Although I never had a bar mitzvah, I occasionally attended temple and almost always celebrated the Jewish holidays when growing up. My mother learned a lot of Jewish traditions and practices from her mother, which were then brought into our household. My maternal grandmother Grete, or “Gigi” as we called her, (pictured below in the center) was an Austrian Jew who immigrated to London and then the United States during the Holocaust. My grandmother gave the Seder plate pictured below to our family; consequently, it always reminds me of her.
The Seder plate, as pictured below, holds each of the six symbolic foods of the Passover tradition. The bitter herbs represent the bitterness and harshness of the slavery the Hebrews endured in Egypt. The charoset, a mixture of apples, cinnamon and chopped nuts, is a symbolic representation of the mortar the Jews used to lay in between the stones of the pyramids. As a young child I never payed much attention to the specifics of each tradition, such as the meaning of each Seder plate item, but as I grew older I began to.
Plenty of traditions went into the celebration of Passover. Every year my family and I would go over the story of Passover. Typically my mother or uncle would read short prayers translated into English from Hebrew. Everybody would listen while seated around the dinner table on soft cushions, which signify our luxury as free people in comparison to the Jewish slaves.
After prayer we would eat. The favorites among my family were my grandmother’s heavenly brisket and the charoset. I remember as a kid loving Passover because I was always a big fan of steak. The adults typically drank wine, a glass of which was left in the center of the table. This was accompanied by leaving open the front door to invite in the good presence of the ghost of prophet Elijah. The favorite part of the Passover tradition among the kids, was the hunt for the afikoman, a piece of matzo wrapped in cloth and hidden somewhere around the house. As many people know, the Jewish population eats unleavened bread (matzo) on Passover because the slaves were not able to bring yeast with them on their escape from Egypt and thus could only bake matzo. The finder of the afikoman receives a reward. In our case this was often $10 or $20, which is a lot of money for a small child, and a nice bonus for a young adult.
The main reason all these traditions were such a big part of my childhood and are continually celebrated by family is my grandmother Gigi. Despite German efforts during world war two, Jewish culture has survived in my family through Gigi and my mother. We carry out these traditions for many reasons; they’re fun, they’re an important part of our culture and perhaps most importantly, they honor my grandmother. Although she died of cancer when I was just seven, I remember her fairly well. She was an extremely kind woman and I always looked forward to seeing her either at my own house or my grandparents’ apartment in Yonkers. The Seder plate given to us by my grandmother and the traditions we carry out help to preserve the Jewish element of our culture and honor my wonderful grandmother Gigi.
My Family and I. Gigi is in the center holding my sister and I’m on the bottom holding my mother’s leg.
The seder plate Gigi gave to us.
