A Pleasant Ritual

In my neighborhood and in my circles, freethinkers and believers have a long-standing co-existence. This is reinforced every year with secular seders like the one I attended tonight. Our host is a walking encyclopedia of an endless list of subjects, and since he's Jewish, his seder is not just a meal with song and prayer. It's a crash course in history, and of food, and of politics.

I'm not Jewish, but sometimes Jews assume that I am, because I've absorbed so much of their culture and researched some of their history over the years (a/k/a Being a New Yorker). Tonight the gentiles outnumbered the Jews at table, and it was my little assignment to bring the lamb shank bone for the traditioneal seder plate (in the photo, lower right). At every step, questions were asked and answered. "Can I get the lamb shank at a Halal grocery?" Yes, I could. "Should I bring the freshly cooked shank, so we can eat it at the seder?" No, just bring the bone --and get it clean so the vegetarians or vegans who might come won't be too offended. Other secular seders have used a beet as a some sort of substitute. It's fascinating how Jews will adapt the seder according to what is important to those present.

I had thoughts about Thanksgiving Day, which has a profound presence in almost every American heart, and which was begun at Plymouth, Massachussetts by some of my own direct ancestors. What will it be, to gather for that meal a few thousand years from now? Will there be a script, like a Haggadah? What will it mean?

It was a pleasure to dip the bitter herbs into past and the present with intelligent friends tonight. A Passover seder is like crab fishing in a way. There's a huge amount of work between you and the first mouthfull of food. And yes, I know that crabs are not kosher!