Leandra Levine, 5, and Avery Lantz, 9, sip grape juice during the ritual meal, which calls for guests to drink wine or grape juice four times.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Empty table set ‘for hostages’ a poignant reminder
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Nine-year-old Ben Lozano and 7-year-old Amelia Lozano ‘open the doors for Elijah.’ A place is always set for the Old Testament prophet, in case he shows up. Poignantly, an entire table of empty chairs at Monday’s Community Seder was earmarked for hostages who were taken by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 and still have not been released.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
At every table there was matzah, which guests were invited to break and share, after first saying a prayer for all who are hungry.
At every table there was matzah, which guests were invited to break and share, after first saying a prayer for all who are hungry.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mom Erika Schaffer helps her 2-year-old daughter Evi Kelialah Schaffer take part in a ceremonial washing of hands before the seder meal.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Twelve-year-old Sofia Kaplan, daughter of Rabbi Larry Kaplan, left, sings a prayer with Cantor Ahron Abraham.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
This year’s Seder at the Friedman Jewish Community Center included a somber reminder in one corner, a table reserved for the hostages taken by Hamas in the vicious assault into Israel last October.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Drops of wine represent the plagues brought in ancient Egypt, and are a reminder not to gloat over the misfortunes of others, even oppressors.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Rabbi Larry Kaplan asks the kids in the group what they would take along if they had to go on a journey, like the flight from Egypt, all the way to the Promised Land.
Mark Guydish | For Times Leader
Calling the children of the group to gather around him, Rabbi Larry Kaplan asked what they would take if they had to leave their homes and go on a long trip.
“Food and water,” 9-year-old Avery Lantz answered, while other young people at Monday evening’s Community Seder at the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston, made a few other suggestions.
Inviting the children to imagine they were carrying “food and water and money, with all your stuffed animals and the books you love,” the rabbi helped them get into the spirit of the Jewish people who escaped from slavery in ancient Egypt.
“Walk all hunched over,” he suggested as the children paraded around tables filled with older guests. “Now start to straighten up when you see the Promised Land.”
That little exercise was part of an evening rich in symbolism as about 100 members and friends of Wyoming Valley’s Jewish community gathered on Monday to observe the first day of Passover, which began before sundown on April 22.
The 8-day observance celebrates the freedom the Jewish people experienced when they were released from bondage after years of slavery in ancient Egypt. They left that country in haste, hoping the Egyptian leader, Pharaoh, wouldn’t change his mind. And they ate quickly, without waiting for bread to rise.
That’s why traditional seder meals include an unleavened bread called matzah.
“It was the original fast food,” Rabbi Kaplan quipped.
Among the prayers of the evening, the group read from the Haggadah, “We praise You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine … Who creates the fruit of the earth …Who has kept us alive and well so that we can celebrate this special time …”
Also part of the ritual is the traditional asking of four questions, often by the youngest person at the seder.
But on Monday, as Rabbi Kaplan tried to urge children forward, no one seemed willing to stand up and sing the questions — until Jane Messinger, the wife of Temple Israel president Daniel Messinger, stepped forward and did the honors.
“You did great,” the rabbi congratulated her.
Among the light-hearted moments of the evening children came forward and jumped like frogs, to commemorate one of the Plagues of Egypt, or problems that convinced Pharaoh to release the Jewish slaves.
In addition to frogs, the 10 plagues include blood, lice, beasts, cattle disease, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death of the firstborn.
As Cantor Ahron Abraham sang out the names of each plague, each guest sitting a table was invited to remove 10 drops of wine or grape juice from his or her glass, using fingers or a utensil. The custom is meant to show that Jewish people are not gloating over the misfortunes of their enemies, but “our joy is reduced” to know that someone else is suffering.
In any case, the joy of this Passover seemed to be subdued.
“It’s sadder this year,” Cindy Levinson of Edwardsville said early in the evening, as guests began to arrive at the Friedman JCC. “Because of the hostages and because of the anti-Semitism in America. I have to shut off the news.”
Just let those hostages go, Rabbi Larry Kaplan said, showing an image that represented a very young hostage, red-headed Kfir Bibas, who was kidnapped on Oct. 7 with his family and has not yet been released. He turned 1 in January.
“It should be the first thing on top of the list at every campus protest,” he said. “Release the hostages, and then we have plenty of other things to talk about.”
In recognition of the plight of hostages who were taken in October and still have not been released, the JCC Passover celebration had a table filled with empty chairs. The reservation card in the middle of the table noted it was waiting for them.