Passover

We sailed today, past Libya, on our way to Egypt, careful to remain outside the “100 mile no cruise zone”. Our Passover Seder on board tonite was in a private dining room with 140 guests (perhaps 40 of whom were Jewish). Rabbi Starr led the service, with the Captain and his wife joining the festivity. Holland America went all out with porcelain Seder plates complete with all the authentic components from maror and haroseth to manishevitz wine and schmura matzohs . Each table also had beautiful new hagaddahs. It was a wonderful event.

We received the following email from Josh back in The Gambia who had celebrated that African country’s first ever Seder. You’ll recall from our Gambia blog entry, that we brought Josh a Passover kit when we saw him earlier in the voyage. Here’s his update:

Happy Passover from The Gambia! We had quite the seder in Gambia yesterday - 22 people (21 non-Jews). And thanks a supply of Passover goods I was able to treat everyone to the staples - matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish, and matzoh. Well, let's not call it a treat. When it came time to clean up I noticed a collection of matzoh balls on the ground around where most of the Gambians were sitting, talk about being discrete. And they certainly weren't fans of the gefilte fish either. At least they liked my homemade charosset, also the Dean's new favourite word.

It was your typical seder, minus the crowd and the setting. The power was off throughout, and only two of us had experienced Passover seders before. Tom, one of my favourite British gentiles asked the Four Questions. I taught everyone the chorus to Dayenu, always a crowd pleaser. For "Echad Me Yodeah" we took turns singing the English verses in a tune of our own choosing. All four cups were consumed and Eliyahu made quite the detour. And of course, the Afikoman was a hit. Hidden in a mango tree, my friend Dinesh was thrilled to find it and receive his prize of 25 dalasis ($1) and mouse glue.

The time-tested trick of withholding dessert until post-part II of the seder kept most people around to the end; though many of the Gambians bailed after dinner.

Not bad for a West African start to Passover.