It's hard to celebrate holidays here. No Halloween, no Thanksgiving, no Hannukah, they don't even know what Pi Day is. They, of course, being Italians. If you need something that isn't Italy-specific, it's either hard to find, really expensive or both. Fortunately there are enough Jews in Rome that I didn't have too much trouble finding matzoh bread. Other than that, I spent mot of this week collecting things that I would need to put together a proper Seder meal for my awesome wife. I made my own Charoset, which is a mixture of apples and nuts and wine. I got the aforementioned matzoh, and everything else you need is pretty easy to come by (oranges, parsley, bitter herbs, olives etc.) Nothing was officially "kosher for passover" but Charity is a reform Jew anyhow, so, we got that going for us. As usual, we documented the occasion with photos. Come, Join us for Pesach...
The Seder plate, substituting olives for a shankbone and some ginger instead of horseradish for the bitter herbs. Also pictured; A roasted egg, charoset, parsley and an orange.
My wife sets a beautiful table, I tell you what. (Elijah's wine glass was just out of frame)
"Thank you God, for the festival lights, and for bringing our friends and family together to celebrate passover" (yep, that's the top of an egg container full of rice holding those candles up)
We bless our child: "May God bless you and keep you. May God's face shine upon you and favor you. May God's face turn to you and grant you shalom (peace)".
Another shot of our beautiful Seder plate
I got to break the matzoh, the book there is our modern interfaith family passover haggadah. (oy, what a mouthful) "This is the bread of our affliction. Let all who are hungry come and eat. Let all who need share the hope of Passover."
Each drop of wine corresponds to one of the plagues that was set upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians as a reminder that "the wine is sweet, but the plagues were not".
For dinner, I roasted the heck out of a chicken
And served it with some stewed carrots, potatoes and onions, simmered in chicken broth and rosemary.
Constance was super stoked that we got to watch "The Prince of Egypt" while we ate (I thought it was most appropriate).
By the end of the meal, we were all happy and full and a little tired (and had consumed a good deal of wine)
We like our little family traditions and we gain more and more every year. This whole celebration wouldn't have been possible without my wonderful wife and her diligence and spirituality. What I gather from the experience is that we should eliminate oppression in all of it's insidious forms, be mindful of the oppressions that have occurred in the past and be thankful for the good things we have.