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An Only Kid
- Abstract
The traditional Jewish Seder service on Passover eve begins on a note of expectancy and exhilaration. All kinds of exciting things happen to keep childish attention alive. The father recites the kiddush and everyone tastes of the wine. The table is lavishly draped and curiously prepared with unwonted dishes. A curious hors d’oeuvre, the karpas, is dipped in salt water, then distributed. One of the three cakes of unleavened bread is for some reason or other broken in two, and half of it is concealed. The youngest present, long primed for the purpose, asks the famous Four Questions, the answers to which he knew well before. Far-fetched fancies of the Rabbis figure in the ritual. Every now and again the matzoth are uncovered and the cup of wine raised, not always in vain. Then comes the meal itself, with its exciting preliminaries.
And now, afterward, once the door has been opened for Elijah the Prophet, harbinger of the Messiah, the atmosphere changes. It becomes a service of prayer rather than of symbolism: indeed, much of it is familiar, and will be heard again in the synagogue next morning. Childish attention begins to wander, and childish eyes sometimes need propping open.
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