The Sunnyvale Sun
News
Seder connects seniors and students
By Stephen Baxter
Some Sunnyvale middle schoolers shared a 3,500-year-old tradition with local seniors last week, breaking matzo bread and commemorating ancient events in a model Seder.
The sacred meal that marks the start of Passover also bridged a gap between 25 students from South Peninsula Hebrew Day School and more than a dozen residents of Belmont Village Assisted Living of Sunnyvale. It was their first Seder together.
Many of the students' grandparents live on the East Coast or overseas, and some of the residents don't get to see their families as often as they would like. To fulfill both needs, Hebrew Day School math teacher Miri Levy initiated the event.
"I look at it as a start, and hopefully we can continue the tradition," Levy said. Roughly a quarter of the 101 residents at Belmont Village are Jewish.
Rabbi Avi Schochet conducted the model Seder, which was a kind of rehearsal and explanation of the Seder on April 2. The airy, yellow dining room at Belmont Village had white tablecloths and floral paper plates with a small cup of grape juice for each participant.
The traditional Seder plate contains a shank bone, a hard-boiled egg, bitter herbs, parsley and charoseth, which is comparable to an apple chutney. Plates at the model sedervaried slightly, and included romaine lettuce, a potato and matzo. They also shared fish, horseradish and beets, and macaroons.
The meal conveyed centuries of history.
With a South African lilt and unwavering conviction, Schochet explained to the children how Jewish slaves broke free from the Egyptians during the plagues. The slaves' bread did not have time to rise as they marched out, and it baked flat on their shoulders in the sun. The unleavened bread is remembered with matzo.
"Everything we do at a Seder is a symbol," Schochet said.
At Schochet's cue, each person dabbed a finger in their grape juice cups, on their plates.
"Wine is a sign of joy and happiness then. ... I cannot rejoice when another person is suffering," Schochet said.
In the midst of it, the Belmont residents asked the children where they could get kosher food (Albertsons in Los Altos was best, one girl said).
Edith Norman, who was raised in Los Angeles, has been a Belmont Village resident for about 18 months. She said the horseradish and beets reminded her of the kind her mother made from scratch for the first day of Passover. She made it with vinegar, salt and a prayer, she says.
"That stuff is strong. ... It's really potent," Norman said. "Today, you go to the supermarket."
After the Seder, resident Sylvia Lamon asked 13-year-old Harel Kopelman where to find some local synagogues. He wrote down a few for her and gave her the paper.
"I think the children and the rabbi did a wonderful job, " Lamon said. "We are Jews, and it kind of gives us a lift even though Jews are suffering around the world," she said.
Erez Cramer, 13, said he liked hearing Schochet speak. He said afterward, "It's like a treat."
Levy, the math teacher, said many of the students' relatives are spread across the world, and she hopes the seniors can share some of their experiences and Jewish traditions with the next generation in Sunnyvale.
"I think it's great, and it's important to be involved in the community," Levy said.
