It certainly will be different for me this year. I have not joined the throngs of people rushing to get the best of the best of what is available for Pesach. I laugh as I watch those who could not wait for the Chantilly Cakes to arrive at Costco or those who are desperately looking for Temptee Cream Cheese with a hashgacha for Pesach or those who need to know when or where they will be able to go out to eat for at least one night of Pesach.
In one article I read there are those who have already made their reservations for pizza for the Motzei Shabbat which will be the end of the holiday. After starving themselves for so many days it has to be difficult to wait an extra 12 to 18 hours to have a slice of pizza. On the other hand I remember how our family tradition was that as one group was elected to put away the Pesach dishes, pots and utensils, the other group was on their way to the Kosher Quality bakery to get knishes and danish and then their final stop at Pizza Pita to pick up pizza, poutine and everything else that everyone had been missing during the week.
At this point in my life I laugh at the silliness of it all, but thrill in the fact that our children are following in the same ways that we did for so many years. Even in Rochester, where there is no pizza nor is there a bakery, the rush is on to get to Wegman’s to buy cereal for the next morning and some kind of ice cream to fulfill the desire to have chametz as soon as it is allowed. We manage fine during Pesach, but as soon as it is over the search is on.
I am certain that my children, predominantly my grandsons (and we have many), will be busy Erev Yom Tov grating the horseradish, grating beets, pouring in the vinegar and even adding some sugar to what usually becomes at least six months’ supply of chrein for all of the family.
Zaidie taught them well.
Families continue to get together with each other. Now I see that it is my daughter’s turn to make Pesach and entertain large Seders as I did, with their children, children-in-law and grandchildren. I attend as a guest and the feeling is indeed strange. Yet when I see them imitating many things that were done in their Montreal home I feel a sense of pride and satisfaction. It is hard for me to fathom that my daughter Malkie is preparing Pesach for her family, which now includes 19 grandchildren with the eldest just 10 years old. I think about it and realize how much my beloved Mordechai has given to each of our children.
Pesach will never be the same for any of us without his presence. It will go on, however, as he would want it to.
I cannot even imagine sitting at the Seder table without him being next to me. When I agonized over how much matzah, lettuce and marror I needed to eat, he was the one who would notice that I would occasionally put a piece of matzah secretly under my napkin on my lap. Who can be my partner in crime from now on? Who will I whisper to when I find that one dvar Torah is just one too many after listening to them for two hours? These are the things that husbands and wives share. I will have to learn to keep things to myself and pretend that he is listening to me.
My Mordechai, we will all miss you but are imagining that you are with us and that you are secretly laughing at me when it comes time to eat the Afikomen and I can barely get it into my mouth. It’s not fair that I must do this without your enthusiasm walking me through. I will miss you, but will join you in the pride that we both are entitled to feel about who our children have become and how much we have to be grateful for. Chag Kasher V’Sameach.
Nina Glick can be reached at [email protected].
