Why is This Night Different from All Other Nights?

Earlier this week, in countless Jewish homes, at countless Seders, the youngest son, or, if there was no son, the youngest daughter, (not counting babies, of course!) asked the traditional Four Questions, beginning
"Why is this night different from all other nights?"

(In my family, I was the one who asked those Questions.)

And now, for me, as a Jewish convert to Catholicism, these words have an even deeper meaning as a foreshadowing of the night of the Last Supper... the night on which Our Lord instituted the Eucharist. 

Hamantashen, and More Hamantashen

The Jewish holiday, Purim, begins this evening.  I took the precaution of ordering some hamantashen from amazon.com, because this year I have no Jewish neighbors to bring me any.  I'm saving them for tonight and tomorrow.

I remember one year when Mom and I received so many hamantashen that we had to put most of them in the freezer; so many that we were still eating them at Chanukkah!

Thanksgiving and Chanukka

This year, Thanksgiving Day and the first day of Chanukkah  came simultaneously.
I am thankful for my Jewish heritage.

Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?

Every year, at the Passover Seder, the youngest person at the table asks the Four Questions, beginning with:

"Why is this night different from all other nights?"

Was that question asked at the Last Supper?  I like to think that it was, for never before, and never again, could it be so appropriate.

Homily 2012-02-07 - Fr Mitch Pacwa SJ - Saint Colette of Corbie - Virgin

I love it when Fr. Mitch talks about the Jewish tractates. In this homily, he mentions
one I especially love, Tractate Avot, also known as Pirkei Avot.

Passover Customs and Memories

This post is reprinted, slightly edited, from one of my old blogs.

Passover began last night. I remember Passover Seders in Baba's apartment. (She and Grandpa lived right in our building, so I saw them every day) As the only child, I was the one who had to ask the Four Questions every year. But I was also the one who was SURE to get the afikoman present every year. The afikoman is the piece of matzoh eaten at the end of the Seder. In larger families, one of the children "steals" the afikoman, but where there is only one child, the adults hide the afikoman, and the child hunts for it at the appropriate time. In my family, it was hidden. Oh, the fun I had hunting for it! I recently read that some families have yet another tradition: The afikoman is hidden early in the day, or perhaps the evening before, by the father. The kid who finds it first hides it somewhere else, and so on. No matter what the family's afikoman tradition may be, the father (or whoever is leading the Seder) has to promise the child who has the afikoman a present (child's choice, and oh did I love that!) in order to get it back. And I remember the songs, Dayenu and Adir Hu. I found several versions of Adir Hu online awhile ago, different melodies, but none of them the one I grew up with.

Chanukah

Chanakuh. A time of great memories for me.
I remember arranging and re-arranging the candles
in the Menorah, and trying for a different color pattern
every day.
Now, Mom and I (remember, I still live with her; I blogged
about that a few weeks ago) simply light electric Menorahs,
one for the front window, one for the back window.
I remember Baba grating potatoes for latkes; now Mom
and I get our latkes from a store. I don't think we even
HAVE a potato grater.
Oh, for one of Baba's latkes!
Did I say "one"?
Honestly, could I eat just ONE?