Blessed art thou, O Lord God, King of the universe, who hast sanctified us by thy commandments and hast commanded us to kindle the festival lights. Blessed art thou, O Lord God, King of the universe, who hast kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this season. May our home be consecrated O God, by the light of thy countenance shining upon us in the blessing and bringing us peace.

-The opening blessing by the Mother at the Seder meal

In preparation for our Seder, we took up reading the story of Moses and the Passover from various sources.  Each year, the kids remember something new from the story and more questions are asked.

“What are locusts?”

“Do they eat tires?”

“What was Pharaoh’s name?”

We brought home a beautiful book from the library that vividly retold the story with fabulous illustrations.  Great details filled the pages and as we read it, the kids would stop me from turning the page so they could “see some more.”

We reached the crescendo of the story with the Israelites looking back on Pharaoh’s drowning army.  The page was filled with chariots and soldiers drowning in the Red Sea and the kids were silent as they took it all in.

“Hmmm. . . ” Max said, his brow wrinkling. “But, how do you think they cut their fingernails?”

Really?!? I wanted to say.  God delivers his people from bondage by bringing them through the Red Sea and drowning their captors and you are struck by their personal hygiene?

Because I had been stunned speechless by the oddity of the question, Philip offered an answer.

“Maybe . . . maybe with rocks?  Yeah!  I’m pretty sure they did!”

The photos are from our Seder this year.  We were blessed to have Susan and a college student join us to celebrate this great feast and memory. And to give thanks for clippers and emery boards.