Passover Seder at a Distance, or, The Geppetto Project

The Swedish  Labryrintspel game with one of two tilt knobs

                                       
It started with a call from my sister-in-law Ricki. While she had extra time for organizing during the shelter in place order, she unearthed a Swedish game that she and Dean played when they were children. When she realized that the wooden frame was broken, she called brother Dean to see if he could fix it. She began calling him Geppetto, the kindly old woodcarver and creator of Pinocchio.

This label is affixed to two sides of the game

The object of the game is to get the ball past all 60 holes by tilting the board using the two knobs 

Things being complicated these days, we chose a meeting place halfway between Ricki's house in San Francisco and ours in Berkeley. The Rustic Bakery in Larkspur across from the Larkspur/San Francisco Ferry terminal was agreeable to both parties, and we preordered sandwiches to eat during the trade-off.

The liaison went successfully and we agreed to meet again in Marin the following Friday when Geppetto had completed his repairs to the "labyrintspel." Ordinarily we could have returned the game during our annual Seder at Ricki's, but sadly there would be no family gathering this year.

Last year's festive Seder celebration at Ricki's

At some point I realized that if there would be no Seder, there would be no matzo ball soup, my favorite part of the Passover meal. As the Pollycoves say: "Such a tragedy!" Then I got the bright idea to ask Ricki to make her incredibly delicious version and hand it off at our next meeting in Larkspur. We could trade Ricki's soup for the repaired Labyrintspel - a family affair. I was hesitant to ask her because I knew the hours she puts in boiling chickens for broth and preparing her feather-light matzo balls from matzo meal, a technique she learned from her mother Rosalyn. But when I did ask, she happily agreed to do her matzo ball magic.

Ricki in her mask at the soup handoff  at The Rustic Bakery

During this exchange we enjoyed more chicken salad sandwiches and chardonnay on a beautiful sunny day in Marin County.  Sadly, this would be our last meeting before Passover.

Our simple but satisfying Seder meal

                       An abbreviated home ceremony and a bowl of Ricki's superb matzo ball soup

                                                                HAPPY PESACH 

Easter/Passsover Table 2019

    When we arrived Saturday evening for our Passover Seder at Dean's sister Ricki's, we knew that Easter was on Sunday, so we weren't too surprised to see the table beautifully decorated to represent both holidays. As noted before, we are a multi denominational family so we are accustomed to having two celebrations for the price of one.

 We were greeted with this stunning centerpiece of pastel roses and pale lilies with various dyed and chocolate Easter eggs nestled beneath, all symbols of spring.

Another view

Also on the table was the traditional Seder plate consisting of  a lamb shank bone, maror (bitter herbs represented by parsley and saltwater), haroset that Ricki made with apples, walnuts and cinnamon, and a vegetable (beets). Next to each place setting was a Haggadah, the booklet that is read during every Seder.

Here is a plate of matzo next to a large bowl of haroset surrounded by chocolate Easter eggs!! 

Above is another view of our schizophrenic table. Here you can see the red wine that's drunk four times during the Seder to symbolize freedom, and some artistically placed chocolate Easter eggs with the Seder plate behind them.

All this might seem slightly sacrilegious but it sure is fun, and remember, "We Are All One."