I Can't Stop

Yes, I did write two posts yesterday, and yes it is after midnight and I'm traveling tomorrow, but I still felt an urge to write a post about tonight. Because I never really expected to have a Passover Seder and to narrate the story of the Jews' exodus from Egypt, while currently sitting in an apartment in Egypt. Nor did I ever expect to attend a Seder conducted in English, Hebrew, and Arabic with Jews, Christians, and Muslims all sitting around a table together. Or to have actually visited the important places in the Passover story, such as the Red Sea and Mt. Sinai.

Sure, it wasn't exactly traditional since it's impossible to find matzah or matzah ball mix here (Alexandria has a population of approximately 6 Jews), but Sarafina, Jade, and Hima researched online and did a damn good job of making homemade matzah and matzah ball soup (albeit with flour, but we'll overlook that).

But all parts of the service were there. Hima led the seder, with help from Leah, and together they explained all of the symbols, traditions, and the story of Passover. Jeremy, being the youngest Jew present (for once not me!!!!!!!!) sang the Four Questions in Hebrew, we drank wine, sang Dayenu and Chad Gad Yah, welcomed Elijah, and searched for the Afikomen that Sameh had the honor of hiding.

There were about 30 people in Lizz's apartment, ranging from students in the Middlebury Program, the Flagship Program, two of the directors of the Middlebury Program, and even the host mother and host sister of one of the girls in our programs.

It meant a lot to me that so many people of different backgrounds came to learn and to be with friends who happened to be Jewish (but the fact that we were Jewish didn't make any difference to them). Particularly after the demonstration that I saw a few weeks ago and the movie dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian situation that we saw in theaters two days ago, I was really proud of the Egyptians who came and asked me questions about our traditions. I spent a while talking to Sameh about the similarities between Arabic and Hebrew, and he told me that he wanted to study Hebrew after he graduates. I asked him why, and he said no particular reason...just for the experience.

All that I can say is that tonight was like a microcosm of what the ideal world would be like for me. It's what I want to spend my career (and the rest of my life) working to project on the rest of the world. And I am so lucky to have been a part of what took place tonight. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.