Gathering Family and Friends Closer at Passover

Passover through the decades has come to mean more than a strictly religious commemoration of our Exodus from Egypt and freedom from slavery. The passing of the years saw the celebration of Passover becoming synonymous with starting over and renewing ties with family and friends. No matter how busy we are living our lives, we go home to observe Passover.

We start by opening our homes to family and friends at sundown this Sunday for a Seder service. Remember how challenging and fun it is to invite our non-Jewish friends to the traditional Passover Seder and explain to them what the plate and its contents symbolize?

Is there a party that can be both serious and joyful at the same time? Well, the Passover Seder of course! When we gather around our extended families and friends on Passover celebration, talk never seems to end. A silent dinner table is something that doesn’t exist in our community! A tip to our guests, don’t be shy about asking questions. The head of the family would welcome this as he/she usually holds court during the Seder. Non-Jews may be surprised to find us a singing, acting and generally fun bunch during Passover dinner. Don’t forget to set up games and activities for the kids! You can prepare special Passover coloring books, a Passover word search challenge, Passover craft-making and a whole lot more activities created around a Passover theme. The big meal and the reading of the Haggadah are the highlights of our annual reunion.

These activities surely underscore our closeness not just as a family but as a people as well. Through the celebration of Passover, we focus on the significance of the roles of senior members of the family and children too. Age-old traditions and values do have more meaning when everyone is present during this important holiday.

But how about those family and friends who are oceans away from us during the Passover holiday? Well, they can still be reached with a click or two. I try to reach out by sending Passover-themed e-cards to them and adding Passover-themed comments in their Friendster or MySpace profiles. These are just my modest ways of having them know they’re remembered. Still, nothing beats writing a personal email with my own words and some photos attached to it. A little effort on my part will go a long, long way for friends and family who cannot make it home. I also thought of using smileys and emoticons in my email. There are lots of free smileys on the web, they even have holiday themed smileys. Of late, I came across these cool smileys called ZaaZu that I can use to dress up my email messages with. Just in time for Passover!

Take a look at some really cool Passover smileys: Your local Rabbi smiley reading the Passover Haggadah , a smiling Jewish boy , and a little girl smiley holding a symbolic plate and greeting everyone Happy Passover . I dig the little details with the egg, herbs and shankbone! These Passover 2008 smileys even come in three sizes-small, medium and large. Aren’t these the cutest smileys ever? If you want to send in your warmest holiday greetings with a Passover smiley go to ZaaZu’s website! Happy Passover everyone!

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