Positive Pesach Experiences

amother

Denim

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 6:38 am

I know we are all stressed and have a lot to vent about at this incredibly stressful, labour intensive, expen$$$$ive, Yom tov. I thought it would be nice to start a thread about something positive, heartwarming, touching, or inspiring that happened this Yom tov. No venting.

I'll start.

My 21 y.o. completely not frum son went to a Chabad communal seder in the city where he lives. He loves the Rabbi who does it, but there were literally hundreds of people and it was just too chaotic and impersonal for him, so he left. He went home and instead of watching TV and drinking beer, he knocked on the door of a Chabad family who lives a few blocks from him. He barely knows them, but has eaten at their Shabbos table once, and said "May I join your Seder?" They said "Of course! C'mon in!!". He loved it, and he went back the next night for the second seder!

amother

Aubergine

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:10 am

My husband and I are children of very dysfunctional people. Against great odds we persevered to strengthen our relationship and build a family. There were painful nisyonos along the way.

This year when we sat around the table to the Seder I was struck that Hashem paid us back for that endurance.

The nachas! The feeling of having arrived.

As corny as it sounds my message to others who are struggling is to have faith. Hashem is holding you and helping you every step of the way. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. I know because I was there.

amother

Oak

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 9:33 am

First time home for Pesach, ever. Last night I cooked a full pesach meal on my own, ever (please don't judge me). It made me appreciate the symbolism and the lessons of pesach - the feeling of deprivation that help us remember slavery (I.e., certain foods, utensils, spices, etc. I didn't have and/or can't use) as well as the responsibility of freedom (halachot we have that, while they are restrictive, slaves do not even have the option of keeping). When only eating at the table of others on Pesach, one fails to realize the beauty of that paradox and only focuses on how hard it is to refrain from chametz LOL

amother

Blonde

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 10:05 am

amother wrote:

I could have written this post! We even discussed this at the seder with our kids, how constantly making the difficult choice instead of the easy or reactive choice has brought us here, to a seder table that we prepared with all our children joining us and giving nachas.

I know this sounds corny, but the seder was one huge nachasfest. It was so much work to get there, both in the weeks before Pesach and in the difficult years of our lives, but the nachas in your heart is something no money can buy.

I personally think that all the difficulty of Pesach is there for you to find the joy. It's like a treasure hunt. And it is a metaphor for all of life.

OOTBubby

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 10:29 am

I have a large family; all kids are married. I've always made Pesach and the sedarim and many of them came to me. We are presently living in a temporary location (sold our old house and have not yet built the new one) with no facilities to make Pesach (and may be in the same situation next year too) let alone host a large crowd, so for the first time in over 30 years, I did not make Pesach. It was rather depressing. A number of our kids invited us though. For the first sedarim and first days, we went to one son, out of town, as did 2 of the other families. Well, despite my hesitation, it was fantastic! For the first time I can remember I was able to pay attention to the words of the Haggadah instead of worrying about the food. All the kids (ages 1-9) got along great. We are leaving today to travel to another daughter for the rest of Yom Tov. Despite my hesitations and reservations, so far I've really enjoyed it, though I do plan to resume making Pesach as soon as I can.

myself

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 10:34 am

OOTBubby wrote:

OOTBubby, just so you know, you did make Pesach to some degree this year Wink

- I used some of the recipes you posted on this site and they were all a smashing success - Thank you!!!

amother

Aquamarine

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 11:13 am

This isn't going to be as transcendent and inspiring as previous posts, in fact just the opposite. For the first time in many years we had no Seder guests and it was just the immediate family including children and spouses in from OOT. For the first time in many years I enjoyed the seder. Some people may thrive on hosting the multitudes but I do better in small groups. There was some mild guilt over not living up to kol dichfin, but being that weeks ago I invited a number of singles and widows who all happened to already have Seder invitations that must have been extended before Purim(!), it's not as if I completely shirked my responsibility.

sophy

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 5:13 pm

I enjoyed yom tov being home with all my boys and the rest of the children. ( who are usually away in yeshiva). We made a mini seder by my grandmother who is in a home and then we walked all together to my parents. Im glad we were able to do something for my grandmother she really enjoyed even though she is not entirely aware of what is going on.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 6:28 pm

This was a year I didn't travel to see children. Per my usual I spent it with a group of friends, mostly single, men and women my age. We rent a very large house and split costs. (We put money away into a separate account every year to cover those who may have some financial challenges.) Our early birds go in advance and do the cleaning and set up of the kitchen. The rest of us follow along with cars full of food. It's wonderful, relaxing, and stress free. The location is perfect it's on a river that empties into the ocean.

Chayalle

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 6:30 pm

We hosted my sister and her DH, her 1 1/2 year old, and her newborn son for the first days. It was so nice having a baby in the house (I miss him already! He had his bris yesterday!) My kids enjoyed it so much, and I feel that we gained way more than we gave (though I tried to get her to rest as much as possible, and I actually rested myself, too.)

I am proud of myself for not sweating the small stuff (like, my toddler nephew made an absolute wreck! He is like a little machine engine. My house NEVER looks like it looked this Pesach, but it was beautiful! B"H!)

eschaya

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:31 pm

I made Pesach and the Seder for the first time this year. And this is on top of being in a very stressful graduate program while working part time. I was starting to panic as my house was not getting cleaned or ready for pesach. But DH was incredible, and while I was in school on Tuesday (week of pesach), then working overnight Wednesday... he pretty much cleaned the whole (ok, its a fairly small) house and turned over the kitchen and bought all the ingredients and food on my list so that by the time I woke up on Thursday afternoon (post shift mind you, not sleeping in), everything was ready for me to start cooking. This is even more impressive than it sounds because we live in a small community which does not have a kosher store, so all shopping trips are long and eventful. I was so nervous about pulling it off, but I was all cooked and set for pesach by Friday afternoon (24 hours, from start to finish!) that I had time to go shopping and buy myself a top for yom tov and also to make an extra dessert. Wow. Thank you Hashem and thank you DH.
Then having our own pesach seder was so special. It was so nice for my kids to have their father lead a seder, and they were so involved till the very end. We only had female guests for one seder so I got to sing out loud, something I really love to do and usually have to work on holding myself back from doing. I can't wait to do this again next year... and hopefully be more involved and have things prepared a little less last minute!

zaq

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:49 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

This sounds fabulous! I especially love the group-effort aspect.

shanie5

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 9:43 pm

I was overwhelmed with the idea of cleaning my house for pesach. Made a wedding 2 1/2 weeks before pesach and work from 7:30am-5pm. Between aufruf, sheva brachos, and working on one sunday before pesach, I couldn't do it. My oldest son drove in from over 2 1/2 hours away and stayed for about 36 hours cleaning. the chosson and his new wife were here then, and they pitched in too. A 3rd son was also in and joined them. They ot a good start. My other children came home from their different schools and finished up. In the end, I think all I had to clean was my stove and some of the counters. The kids did the rest. I did the shopping, cooking and baking-but those tasks are easy for me-cleaning isnt.

Then all of my children, children in law and grandchildren were here for the first days. It was great!!