Pesach

Pesach, that is passover to you of the Gentile persuasion, has begun. It started last night and so far, so good, well mostly. You see I am a bread-aholic and so this whole no bread thing is tough for me. I wanted toast with my eggs this morning or pancakes or waffles or crackers or well, hell, anything that I am not supposed to have. So, why do I do this? Why do I abstain from bread and the like and eat matzah for 8 days? Well, honestly I am not sure. I have been to a synagogue three times since I graduated from undergrad 7 years ago and one of those times was at a second cousin's Bat Mitzvah. There are times I miss it, I miss the meditation of sitting and listening to others pray. I miss listening to the Rabbi read from the Torah and the community. And really I miss the Oneg Shabbat otherwise known as the food after services. But I have not really had a drive to find a synagogue around here either, I tried once or twice in my former home in NC, but nothing ever stuck. I guess I do all of this cause it is tradition. I do it because I have always done it since I was little and it would feel weird to me if I didn't. I fast on Yom Kippur and I don't eat bread during passover because that is what is done. I eat latkes for Chanukah and sometimes Challah for Shabbat. I guess I am a cultural Jew, I do the customs and cultural side of things without thinking about the religious significance. I started to think about this because my mom sent me an article about the retirement of the Rabbi that I grew up with. I knew he was retiring, she had told me so, but it was interesting to see the articles about his retirement and think about the times in which I was in a synagogue and growing up. I have lost some of that I think, but I retain so much more than I realize at times. On a final note, I strongly encourage all of you to go check out Padre Mickey's post about Passover, with a hat tip to Fran because without her, I would not have seen possibly one of the funniest Jewish related things I have seen in many moons. Gut Yontif to all of my Jewish and Yid identified friends on this eight days of no bread.