Chag Pesach Sameach!

Pesach is one of my favorite Jewish holidays for many reasons….for the traditions, emphasis on learning, and the food. This year had all of those aspects which made for a wonderful celebration.

I arrived in Kigali on Friday and went to a presentation that one of my friends worked on for work. He was doing research on child headed households. I arrived a little late but had the opportunity to hear testimonies from some people. The one that touched my heart the most was this 14 year old who looked in his 20s who was responsible for 6 kids…he’s a kid himself and having to watch over others.

On Sunday afternoon we began cooking. It was fun hanging out with Lily, Mara, and Suzie as we cooked. They did a wonderful job shopping and preparing for the event. We were cooking for 30 people with no oven, just a 2 burner stove, and a small propane camping stove. Every task was organized and determined what would be cooked at which time. Most of the cooking was done on Monday afternoon. I cooked stir fry, a sweet carrot dish, and cabbage salad.

The seder was wonderful. We had such a diverse group of people. We had a visiting family from NYC (they helped to give the sedar a warm family feeling), an Israeli student from U of Michigan and 3 of her friends, 4 Israelis living in Kigali, a Jewish friend from Canada, a Jewish man from Holland, 3 of my non-Jewish friends in Kigali, an Israeli scholar, and the volunteers from the village. Mara created a wonderful Haggadah and the sedar also included traditions from different people’s families. The sedar had such a warm feeling and I enjoyed it very much! The food was also delicious and the wine flowing.

We also had a wonderful sedar the second night. It was just a few of the volunteers and the family. We drank a little wine and did some of the main aspects of the sedar. Someone began to ask questions about the 4 children and we spent the rest of our time in a great discussion.

To next year in Jerusalem….