Passover at Sea

I knew when I applied to Semester at Sea Spring 2010 that if I was fortunate enough to attend the voyage, it would mean not only spending Passover away from home and family, but out of the country entirely, and most likely, the Passover Seder would occur on the ship. I have been so lucky to be on this voyage with so many wonderful and dedicated students, and I am thrilled that a good number of those students have decided to come together to form a Jewish student group. Ever since the first Friday at sea, we have been meeting regularly for Kabbalat Shabbat and eating a Shabbat meal together. It has been sporadic at times, especially when we were going through the Asian countries like they were candy! Nevertheless, we have formed a great community on the ship, and every week, anywhere between 20-35 students and faculty come together to celebrate the Sabbath together. We have spent time learning about Jewish communities (or lack thereof) in the cities we have visited so far, and I think we are in for a treat in Cape Town.

 

Anyway, ever since the voyage began, we have talked about the Passover Seder like it would be years away, and I can’t believe it has finally arrived. Weeks of planning and plenty of emails from worried parents later, we were able to pull it off! We had a sign up sheet before we arrived in Mauritius, and were ecstatic when we had to cap attendance at 120! We compiled a Haggadah from various sources, and put in food requests to the kitchen so we would have as close to a Seder meal as we could on limited resources. Last Friday, we decorated Matzah covers together and I felt like I was in 2^nd grade again, with a rainbow of Crayola markers smeared all over my fingers.

 

Tonight was the big event. People from all kinds of backgrounds came: there were the Friday Regulars, the students who came just to tell their parents they celebrated Passover like a good Jewish kid, and the students who were not Jewish, but were simply interested in attending a Seder. All things considered, I think it went pretty well! There were enough Matzah balls to go around, everyone got at least 4 cups of grape juice (think melted freeze pop), and we had two adorable kids sing the four questions. And the afikomen- oh boy- just picture 30+ twenty-somethings (and a couple of real children) searching on their hands and knees around the Deck 5 Dining Room for 20 minutes looking for a big cracker wrapped in a napkin. And the prize? 30 South African Rand… roughly four bucks. Not bad!

 

Before I knew it, the Seder was over (it was the short version) and we all left with our bellies full and ready to watch the Crew Talent Show (I’ve been looking forward to this the whole voyage)!  Who would have thought that a year ago I should have been saying “Next Year in Cape Town”?

 

Chag Pesach Sameach!