A Passover Moment

I just got back from a sedar dinner at my Aunt's house. My cousins were all there with their spouses and children. It was an amazing night of reading, Hebrew singing and eating lots of Kosher Passover food. The meal lasted three hours and the little children all sat there excited about stories of Passover. It was adorable.

Whenever I get together with my Mom's side of the family for holidays I think about Jesus and how he must have done these same traditions, sang these same Hebrew songs and danced the same dances. The traditions don't change. And the stories don't change.

For many years I felt awkward around my cousins because I was raised Christian even though I am Jewish like them. I thought of myself as an outsider in their 'family'.

Now I feel stronger about who I am and I realize that most of the uncomfortableness had to do with me and not them.

It was a really interesting and fun night though.

Just before dinner started, my cousin nonchalantly told me that he just spent 6 million dollars on a new violin. FOR REAL. SIX . MILLION. DOLLARS. ON A VIOLIN. As he is telling me this my mom, aging, frail and grey-haired, bend down to tie his shoe because she noticed that his laces were dangling off the sides of his expensive, imported, Italian leather shoes. I had to laugh, because just for that minute he was my mom's cute little nephew and not the man who developed the Euro and became a multi-millionaire.

Damn, I wish I'd brought my camera with me. I wonder how much he would have paid me to keep that photo out of the papers. Probably not 6 million. But probably close.