Last night was the first night of Passover. It was also my first time at a Passover Seder not held by my family. Last year, I was traveling during Passover, so while I missed the family Seder, I didn't go to one either.
The Seder I attended was hosted by Hillel. One of my friends was attending it as well but otherwise, I didn't really know anyone there. Pretty much immediately I started noticing differences. There were circular tables set up separately, rather than rectangular circles set up together. Each table was plague themed, something I assumed would come into play later, but turned out to simply be decoration. The Haggadah was different than the one my family used, though I heard one girl say that it was the same one her family used.
Once the Seder started though, it didn't matter how different things were. Everyone sang along with the same melody for the four questions and everyone went around and took turns reading from the Haggadah. And everyone, and I mean everyone, looked forward to the matzo ball soup. Surprisingly, they ran out of soup, but still had matzo balls left. I was expecting it to got the other way.
After eating, everyone sort of agreed that we were ready to go, so we didn't technically finish the Seder, but as I walked home with my friend, looking at the full moon I sang Chad Gadya (sort of a Jewish "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly") and thought of home. Happily, next year I should be home for Passover.
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