Seder di Pesach

So I'll admit, I was hesitant about going to the Seder last night. I've really been feeling the affects of traveling for three months, and I'm exhausted! But it was totally worth it. Let me see if I can summarize what happened in a mildly coherent way...

I arrived at the synagogue at 7.30 because that's when the email told me to come. However, typically, things were running late and we didn't start the evening services until around 8. During this time, I met an Israeli couple who were in Siena for 2 days and they somehow managed to run into someone at the synagogue who told them to drop by for the services before the Seder.

Then Amy came with her Australian friend. I had met Amy the last time I was at the synagogue for Purim. She is originally also from the state of New York, but has been living in Italy for about 40 years now. Her friend, whose name is Nechamah (sorry, I actually don't know how it's spelled in English letters) is doing a sabbatical year in Italy and Turkey. At home, in Sydney, Australia, she teaches Hebrew to children even though she is not religious. Basically, we're kind of the same person.

She was also telling me about how she created her own feminist, vegetarian hagadah, which sounded awesome. (For those of you unfamiliar with the hagadah, it's the book that we read during the Pesach meal)

So, we had a short service in the sanctuary, which was complete with small children running wild and a sermon in Italian, of which, I could understand the gist of (pretty proud of myself for that one actually). Then we moved into the other room for the actual Seder.

It was an interesting experience following along. There were around 50 people there and we were spread out onto 4 tables to fit everyone. The Rabbi led the Seder, but he was on the other side of the room, and even with a microphone, I couldn't hear everything...also, I know very little Italian. But, it was super cool because the Hebrew parts were easy to follow and I'm familiar with the order of events that I could usually find the place again in the book if I got lost.

Also, speaking of the book, it's still super cool for me that the books are in Hebrew and Italian. I know that it's normal, but it's still a new thing for me.

Ok, so, I was sitting with Amy, Nechamah, Elie (a man from Brussels), an Italian woman and an Israeli woman. It was so multicultural, it was awesome. What was even more amazing is that we all know the same songs in Hebrew. When we got to the parts that we were singing, it was truly amazing to be singing together with them.

We also started the Seder with the shehecheyanu, a prayer that is about being thankful to making it where we are today, and commemorating a new moment. It was so fitting.

So a few differences that I noted: (although these are differences from my Seder's at home, and I know that everyone, even in the United States does it differently)
1. We used vinegar instead of salt water to dip the celery.
2. We used celery instead of parsley, although, I've seen that done before.
3. We used lettuce as the bitter herbs...and it was definitely not bitter.
4. There was a pretty significant portion of reading in Hebrew...I think I missed the majority of the actual reading of the story of Pesach.
5. We didn't really hide the afikomen (but this was probably a logistical thing since there were so many people)
6. We had risotto for our "first plate."

...I think that's the sparknotes version. I know I've been rambling for a while. The moral of the story though, is that it was amazing to be at a Seder with people literally from all around the world, and sharing a tradition that we're all familiar with. I met some really nice people, and definitely over ate. I also decided to leave in the middle of Hallel at the end because it was already 11.30 and I was pretty exhausted but I'm so glad that I went and can now be super sappy about the whole thing.

Hag Pesach Sameach!