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Seder Stories: Passover Thoughts on Food, Family, and Freedom

Nancy Rips
Cumberland House Publishing (2008)
ISBN 9781581826432
Reviewed by Karrie Grobben for RebeccasReads (6/08)

From its opening quote: “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat,” to its description of a Passover spent with Marlon Brando, Seder Stories by Nancy Rips is a remarkable, joyful, funny and sometimes poignant celebration of the Festival of Freedom. Passover is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the Jews’ freedom from slavery in Egypt but the spirit of the holiday encompasses so much more. It gives thanks for the presence of family and friends. It celebrates the individual’s right to freedom from persecution. Most of all, it is a way for the painful yet triumphant history of a people to be passed on to future generations so that it will never be forgotten. Though presented as a collection of short stories, author Rips actually offers us over one hundred memories of Passover from the perspectives of Jews from every walk of life.

The stories in the book vary widely in length (some encompassing a mere few lines, others the length of a traditional short story) and theme (some focus on family dynamics and others on the holiday’s historical significance) but they all have an impact on the reader. One woman comments that she never found alcohol to be any kind of temptation as a teenager, having grown up celebrating Passover. Another describes a playfully-themed chocolate Passover, in which all the traditional foods were replaced with different kinds of chocolate. Though there were a few heartbreaking stories, what struck me the most about this collection was its very lack of gloominess.

Because, in essence, what Seder Stories shows, overall, is how Jews all over the world remain connected, despite differences in age and situation, through a holiday that, above all other holidays, really does symbolize to Jews what it means to be Jewish.

I recommend this book for all readers, either to learn about this holiday or to celebrate it.

 

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