Big Tent Judaism

A Passover Seder Reflecting Our “Mixed Multitude”

A wonderful book review in the Jewish Week last week looks at how Passover Seders are diversifying to reflect all those around our tables:

“Consider, for example, the Korean woman married to a Jewish man, who, to accommodate all factions of their mixed family, decided to serve the gefilte fish not with horseradish but with kimchi, the traditional Korean pickled vegetable whose fiery spiciness, the woman said, creates a similar effect in the mouth.

“Or the woman who invited a multiethnic coterie for what she called a seder with soul: poached trout in hot tomato sauce alongside the charoset, candied yams and collared greens side by side with matzahs and Manischewitz.”

The book being reviewed is called, “Make Your Own Passover Seder” by Rabbi Alan Kay and Jo Kay.

Passover Silliness

Why is Passover the most celebrated Jewish holiday? Because it involves family, food, and fun. If your Seder is dry and boring, you’re doing something wrong! This year on the web, I’ve seen not one but two different animated rap parodies for Passover. (And like most rap, neither are particularly appropriate for children.) “Seda Club” by Ben Baruch of Shabot 6000, teams a rabbi, a robot, and a Jewish Fiddy Cent. It actually has a slight educational component, by naming the 10 Plagues in Hebrew. The other animation holds no educational value whatsoever, but it’s still kind of funny. “Matzah” is the latest release from renowned Internet animators JibJab Media.

And now for something completely different… here’s a ridiculous article from the Associated Press about how the gorillas and other animals of an Israeli zoo are being fed matza during the week of Passover. (I wonder how many Israelis will keep as kosher-for-Passover as these animals are!)

New Way To Tell An Old Story

I recently got an email from a friend of JOI: Ellen Kushner, host and creative force behind the Sound and Spirit series on Public Radio International. She wrote to tell us about her recent live performance of the musical Purim show she created (with the help of a grant from JOI a few years back) called, “Esther: The Feast of Masks.” A local paper covered the show here. The performance was an interfaith event that partnered eight churches and a synagogue for the evening of fun yet thought-provoking entertainment.

Ellen was kind enough to write in her email, “I wanted to take this opportunity again to thank everyone at JOI for your support in creating and developing the show (which also ran on Sound & Spirit nationally in March).” Needless to say, we at JOI are thrilled that the program is still running, bringing a new view of the Purim holiday to both Jews and multi-religious audiences alike.

The entire “Esther: The Feast of Masks” show can be streamed over the Internet from the WGBH website, and of course we highly recommend it!