It’S been a few weeks since I last posted. Nothing dramatic happened, but life in general has been pretty full of… just life. Last weekend was our church retreat. I took on the awesome challenge of preparing the Passover seder for my church. In the past, when I’ve held Passover Seders I’ve gotten stressed from all the prep work that goes into it. Last year, I really worked hard to put together a haggadah that I could use for years to come. I imagined my children growing up with this haggadah and my children’s children. I know, it’s way sentimental, but that’s me. So when it hit me this year, that I wouldn’t be able to use that haggadah but I would need one in Spanish, I felt a bit overwhelmed. After some research, I found a messianic haggadah in Spanish. Between Spanish haggadah, using google translate with my own haggadah, and a TON of hours I was able to produce my own Spanish version. It wasn’t perfect, but time ran out and I used what I had. Then came the challenge of finding all the materials needed for the Passover. Things like Matzah and a lamb’s bone are not so common down here. I found Matzah and bought 4 big boxes of it. I ran all over town trying to find a lamb’s bone, but eventually settled for a cow’s bone. I boiled it for about 6 hours, scrubbing off all the meat as I went along. I got the rest of the materials ready: candles, a white linen, horseradish (also a challenge to find), the charoset, parsley, and all the bowls and plates to go with a seder for 30 people. People kept asking me beforehand what I was doing. Was it a dinner? Kinda. Was it a church service? Kinda. What was it? I always struggle to answer these questions.
But the whole thing went really well. I even had kids present this year so we could have a real hunt for the afikomen! One of the coolest parts was that I found out that one of the guys in my church has a Jewish grandmother. Hence, in some way he is Jewish. He doesn’t really have much of a Jewish identity, but still we got to share a bit about Jewish heritage. (And by the way, it was his son that found the afkomen!) While I’m sure that I butchered some of the Hebrew and a lot of the Spanish, I was really excited to share this part of my cultural heritage with those who can claim this as part of their spiritual heritage. The whole night in general went really well and afterward people told me that they were really moved by the whole thing. They all seemed really touched by the ceremony of it all.
But the whole thing went really well. I even had kids present this year so we could have a real hunt for the afikomen! One of the coolest parts was that I found out that one of the guys in my church has a Jewish grandmother. Hence, in some way he is Jewish. He doesn’t really have much of a Jewish identity, but still we got to share a bit about Jewish heritage. (And by the way, it was his son that found the afkomen!) While I’m sure that I butchered some of the Hebrew and a lot of the Spanish, I was really excited to share this part of my cultural heritage with those who can claim this as part of their spiritual heritage. The whole night in general went really well and afterward people told me that they were really moved by the whole thing. They all seemed really touched by the ceremony of it all.
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