“Judaism,” Gil Kleiner, the executive director of the Beth-El, the Baltimore area?s largest congregation, likes to say, “is a participation sport.”
Busy roasting eggs and grilling a symbolic shank bone outside his Pikesville home Wednesday afternoon while preparing for his family ? and extended family?s ? Passover seder dinner, Kleiner couldn?t have sounded happier.
He and his wife, Carol, expected 25 people for the traditional sundown meal marking the beginning of Passover. Three of their four children, Stephanie, 24, a Manhattan, N.Y., nurse; Jessica, 23, an MTV advertising associate; and Alison, 27, director of Goucher College?s Hillel, an organization promoting Jewish culture and community, were in various stages of arrival as the Kleiner?s cooked. Son Alex, 24, won?t make it, however; he?s on a kibbutz near the southern Israeli city of Eilat, close to the Red Sea.
Passover, celebrated for thousands of years, specifically commemorates the exodus of the enslaved Israelites, led by Moses, out of Egypt. Beth-El Rabbi Mark Loeb said Passover is both a celebration of family and freedom.
“The message is without freedom, one doesn?t have an opportunity to live a meaningful and purposeful life,” said Loeb, who will direct Friday?s 10 a.m. service at Beth-El. “That can mean many things: freedom from spiritual blindness, from oppression, from prejudice or drug addiction. Anything that prevents us from thinking and seeing clearly keeps us from being free.”
The meal itself is filled with ritual and symbolism. The shank represents the sacrifice of a lamb; the egg and green vegetables reminders of spring and new life; and the horseradish and bitter herbs on one?s plate, a memory of slavery?s harshness. And there is the reading the Exodus story.
Both Loeb and Kleiner stress seder?s inclusion, finding a seat for everyone at seder, and maintaining relationships. Kleiner?s former mother-in-law, for example, never stopped coming to Passover seder even after he remarried. This year, Kleiner?s ex-wife and former brother-in-law, Donn Young, a displaced photographer from New Orleans, will return for seder for the first time in 20 years.
It?s a message not lost on Alison, Kleiner?s oldest daughter. Last year, she invited six Goucher students home for Passover. This year, she organized Passover seder?s dinners on campus for those unable to celebrate with families. She plans to start seder at Goucher, turn it over to her student leader, sophomore Richard Simon, and then run home to the Passover festivities at her parent?s home.
