Diary Entry - Pesach

We are now in the middle days of Pesach, Chol HaMoed. This year, the first two days of Yom Tov were followed by Shabbat, so it was a tiring beginning to Pesach - but a rewarding and interesting one as well.

I have enjoyed Pesach so much this year, firstly because my community has given me so much food (matza of course) for thought. There were so many searching and interesting questions:

• Why do we not make a blessing on Hallel?
• Why is matza the bread of freedom but it was also the bread of the children of Israel's affliction?
• Why does the blood motif come up so much in the hagadah?
• Can I cook on Yom Tov in preparation for Shabbat if I forgot to make an eiruv tavshilin?
• Can one count the omer before it gets dark?
• What is the meaning of the Chad Gadya song that we love to sing?

All these and more - I had to be on my toes this Pesach, but I loved it.

We had First Seder at home, with 12 people round the table. Lots of questions, lots of ideas - and a 3am finish! My daughter Hodaya was in incredible form. I had prepared her that she could ask whatever question she wanted to about the Seder - and ask she did! We had learned how to sign the Ma Nishtana in Makaton, a sign vocabulary for children with special needs (www.makaton.org) - and Netanel did this himself at the Seder - to the delight of all who were there. It is so important that we think of ways of integrating children with special needs into our religious ceremonies and songs - and I should also add how great our Yeladenu Nursery have been on this.

Second Seder was the much awaited communal Seder in Synagogue. Helen put so much work into this, and Leon had been putting much effort into getting the right menu. I contacted nearly everyone who came to give them a piece of the Hagada to say, as well as a thought, Dvar Torah or even chance to put on a little play. Everyone obliged, so that we created a wonderful, collaborative dynamic. This was no read-through communal seder - it was interesting, insightful, and also fun. The food was great as well, and the Chad Gadya, where various attendees reproduced the voices of the song, was unforgettable. There has been wonderful feedback, and so if you think that it is for you, come along next year. About 60 people came - if we can push this to 90 next year, that would be great.

In Synagogue we had Divrei Torah from Clive and Adam on the first two days of Pesach. The Shul was full on first day of Pesach, and there was a great attendance at the recently revived Inbetweeners Children's service for those between the ages of about 5 to 8. It is informative and fun, run by Karen and Simon and will be once a month on the first Shabbat of the month at 11am in the room next to my office.

Shabbat saw an interesting happening. While I was finishing up a portion of Torah-reading, I noticed that a letter 'bet' looked suspiciously like a letter 'chaf', which worried me. In this case, when the issue is the doubt between two letters, the law is that a child who knows his alef-bet is called to say which letter he thinks it is. So I turned round to Benji L., who promptly announced that it was 'chaf' - meaning that we needed to return the scroll and bring out a new one! Benji was chuffed by this intervention (as were his family), although the scroll itself was the Montefiore Scroll that I had been extolling greatly to the community. It's OK though, it can be easily repaired. But a rare instance where a child under barmitzvah can impact on Jewish law - and well done Muswell Hill Cheder!

Chol HaMoed - we needed a break after three days of Yom Tov and Shabbat. So we took the kids to a performance of Zippo's circus for the religious Jewish community in none other than Blackheath common. This was followed on Monday by a trip to the Paradise Wildlife Park near Broxbourne. Great use of Chol HaMoed.
What did you do this Chol HaMoed - I'd love to hear!

Enjoy the rest of Pesach, and don't forget, if you have any questions either write them below on my blog or post them on my Facebook group 'Ask Rabbi David Mason'.