We didn’t begin until 8:30, ate at 10:30 and got to bed at 2:30 am. It was a lovely event, but I am sitting here at 10:30 Monday evening and I’m still tired. The last time I was awake at 2:30 in the morning I was on an airplane over the Pacific.

Our friends, the Rabbi and his wife, hosted this seder. We were a small group, my family and the Rabbi’s family, ten in all. The Rabbi has a wonderful, baritone and is very musical–makes the whole thing a treat. We recited the entire book, with multiple interruptions for questions and comments by the children, all grown now, the youngest being 17, and very knowledgeable in matters of religion. One of them even brought a laptop, to look up the stuff no one else could answer. Another contrast with my childhood experiences, and I don’t mean the laptop.

At the end of each seder we say "Next year in Jerusalem." When I was a child, before the creation of the State of Israel, this was a yearning without much chance of fulfillment. Today we pray for peace in the State of Israel.