Passed Over
"Do you have any idea what's going on?"
That's what my sister-in-law asked me from across the table during last night's seder.
First, my in-laws are Orthodox, which means the entire seder is in Hebrew. Second, the Kaufmans may like to linger over meals, but they don't dally in davening. That means we were blowing through the service part of the seder faster than a cattle auctioneer on speed. Third, Asher was squirming in my arms, which meant that I wasn't even attempting to follow along.
So, no, Naomi. I didn't have any idea what was going on at that very moment.
And that didn't bother me one bit.
This was my third seder with the Kaufmans. The first one was rather intimidating:
Sarah and I had just gotten engaged, and I think I'd only seen her parents twice, which brought the number of times I'd encountered Orthodox Jews up to..umm.. two. We flew in from California, and after a few hasty hellos I was physically coerced into helping Sarah's Sephardi uncle Amos put the finishing touches on some sort of unidentifiable finger food. The uncle's English wasn't so hot, so our conversation consisted mainly of a lot of "How are you?!" and forced smiles. Sarah's dad - always a bit flustered when a holiday is fast approaching - was back from shul, hovering over everyone and bellowing in a loud, nervous voice, "Are we ready? It's almost time!" Sarah's mom was in overdrive, trying to put the finishing touches on her Passover kitchen (a mind-boggling concept to me -- a separate KITCHEN for Passover?). There were 3 children running around, sounding like 30 children running around. And Sarah had been swallowed up by a gaggle of siblings and second cousins, right after we walked in the door. When the seder started, the kids didn't stop yelling - except to show that they understood more Hebrew than I did. And even some of the secular banter was in Hebrew, since Amos preferred that over English.
In short, the Kaufmans are your typical large family - with that added religious thing that used to leave me wary of the kitchen and wondering when I would be unmasked as a godless, ignorant fool.
Three years later, Sarah's dad still hovers nervously. Sarah's mom is still in overdrive. I still don't understand Hebrew, and Amos still abandons English after a maximum of three words at a time. But it's all good, because I really feel like part of the family.
"Do you have any idea what's going on?"
That's what my sister-in-law asked me from across the table during last night's seder.
First, my in-laws are Orthodox, which means the entire seder is in Hebrew. Second, the Kaufmans may like to linger over meals, but they don't dally in davening. That means we were blowing through the service part of the seder faster than a cattle auctioneer on speed. Third, Asher was squirming in my arms, which meant that I wasn't even attempting to follow along.
So, no, Naomi. I didn't have any idea what was going on at that very moment.
And that didn't bother me one bit.
This was my third seder with the Kaufmans. The first one was rather intimidating:
Sarah and I had just gotten engaged, and I think I'd only seen her parents twice, which brought the number of times I'd encountered Orthodox Jews up to..umm.. two. We flew in from California, and after a few hasty hellos I was physically coerced into helping Sarah's Sephardi uncle Amos put the finishing touches on some sort of unidentifiable finger food. The uncle's English wasn't so hot, so our conversation consisted mainly of a lot of "How are you?!" and forced smiles. Sarah's dad - always a bit flustered when a holiday is fast approaching - was back from shul, hovering over everyone and bellowing in a loud, nervous voice, "Are we ready? It's almost time!" Sarah's mom was in overdrive, trying to put the finishing touches on her Passover kitchen (a mind-boggling concept to me -- a separate KITCHEN for Passover?). There were 3 children running around, sounding like 30 children running around. And Sarah had been swallowed up by a gaggle of siblings and second cousins, right after we walked in the door. When the seder started, the kids didn't stop yelling - except to show that they understood more Hebrew than I did. And even some of the secular banter was in Hebrew, since Amos preferred that over English.
In short, the Kaufmans are your typical large family - with that added religious thing that used to leave me wary of the kitchen and wondering when I would be unmasked as a godless, ignorant fool.
Three years later, Sarah's dad still hovers nervously. Sarah's mom is still in overdrive. I still don't understand Hebrew, and Amos still abandons English after a maximum of three words at a time. But it's all good, because I really feel like part of the family.
posted by isaacjosephson at 7:59 AM
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