sentimental. Just don't sniff it) And one pitcher of wine (AKA grape juice) per group as well. One dish of salt water, one dish of water to wash each other hands per group of two or three. The Sabbath candles were two round stone holders with a Jerusalem cityscape all the way around it, that or the wall all the way around. See picture and see if you can figure it out. Anyway, it was gorgeous.
On other walls we hung our Tambourines with the streamers we dance with, also our finger ribbons, and two stars of David made from grape branches. We had a large banner I painted that said Welcome to Jerusalem and had four dancers dancing with tambourines.
My Father (AKA The Silver Fox) is the ....I dunno...rabbi? That isn't quite right, because we aren't Jewish and it just sounds like we are being to uppity if we say that. Congregational leader is too much to say...Teaching elder. There. That's right. Well, every year he has written the haggadah. Now first we took a Jewish one and followed it. But we are not Jewish, we are Messianic-so the next year we tweaked it. For 5 years my dad wrote and re-wrote the haggadah until he felt it was fitting for our beliefs and family. He swore up and down he would never write another one, so help him God.
And so this year he completely wrote another one. (dork!) And it was by far the most Messianic one we have ever had. And it went from our first 5 hour Seder, to this years 2.5 hour one. People got there at 3 and hung around visiting, we started our Seder a tad after 4 and by 6:45 we were done. My son and daughter were completely devastated (Because them being the oldest kids in the family helped the most with the decorating, drawing, painting, coloring, cutting and gluing then other kids did. Mostly because of their age, and also because I am their mother and if I have something to do, by gum they are going to be helping me!) In 45 mins everything was ripped down. We saved nothing besides the fountain my brother in law (AKA The Biker. AKA the 11yr old trapped in a 28 yr. old body) made (from scratch he is so brilliant!!) The tent poles and fabric that made the tents, I kept one of the blue metallic curtains which now hangs in front of my bedroom, and the ten commandments. All the rest was ripped off the walls and thrown into the garbage. My son wanted a section of the Jerusalem I painted for his bedroom wall, but it kept ripping so it just got thrown away.
I sat there not really knowing how to feel about the ten hours of HARD labor that went into decorating the day before (My kids even skipped school to help turn My Niece in laws vision into a reality) being stuffed in garbage cans and the whole place being empty and clean in 45 mins.
It was the most beautiful and incredible Passover I have ever had. Now, let me explain one other thing. Years ago my sister Anita and I were trying to come up with ideas for a play for the children to do. After all, you do the festivals (also called Rehearsals) to teach the children. So we went to a store and we sat our butts right on the floor holding a bin of frogs when an idea came upon us. The idea was so brilliant we have done this every Passover since that one 4 or 5 years ago to varying degrees.
During the Seder you say the name of each plague Yahweh sent upon Egypt. When they do that, the kids (who are dressed from head to toe in black robes) "plague" the tables. The first is blood, and my son and I do this one. He holds up a clear glass bowl, and I pour clear clean water from a glass pitcher into the bowl and as it fills, it fills blood red. (oooohhhhh ahhhhh) I would tell you the trick behind it, but then I would have to kill you. Next is frogs....and we had 9 kids, each kid had a bag that says frogs, and they run around table to table and they throw onto the people and the tables all the frogs. Then flies, and they take the fly bag and pelt the heck out of everyone with flies...for lice we use rice, for darkness we turn off all lights, for hail we use a million (it seems) small balled up pieces of white paper. This turns into a huge paper fight every year. For boils we use red stickers and the kids cover peoples faces and arms with the boils. For locust we use little tiny plastic grasshoppers. And this year they were eerie because they looked so real. We have two cow costumes that the two little ones get into and when it is their time they walk around the tables stumbling while mooing, finally they drop dead somewhere. Lastly all the kids carry a baby doll and when the first born dies the kids walk around wailing and crying for their dead babies. This has even caused one to get really into it and cry for real and it has made more than one adult cry. (I am such a mush ball I am crying as I write this!)
And as fun and as cute as that is, and it IS cute, that isn't the point. The point is to overwhelm the tables and people with just how MUCH of this there was. And for the rest of the Seder you sit with flies and lice on your tables. There are frogs in the hand-washing water and stuff is everywhere. You drink your grape juice and sift the lice through your teeth. No one removes their boils. Dead babies lay on the floor. It is incredible and amazing. And massive. We don't just toss out a frog or two, we COVER the tables in them. And flies, and lice, and hail....
The first year we wanted it to be as real as possible so we thought about using frozen flies and crickets but figured it would be just our luck freezing doesn't kill them and half way through the Seder those suckers would come to life and crawl away. That was a little to real, even for us.
So there you go. It was decorated so beautifully, we had so much fun, the lesson was good, we ate ourselves stupid, we danced, we laughed, and I even cried walking Dan and Ann through the sea into the desert, I could hardly read the signs to them because I was boo-hooing so hard.
Because I am just a mushy sap that way. I hope everyone who celebrates had a Passover even half as great as ours, because then it would have been just fantastic.
Shalom to you all!
Posted at 04:34 pm by Shalovee
 | | | mellowyellow
April 26, 2005 10:35 AM PDT
I really enjoyed reading about it and the pictures are great | |
| | | Shalovee
April 26, 2005 07:25 AM PDT
Thanks so much Supe, you hit the nail on the head. It was a beautiful mix of class and fun.
Kitty, you poor dear! I feel for you. I wish I could fly there and give you some southern lovins. I love bathing the sick and dying. And I know technically you aren't either, but you DO have a broken leg, and I am bigger than you, plus I can get you drugged....Hee! I kid. I am a kidder.
Cyli, no mama should bury her children. I am so sorry to hear your boy is gone. I wondered how folks would take this post seeing how we aren't jewish, but messianic. So far, no one has ever had a problem with it. Except my Doc, but she is just too sweet to really say much to me. Bless her heart. | |
| | | Cyli
April 26, 2005 04:14 AM PDT
Hi Shalovee.......... I just Love, Love, Love the parting of the red sea picture and how your temple set it up!! as soon as I came to your blog and saw that I thought of how much my son would have loved to be part of such a passover celebration. I love you mural and the entire post was incredible. Thanks for sharing it!! Since my son died, I haven't been around any of the Jewish celebrations. (He was Jewish, I am not) Simply marvelous lady!! Thank you! | |
| | | Kitty
April 25, 2005 11:17 PM PDT
Hey, Sweetie! Sorry I haven't posted sooner - ended up with the killer of all viruses attacking my laptop (and, I can't hobble upstairs to my office with this cast) -- I'm still "infected," but able to get on (a little).
Thanks for the photo previews via e-mail. Everyone did a FANTASTIC job with everything. A lot of HARD WORK went into making the celebration one that will long be remembered!
You made me feel as if I were a part of it all - thank you for that.
We'll catch up soon - okay? - promise?
*time to try to sleep - 2am and I'm still wide awake*
Hugs, My Sweetie! | |
| | | Soyunperdedor
April 25, 2005 08:54 PM PDT
Can't believe no one has commented!!! So I will make a quick one. It is obvious you and your family put a lot of hard work and love into making this a Passover festival to remember. You paint a good vision that is part reverent, part humorous, and one I think reflects the spirit in which your congregation enjoyed this fellowship. Thank you for sharing with us Shalagh! | |
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