As a child, I was fortunate to experience a large family Seder. However, it was a very different Seder from the happy festive event that Temple Sinai offers the community on its Second Seder. My grandparents were Orthodox but lived in the countryside in England about an hour from London in a large rambling Victorian house that my grandparents had lived in too. The house, while rambling, was not grand, although Passover was a grand affair.  My great aunt lived across the road and my two aunts and their husbands and cousins filled the two houses for the week, although as my cousins and siblings got older and were working, they often took the train down from London for the 1^st night.  In the UK, Jews at that time and even now only celebrate one night of Passover.  So we were about twenty people around the one table, with an add on. The table was spread with a white damask table cloth and lit with large silver candlesticks. The seats of twelve or more dining chairs were embroidered with needlepoint flowered designs sewn by both my grandparents, probably on long winter evenings. I look back on it with pleasure but I confess as a small child it was a bit boring as my grandfather read the whole Haggadah in Hebrew., and there was no English in the Haggadah.  Being the youngest grandchild, I said (not chanted) the Marnish Tanah thirteen years before the next generation appeared.  We did have communal singing at the end after dinner, with some of the same melodies we sing now, but the memory is that it was very out of tune!

Apart from the fun of having a house full of relatives, the highlight was the meal. My grandmother was Sephardic and taught me to make Charoseth in that style (included herein), which I make for the Seder plates for the Temple Sinai Second Seder. (The caterer makes the rest hopefully with my recipe)  Many of the desserts of my early Seders, especially when set out on the brilliant white table cloth, looked like a picture by Wayne Theibaud: bowls of chocolate, coffee, lemon and blackberry mousse, meringues filled with cream, almond cake and fruit salad. There was no soup. The main course was cold fried fish (well loved in UK Jewish life, but not in the USA) with a large smoked whole smoked salmon, sent by my great aunt from Scotland) which my grandfather carved from the head of the table. There was salad, mashed potato and of course matzo to accompany the meal.  My grandfather grew the horseradish in the garden as it would have been unavailable to buy in rural Sussex. Bowler hats were worn by all the men. My brother, the only boy grandchild, wore his school cap.  The next morning at 11 am, we would all gather again to read the morning service.  During the week, I remember plates of matzah for breakfast with thick Canadian honey or marmalade and delightful afternoon teas with special Rakusan’s tea matsahs ,which were round and spread lightly with butter, coconut pyramids, yummy cinnamon almond balls and the sight of my grandmother serving earl grey tea out of a silver teapot in the shape of a pumpkin, which I now have and very occasionally use.

After my grandfather died when I was seventeen, the house was sold and due to geographical distance, our family Seders became slightly smaller but still carried out in the same style and spirit.

When I arrived in Chicago with my husband in 1979, Seders took on a new light:  we were invited to a business colleague of my husband’s the first year.  The table was set beautifully for about eight people, Haggadot at each place.  When all the guests had arrived we sat down. The host opened his Haggaddah, looked at the first page, then promptly shut it loudly and announced “Same as last year, let’s have dinner”.  It was very memorable event but I was surprised.

We joined Temple Sinai in 1986 and held family Seders at home with friends for many years as we continue to do, but around 2002 I was asked to organize the Community Second Seder for TSWRJ and the Temple.  It has been an enjoyable experience doing this with wonderful volunteers and it has provided me with yet another evolutionary phase from the large family Seders that I look back on with much affection.  I hope the individuals and families who attend the Temple Sinai Second Seder embrace the warmth and happiness that the clergy, Temple Sinai kitchen staff and the caterer provide as we celebrate the biblical freedom of the Jews, especially in these troubling times worldwide.

 

 – Celia Josephs

 

Charoseth (Celia Josephs’ Family Recipe from Florrie Lucas, nee Montefiore)