A Passover Seder to Remember ...

So last night, I experienced a Passover seder like none I had ever experienced before. In the past, I've participated in my family's traditional gathering in CT. I've gone to BU's Hillel. I've gone t oa random stranger's house upon first moving to LA. But this was certainly something new and different for me - a super-sized Seder at a West LA banquet hall, where I and a few hundred Jews - ranging from reform to Chassidic, from 5 to 95, from first-timers to perennial attendees - gathered together for a group seder presided over by the larger-than-life Rabbi "Shwartzie."

I drove down the 101 freeway yesterday evening, barely moving, remembereing why it is that I live so close to work, wondering what I was getting myself into. Me and fellow displaced Jew Dan Blu had agreed to try out this event, but as I pulled into the parking garage off of the 405, I was still having my doubts. On the wall of the building was a list of all the events taking place in the hall's various floors. Amusingly, each floor of the building was occupied by a different seder, including one for a group of Jews for Jesus ("Facachta!" as the Rabbi said). When I saw a couple of gaudily dressed senior citizens getting off on the same floor as me, I wondered if I was in the right banquet hall. But apparently I was - I checked in, looked around, and saw an eclectic mix of people, giggly groups of twenty-somethings, beard-sporting Chasids, baby boomer couples subscribing to the Linda Richman school of fashion, and smiling octogenarians seemingly as bemused with the whole scene as I was, already antsy about when the food was going to be served. Dan and I didn't know where we should sit, so we randomly chose two open spots as the seats quickly began to fill up. What we didn't realize was that we had positioned ourselves right in the front of the hall, only feet from where Schwartzie would preside over the seder.

Across from us was a pleasent couple and their teenage son. What we soon found out was this: the couple had actually met as members of the famed Groundlings comedy troupe in the 1970's, and were actually members of one of the troupe's earliest classes, the same class that produced such comedic legends as Phil Hartman and Paul Reubens! Not only that, but the husband (who also happened to be a Boston University alum!) had gone on to have a long career as a television writer, and man, my ears perked up when I heard that he had actually written many episodes of FULL HOUSE! I was totally captivated as he recounted stories from the set of a show that I, like probably everyone else from my generation, grew up watching. Dan and I had some fascinating converations with this husband and wife pair, and I can't believe that we ended up sitting with and meeting such interesting people, who were longtime fans of Rabbi Schwartzie and regularly attended his events.

Anyways, the seder itself was something else. Schwartzie, bellowing out his anecdotes, stories, and jokes so all could hear him, was quite the leader. At times he called on his 4 young grandchildren to lead a segment like the singing of the 4 Questions, which was pretty amusing. ("What's the shortest book in the world?" asked Schwartzie - "Ugly Jewish Grandchildren."). I found a lot of humor in the fact that whenever the Rabbi called for a responsive reading from the Haggadah, the hundreds in attendance would read a line in unison, only for Schwartzie to respond with something completely different than what was written in the book, completely confusing everyone each time, and eliciting much laughter from the perplexed crowd. At many points, the Rabbi would ask a question of the crowd ("Why is 4 a recurring number on Pesach?"), only to get a wine-infused smart-ass answer, much to the amusement of the assembled ("Because we should all be at home watching the Final Four!").

It wasn't until past 10 pm that we were finally served dinner, although of course in observance of the seder we had snacked on parsley dipped in saltwater, specially prepared matzoh, and of course the bitter herbs (and yes, the shankbones on display did appear to be well-shanked, as my Uncle Michael always says). The updated haggadot that were used did not include the infamous line about dung hills found in my family's ancient and wine-stained texts, but their was enough hilarity to go around without praising God for lifting us up from the dung hill. Speaking of wine, it was hilarious to see so many people simulataneously indulge in their obligatory 4 cups. As wine bottles were quickly and dutifully emptied, I tried not to crack up as a guy across from us signalled to a server, calling "mas vino! mas vino!" In fact, the Rabbi himself seemed to be having a very good time, blaming some of his mispronunciations in the latter part of the seder on the four cups of wine he'd had BEFORE the seder had even started. You know how these chasidic rabbis can get at such festive occasions ... (Erica - Schmooley?!?!)

After many amusing moments, the oddest and perhaps most amusing came as the seder was concluding. Some people were starting to filter out - it was afterall fast approaching 11. But as we breezed through abridged versions of holiday songs like "Who Knows One?" and "Chad Gadya," the Rabbi announced that we had a 94 year old woman in the audience, and he would allow her to make a special request for us to sing the song of her choosing. Inexplicably, her choice was Ha'Tikvah - the Israeli national anthem. As the crowd stood and hesitantly began to sing, everyone turned to this proud old woman, who pointed her head toward the heavens and belted out the Hebrew verses with the sound and fury of a woman possessed. I didn't know whether to seriously acknowledge the intensity of the moment or to burst out laughing - it was admittedly pretty hilarious and random.

So there you have it - a Pssover seder where I met a guy who put words into Danny Tanner's mouth, witnessed a Rabbi in action who probably deserves his own reality TV show, and participated as a few hundered people rose in unison for an impromptu singing of Ha'Tikvah at around 11 pm. Yep, definitely a memorable seder.