Let the Seder Begin
E. Rothpearl
Sung to the Melody of: "On the Road Again"
Written by; Willie Nelson

Let the Seder begin
I just can't wait to let the Seder begin
Wine and matzo with my family and friends
I can't wait for the Seder to begin

Let the Seder begin
I just can't wait to let the Seder begin
Moror, charoses with my family and friends
And I can't wait for the Seder to begin

Let the Seder begin, recalling plagues on Pharaoh,
How GOD made him pay
Let the Seder begin, the fourteenth day of Nisan
That’s what GOD did say,
And GOD’s way

Is to let the Seder begin
I just can't wait to let the Seder begin
Recall the Exodus from out of Egypt's hand
And I can't wait for the Seder to begin
Oh I can't wait for the Seder to begin
You know I just can't wait for the Seder to begin
©1999,Rumprlstiltsongs,BMI

The above is a Country song I wrote several years back. Back when the Seders I was involved in were only for 12 to 20 people, (a manageable number). Although there was one year I had a Seder in my home for 38 people. We put all the living room furniture in the garage and set up borrowed tables and chairs.

However, that’s not the story I want to tell this month. This story is about a Seder for 200 people in our synagogue’s new facility. Just to give you a rough idea of the magnitude of this endeavor, I’ll tell you what was on the menu.

Ninety Roasted Chickens supplied by BJ’s and cut up into breast and drum-stick portions by our illustrious kitchen staff, of which I am a member.

I made 60 Lbs. of Idaho baking potatoes yielding 210 portions, (some were just too big to serve whole). These were baked, split and buttered then rubbed in olive oil, sprinkled with Mediterranean Sea salt and wrapped in foil. I had the help of Andrew and Josh, who are two of my guitar students. They like to help me in the kitchen so I also teach them cooking and baking skills. That way, if music doesn’t work out, they can always become chefs.

Carmen prepared 48 lbs. of mixed vegetables baked with olive oil, grated cheese and topped with grated cheese and matzoh meal bread crumbs… for a nice crust.

Elena made 20 gallons of chicken soup, (from scratch), and 400 matzoh balls, (she must still be having nightmares about that job).

Valentina made 150 Dolmathes, (stuffed grape leaves).

Fran made 30 lbs. of tossed salad with her own dressing.

Laura supplied us with two 2 gallon bowls of fruit salad,
and Victoria made an additional 2 gallons, for a total of six gallons.

Lizzy made 215 pieces of hand rolled matzo, (and boy were they good).
As I understand it she held a matzoh baking class and therefore had some help.

Lenny supplied us with his private stock of seltzer and I made 120 cups of good coffee along with three gallons of iced tea. The labels on Lenny’s seltzer carry the legends; “From Kaufman’s Seltzer Cellar - The Original Two Cents Plain” and “this water is aged deep within the Caverns of The Bronx”, (nope, water is not just water and it’s not all the same. I’ve got a feeling that added to U-Bet chocolate syrup and a little milk, it would make the perfect egg cream).

The youth group prepared the Seder plates. My wife, Missy made the centerpieces for twenty tables and the wine and grape juice kept flowing.

A word about Missy’s center pieces; each one had door posts smeared with red paint, the Red Sea parted, (with real sand), and at the end of the parted sea the tablets given to Moses after the Exodus. Each centerpiece was then surrounded with silk Wandering Jew plants. Mel dubbed them “Touchdown to Torah”.

My partner in crime, Mel, (you remember Mel, “The Fat Guy”), is going to finish this story from another angle and perspective, since he had to coordinate the whole thing. Before he takes over I’d like to tell you what a very wise man once said; “To get anything done at any synagogue they should have a board of directors made up of only three people, two of whom never show up”.

What I liked most about directing the Seder, was knowing that wonderful things were ahead of me. Meeting someone new, learning more about someone I know, and watching people come together to Glorify Hashem with their work and sharing the joy of this wonderful Holiday and Feast.

Because everyone had been involved in the Purim play, it was only a week before Passover that the board decided to meet to discuss what we were going to do. I mentioned that everything was in place so we all decided on the Haggadah and so ended the 15 minute planning meeting. Of course tickets were sold in advance starting at the end of March. As of that date we had sold 35 tickets. As in previous years ticket sales usually start selling about a week before the Seder. By Friday we had sold over 200 tickets and people were still calling.

Elliot covered the physical serving of the Seder and I’d like to cover some of the incidents that took place behind the scenes.

This year Lizzy Slotkin and about a half a dozen women decided to make the Matzoh. They started at 9 a.m. on Thursday and were still going strong at 5 p.m. I stopped by the kitchen around 3 p.m. and it looked like they had a food fight. If I didn’t’ know better I would have thought that they all were into drugs. There was so much white powder all over the place that I had to taste it to make sure they were baking. I did so, smiled and left while praying that the kitchen be cleaned for the Oneg Friday night… Miraculously it was… never under rate 5 women in the kitchen.

On Wednesday I was speaking with Elena about the Matzoh ball soup and had her on the speaker phone. My wife entered the room and handed me the dog ‘s dinner and asked me to feed him. With Elena still talking and me in front of the computer I took the dog’s dish, moved to the end of the rolling chair and proceeded to place it on the floor. I guess I was too close to the edge because the chair slipped out from beneath me…..I fell forward. broke the keyboard and the tray and landed on my butt with the chair upside down. The dog proceeded to eat the dog food, my wife yelled. ”what are you doing in there?” and Elena is still talking about the Matzoh balls. I’m yelling Elena wait a second I just fell off the chair and she’s still talking about Matzoh ball soup, my wife looks in, sees me on the floor and asks me what I’m up to and what does this all mean? I quickly relate the story. She picks up the chair and helps me up and Elena thru all of this doesn’t miss a beat. I tell Elena o.k. I’ll be there to help and hang up the phone

I enjoy shopping and work hard getting the best prices. I guess this is left over from many years in business. This years joy came from walking into Albertson on the one day that Macaroons were 2 for 1 and 5 pounds of Matzoh was only five dollars. It’s nice to get a bargain.

The amount of phone calls, follow up and the number of wonderful people involved made this an enjoyable experience. Without exaggeration, there were a minimum of 30 people involved and each one worked happily and with a zeal to serve. We are truly blessed to have so many people that want to work.

We all got there at 12 noon and finished up at 11 p.m. and as we were closing up Elliot said “It was good practice for next year”. I sighed and gave an “Oy Vey” because I knew that this was practice for the next Saturday when our congregation had the Russian Seder.

Hoping you all had a good Passover as well.

Shalom,

El and Mel