Last September, I blogged about starting my own traditions for the Jewish holidays. I clearly had no idea that come Passover I would find myself in Hong Kong, faced with the task of finding my own way to celebrate.
But here I am, seven months later, 8.048 miles (but who’s counting) from my mom’s matzo ball soup.
Thankfully, our new friends invited us to join them at the United Jewish Congregation’s Passover Seder. The Seder was held at the Aberdeen Yacht Club on the south side of Hong Kong Island and was attended by about 200 people. It was amazing to see such a diverse group of participants: 200 people from all over the world, some Jewish, some not, coming together to celebrate Passover. But I guess that’s Hong Kong for you – a complete melting pot.
As if to really drive this point home, after the children sang the four questions in Hebrew, the rabbi invited anyone who spoke a foreign language to ask the first question in their native tongue. An astounding sixteen languages were recited: Hebrew, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Hungarian, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Finnish, and Yiddish. Talk about an international Seder!
So why was last night different from all other nights? For the first time since I can remember, I was without my family for the holidays. While I missed everyone and our quirky Passover traditions (my dad’s weird jokes, my mom’s funny Passover songs), I was inspired by the diversity at last night's table, the new traditions that were introduced to me, and the community that welcomed us!
Wishing you all a happy Passover and Easter!
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