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Pesach: Sing-Along-at-Home

The Passover seder is my favorite Jewish ritual.

That’s probably because I come from a Pesach-loving family who customized the Haggadah, created and maintained our own traditions, and made everyone — including “the stranger” — feel at home.

Wilen family seders famously featured silly songs, and, as we went around the table(s), a part for everyone to read, explanations for our intermarried cousins and Gentile friends, plus strict adherence to the Four Cups of Wine protocol.

Why Is This Seder Different?

Every year, the retelling of the story of Passover sparks the same intergenerational debate around our family\’s seder table. Like singing \”Dayenu\” or eating charoset, we look forward to our traditional discussion of the nature and extent of anti-Semitism. My father, with my grandmother cheering on, argues that anti-Semitism is alive and, alas, well.

Prime Ribber

Any regular reader of the Jewish Voice in the 1950s and 1960s will remember \”DAYENU,\” a gag panel spoofing Jewish life. The weekly cartoon was attributed to Henry Leonard, actually a hybrid moniker representing two locals — Rabbi Henry Rabin, longtime executive director of Hillel of Southern California, and advertising artist Leonard Prikitin.

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More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.